A Few Healthy Grilling Tips
It’s summer, and people are grilling. The weather is warm, the night arrives later in the evening, and the kids run around. And to be quite honest, I love it when we grill because the kitchen mess is minimal; I have to love that.
However, grilling may not be the healthiest meal option; when BBQing red meat, poultry or even seafood, their proteins combined with the high heat flames create carcinogenic compounds called heterocyclic amines or HCAs. Research shows that these compounds may damage or alter our genes leading to cancer. Not good.
However, there are ways to “healthy up” our grilling meals.
- Cook at lower temperatures.
- Cutting meat into smaller portion may help by cooking the meat faster thus less exposure.
- Watch meat diligently, flip the meat every minutes, and don’t overcook.
- Marinate (this has shown to help) for at least 30 minutes as this may develop a barrier between the meat and the BBQ flames thus lessening the change of HCAs to form.
To learn more plus a recipe or two, travel to the video:
Safe Grilling Tips for Healthy Barbecuing
The best choice is to grill vegetables and fruits; this is what we do a lot, and the kids love it. I coat the vegetables (asparagus, zucchini, and corn are favourites).
Happy Grilling!
xx
dr. heather
PS If you are traveling this summer, be sure to read my post on Summer Traveling & Being Healthy
Photo by Vincent Keiman on Unsplash