Tips for Healthier Grilling
Grilling is the hallmark of summer and food. In addition to bringing people together, it gets us away from the hot oven in the kitchen and into the outdoors. It can also help us slow down, add variety to our diet, and give us new flavors to enjoy. We need to be careful, though. Grilling can make some foods more inflammatory to our bodies. However, there are steps you take to help you get the best nutrition from your outdoor fire.
Why could grilling be a risk to your food and your health? Advance Glycation End products (AGE’s) are compounds that are produced when sugars combine with certain proteins or fats. These can form inside our body or in the food we consume. Manufacturing techniques of sugary or highly processed foods contribute to AGEs, but cooking methods that use high heat to brown or char foods, such as grilling, roasting, and broiling, have the largest impact on the amount of AGEs we consume. Also, AGE’s can accumulate in our body over time and contribute to inflammation, which increases our risk of insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes. Learning to avoid AGE’s can lower our diabetes risk and help improve insulin sensitivity.
Use the following tips to enjoy your next cookout and optimize your health:
Choose lean cuts of meat and trim any visible fat so that less fat drips during cooking.
Marinate meat before you grill. Research suggests that citrus, vinegars, cider, herbs and vegetable oils can reduce the formation of AGE’s. Sugar can increase AGE’s, so avoid marinades that have significant amounts of added sugar.
Try precooking meat in the oven and finish on the grill to lessen the exposure and risk.
Use lower heat by waiting for the coals to burn less hot or by turning down the gas.
Raise the grill rack farther from the heat.
Bigger is NOT better. Grill thinner cuts of meat to reduce cooking time.
Go vegetarian. When veggie burgers, tofu and vegetables are grilled, there is little or no formation of AGE's.
Stay up-wind from grills to avoid breathing in smoke, which also carries health risks. No smoke is good smoke.
Use an untreated cedar plank for fish. It’s always good to have a buffer between your food and the heat source.
Choose grass-fed meats which provide extra cancer-fighting Vitamin E (from grass), Conjugated Linoleic Acid and Omega-3 fats while being lower in inflammatory Omega-6 fats.
Never eat charred or blackened meat.
Eat foods rich in antioxidants with your grilled meats. Research shows topping a hamburger with avocado or other anti-oxidant rich veggies helps reduce AGE’s inflammatory effect.