With the summer steak season in swing indoors and outdoors, cooks can season the meat on the grill and protect against cancer at the same time.

All it takes is marinating the steaks with certain herbs and spices, says J. Scott Smith, who claims he's narrowed down the ingredients to use.

Smith, a food chemistry expert at Kansas State University in Manhattan, warns grilled beef is a major source of dietary heterocyclic amines, or HCAs, when cooked at temperatures from 375-degrees F and above. Previous studies have linked dietary carcinogens to different cancers in humans and lab rats.

“Consumers have responded favorably to natural food products in recent years, including natural spices, such as rosemary, which are rich in antioxidants," Smith says. "Marinating steak before grilling is a practical way to reduce HCA contents of even well-done beef for many consumers.”

Rosemary and thyme

When meat is cooked at high temperatures, amino acids react with creatine to form HCAs. When compared with frying or broiling, grilling is double trouble because it also exposes meat to cancer-causing chemicals contained in the smoke that rises from burning coals and any drips of fat that cause flare-ups.

What's more, longer cooking time means more HCAs. Depending on the cooking temperature, meat roasted or baked in the oven may contain some HCAs, but considerably less than in grilling, frying or broiling, according to June's Harvard Health Letter. 

Meanwhile, Smith’s research group experimented with marinades containing herbs and spices, mostly from the mint family, such as basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, and thyme. Most of these herbs are rich in three potent antioxidants – carnosic acid, carnosol and rosmarinic acid.

His team found that after marinating grilled round steaks in a commercial product containing rosemary and thyme, the level of HCAs plunged 87 percent, which matched the amount of antioxidants in the marinades. The rosemary/thyme marinade also contained pepper, allspice and salt.

Another marinade with oregano, thyme, garlic, and onion, and a third marinade with oregano, garlic, basil, onion, and parsley, also reduced the levels of carcinogens in the grilled food.

The marinades, packaged as powders, are all available in grocery stores. What’s more, consumers can add the herbs and spices themselves to their own marinade recipes or ones in Nubella's 6,000-plus Recipe Database.  

Smith says he plans to investigate other seasonings to determine their potency in reducing HCAs, especially ones in the mint family, such as basil, sage, thyme, oregano and rosemary, as well as parsley, fennel, paprika, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon.

He also wants to look into what possible changes that the antioxidants could cause with regard to taste, texture and nutritional content. Results so far, however, do not indicate any major alterations are taking place.

More tips for healthy grilling

But June's Harvard Health Letter reports that the jury is still out on whether marinade helps you avoid cancer.

"Marinating meat is often suggested as one way to cut down on the formation of heterocyclic amines, but the evidence that marinating helps is mixed," Harvard researchers say.

To cut your risk of cancer from grilling, the Health Letter also suggests:

•  Cooking smaller pieces, because they cook more quickly and at lower temperatures; 

•  Choosing leaner meat that contains as little flame- and smoke-producing fat;

•  Precookiing meat for about two minutes in a microwave, which may decrease HCAs by 90 percent;

•  Flipping meat  frequently, so that neither side has time to absorb or lose too much heat.

Check these out:

•  10 Tips for Nutritious Spring, Summer Meals

•  Something to Think About at Your Next BBQ

•  Food Preparation, Chronic Disease: A Link?

•  Summer Cooking . . .  or Not

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Source: Kansas State University, Food Safety Consortium

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