Health-Essentials.info > Published Sources > Glycation and Accelerated Aging
Updated August 23, 2006
Accelerating the Aging Process with your Backyard Barbeque
Cooking at high temperatures and the the problem of glycation
Adapted from Health and Healing, Aug 2003.
Used by permission.
A study presented in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2002; 99:15596-601) raises some serious health issues related to a popular summer tradition. If your summer plans include a backyard barbeque, you could get burned — and not just by the sun.
You probably know that grilling produces cancer-causing heterocyclic amines (HCAs); but, did you know that foods cooked at high temperatures are loaded with harmful chemicals called advanced glycation end products (AGEs)?
AGEs form when proteins react with sugars during cooking, and the higher the temperature and the longer the cooking time, the greater the number of AGEs.
An important factor in these findings:
If you look at the results of this study, you will see that a diet high in AGEs — foods cooked at high temperatures, as with frying — produced both inflammation and high LDL cholesterol. When the AGEs were reduced, both inflammation and LDL cholestrol were significantly reduces.
This is really an important finding, because inflammation is at the root of most chronic diseases — such as heart disease — and cancer, and cholesterol is produced in the liver to repair damage caused by inflammation.
If would appear that there is something happening in the liver of those whose diets are high in AGEs — most likely some kind of toxic overload — that causes a mis-cue in the liver's production of protective HDL cholesterol.
For the sake of your health and well-being, it's time to take it easy on the cooking process and turn down the heat.
AGEs accelerate the aging process by interfering with cell function. And it doesn't take years to see the damage.
- A recent study of diabetics found that eating a diet high in AGEs for six weeks increased blood levels of inflammatory compounds linked to cardiovascular disease and diabetic complications by 28 percent, and raised harmful LDL cholesterol by 32 percent.
- Following a low-AGE diet for six weeks reduced inflammatory markers by 40 percent and LDL cholesterol by 33 percent.
- Similar trends were seen for blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
To protect yourself from AGE-related damage, prepare foods by steaming, boiling, poaching and lightly sautéing, rather than broiling, microwaving and deep frying.
[Editor's note: To make all of this a little easier to take, see Dr Julian Whitaker's website for marinades that will reduce HCAs and add a safe sizzle to your backyard barbecue.]
