Pick your poison: cured vs cooked meats?

October 2, 2015 3:59 AM

Without debating the necessity of meat (please), which should be a bigger concern for someone concerned about cancer risks: nitrates in preserved meats (whether artificial or naturally found in, eg, celery juice), or the heterocyclic amines created when animal muscle tissue is heated?

See: http://healthland.time.com/2011/03/28/are-hot-dogs-better-for-you-than-roasted-chicken/

posted by prosopagnosia to Health & Fitness (3 answers total)

There are too many variables to answer this question accurately. It is a very complicated question and the linked article is an example of very poor science journalism. (Not terrible just poor) In essence they tested 7 different meats for the levels of heterocyclic amines (Which ones there are a plethora of them?) and found that the rotisserie chicken had the highest levels. Never did it say the threshold for toxicological concern for this extremely wide area of chemical space or give any idea on the levels that would be found via other cooking methods or also indeed the levels of the multitude of other different carcinogens found in the meat.

I didn't bother looking up the paper as I dont I would have access to it anyways but the "high" level is 1.9 nano-grams per gram. (or 1.9 ppm) For reference the maximum level of nitrate in cured meats in Canada is 200 ppm. Then there will be varying effectiveness of the different carcinogens present, and different carcinogens present depending on cooking method. Then people all naturally metabolise and detoxify carcinogens, but this is also depending on total carcinogen load so someone who eats a small amount of bacon coated rotisserie chicken would be ok, but someone who ate a bunch of celery and other nitrates before eating a smaller amount of the chicken could have exhausted their bodies supply (temporarily) of detoxifying enzymes and glutathione and therefore could be susceptible to the meat at a lower dose. Also different people will have different profiles that will vary throughout their lives of these enzymes and conjugation agents and therefore will have different responses to the same dose. As well even if DNA damage occurs (the mechanism of carcinogenesis discussed here) there are a plethora of repair enzymes and other apoptotic mechanisms to prevent a cell from becoming a cancerous tumor. On top of these ingested carcinogens there are also varying environmental carcinogens including the sun as well as interstellar radiation.

In short I wouldn't worry about either. Be sure to eat a well balanced diet containing fresh fruits and veggies (that contain antioxidants to help your detox enzymes and DNA repair enzymes) and limit your intake of food to a reasonable level. Be sure to protect yourself from excessive sun exposure, but allow some exposure to make vitamin D. Exercise moderately and drink plenty of water. Try not to stress about things and you will be fine.
posted by koolkat at 5:33 AM on October 2, 2015 [22 favorites]

I think it's well understood that you can avoid most or all of the risk by eating (non-preserved) meat that's not cooked at too high a temperature (definitely not charred) and not cooked for too long. Wikipedia agrees, for what it's worth.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 6:22 AM on October 2, 2015 [4 favorites]

I would add a concern about how clean meat is, and how many hormones the animal consumed. Standards and inspection of meat in the US have fallen for many reasons. If you can find a source of non-factory meat, and you can afford it, that's what I would choose.
posted by theora55 at 8:16 AM on October 2, 2015