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[E276]Environmental Causes Of Cancer

by Sarah Jones, Sar

The Facts:

Grilling meat produces at least two types of potentially dangerous chemicals: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocyclic amines (HCAs). PAHs are products of imperfect combustion found in smoke and burned matter. In large enough quantities they will definitely cause cancer in humans. In BBQ grills they're commonly formed when dripping fat flares up, charring the underside of the meat. In reality, you can get PAH's when you burn your toast.

HCAs, whose possible role in cancer was more recently discovered, are the result of reactions between chemicals in muscle meat produced by high heat or prolonged cooking. In contrast to PAHs, HCAs are found inside the meat, not just on the surface, and can't be easily scraped or trimmed off. Also in contrast to PAHs, HCAs aren't necessarily more likely to be produced during grilling, they can be created when cooking in an ordinary frying pan if it's hot enough.

So Do I have to Stop BBQ'ing?

Are all types of BBQ equally risky? No. Mainly we're talking about grilling over open flame at high heat, backyard barbecuing, in other words. Slow barbecue methods, which generally involve lower temperatures and minimal flame exposure, seems to be less problematic. When grilling, cooking meat till it's well-done supposedly generates the most HCAs and PAHs, so you are better off leaving a little pink on the inside.

More Tips To Decreasing Your Risk of Cancer

Use a gas grill, you have better control of the heat and will have less flare ups. You are also not subject to the chemicals present in store bought charcoal.

Don't burn your food

Avoid Flare Ups

Cook at lower temps

Microwave your meat for a few minutes before grilling, it will cook faster and decrease the time above an open flame.

Are We Grilling Tonight?

Of course! While the data is convincing, I am still going to BBQ when the mood hits me. I will however take a bit of caution, and pay more attention to how long my meat is on the grill. Honestly, slow cooking draws out the flavor of many cuts of meat anyway. So it is all still great BBQ in my opinion!

Caffeine is the modern drug of choice in the work world, easily accessible, socially acceptable, readily affordable, and of course perfectly legal. As for the health effects, caffeine is addictive, and because it is acidic, it creates an environment in the body that is favourable for the development of cancer. If you already have cancer, GIVE UP THE COFFEE TODAY!!! There are gentle ways you can do this:

You can switch from coffee to tea. You still get the caffeine from tea, but not as much. Enjoy some good quality tea.

Next, make the transition from regular tea to caffeine-free (not decaffeinated) herbal tea. Herbal tea isn't really tea, but it's close. Celestial Seasonings offers a wide variety of flavors. I recommend getting a variety pack to see which kinds you like. You can do the switch abruptly, or use the gradual method above. Now you're caffeine free.

Switch from coffee to grain coffee. Grain coffee is to coffee as herbal tea is to tea, and grain coffee is naturally caffeine-free. Grain coffee isn't real coffee, but it's a ground mixture of things like grains, nuts, dried fruit, and natural flavors that you can put into a regular drip coffee maker and make something that looks and tastes similar to coffee.

A great way to transition to grain coffee is to mix it with regular coffee as you scoop the dry grounds into your coffee filter. So if you use 4 scoops of ground coffee normally, then try 3 scoops of coffee with 1 scoop of grain coffee for the first week, and continue to transition gradually as in the first method above.

Part of the addiction of coffee drinking is having a warm beverage, so the two methods above focus on that. I really like having something warm to drink, especially during the winter.

Don't use decaffeinated coffee or tea because known carcinogens are used in the decaffeination process, and decaffeinated drinks are still highly acidic.

Why Give Up Coffee at All?

I can't ignore the energy boost and mental acceleration that comes from caffeine. There are negative side effects with drinking coffee. Caffeine makes part of the brain overactive and another part underactive. You become good at doing things, but very bad at prioritizing what needs to be done. If I drink a lot of coffee, It's hard to focus on the big picture from a holistic whole-brain standpoint.

Caffeine blocks your intuition and creativity. If you have to sit down and do high-level work like developing your next quarterly plan, caffeine will reduce your ability to concentrate. Your mind races too much on caffeine; it's hard to stay focused on just one thing.

Additionally, caffeine definitely disrupts sleep habits. You just don't sleep as well. With no caffeine, you sleep more restfully and wake up easily.

Cancer has been shown to be a substance that creates a favourable environment for cancer to develop. It is time to give it up for more health-enhancing beverages.

Article Source : Pg. 42

About Author

Both Sarah Jones & Dr Laurence Magne are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Sarah Jones has sinced written about articles on various topics from Online College, Careers and Job Hunting and Children. Sarah Jones grew up loving all things BBQ. When she isn't trying out new marinades or grilling in the backyard she is sharing her love of BBQ with others.Learn more about her BBQ secrets at. Sarah Jones's top article generates over 201000 views. to your Favourites.

Dr Laurence Magne has sinced written about articles on various topics from Types of Cancer, Baseball and Types of Cancer. . Dr Laurence Magne's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.