Barbeque on a sunny afternoon is one of the most common activities of many average Americans. The charred, heated part of meat on the grill are the pieces that many of us like most about our meat, but evidence has been shown that these are made up of carcinogenic substances.
In an article on the website Science News, we see that these charred meats have been even acknowledged by the United States government as a carcinogen. The chemical compounds of these carcinogens are called HCA's (heterocyclic amines) and PAH's (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). There were two specific compounds studied by some researchers at Okayama University called MeIQx and Trp-P-2.
Figure 1: MeIQx is one of the compounds found as carcinogens in charred meats. This is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. Depending on different meats at certain high temperatures and grilling times, these carcinogens are produced.
Watching the news the other day, I came upon a quick segment of beer supposedly being proved to be a great cancellation to carcinogens coming from the charred meat that you grill on a barbeque. Hearing this I thought there was no way this could be true, after all drinking alcohol increases your chance of getting cancer alone. As I have done some research, I have found that many recent articles and studies on this topic have come out just within the last few years. Starting to look further into the connection of alcohol and carcinogens, I decided to look more at risk factors of alcohol and cancer. Now I pose the question: Is Alcohol more beneficial as a prevention technique or risk when it comes to cancer prevention? In an article on the website Science News, we see that these charred meats have been even acknowledged by the United States government as a carcinogen. The chemical compounds of these carcinogens are called HCA's (heterocyclic amines) and PAH's (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons). There were two specific compounds studied by some researchers at Okayama University called MeIQx and Trp-P-2.
Figure 1: MeIQx is one of the compounds found as carcinogens in charred meats. This is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. Depending on different meats at certain high temperatures and grilling times, these carcinogens are produced. This type of research has not been moved as far as finding ways to prove this theory on humans but they have done some animal testing. Using non-alcoholic beer they found while feeding mice these charred meats that it did improve the breakdown of these HCA's and PAH's by 40 to 75 percent. In this study, they used non-alcoholic beer because alcohol is already a carcinogen itself. Now compare the risk factors of alcohol when it comes to cancer. You can see that alcohol is a definite way of increasing your chances of cancer while in the study prior, it is preventing it.
There is a molecule in beer called Acetaldehyde. This molecule is believed to be the cause of a hangover. Acetaldehyde is also a molecule that is related to in many cancers. It is produced in the human body when metabolizing alcohol. This molecule is converted from ethanol in the human body, so it is not in non-alcoholic beer. While I could not find any studies analyzing this relationship, I believe this is proof that beer without alcohol in it will be considered a cancer preventative while alcoholic beer will still be considered a risk. When I look back at an article describing marinates for meat using alcohol, I can relate this to my conclusion because alcohol burns off when it is cooked at high temperatures. The study with the mice having non-alcoholic beer supports this along with the results of the marinade study conducted. This relationship shows that the beer in the marinade is much closer to the non-alcoholic beer, thus both not having the Acetaldehyde molecule included. From reading how this molecule is linked to many different types of cancers directly, I have concluded that it is this molecule in beer that is the carcinogen, (even though the CDC does not recognize it as one yet) not just alcohol by itself. It would be very interesting to do more studies regarding this molecule specifically as a cancer causing element and relate it back to beer.
Figure 2. Acetaldehyde. C2H4O is a molecule found in alcohol that is metabolized in the human body. (http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Acetaldehyde)
While other articles have shown that marinades of different beers help reduce the amount of carcinogens, you still have the problem of alcohol not being preventative. I do not believe that alcohol reducing charred meat carcinogens will outweigh the costs of alcohol and it's carcinogens alone. Studies have only used non-alcoholic beer so far. I believe that if you drink non alcoholic beer with your barbeque this will be the safest and healthiest solution. A great experiment one could design for this study would include the human stomach and charred meats with non alcoholic vs alcoholic beer. The goal is to find the best recipe for the least amount of carcinogens and still ensure that people are enjoying their dinner. These studies would also have to assume case by case variation. Someone who is an alcoholic should not be have a beer at all because they are already at high risk. Also in the case of alcoholic beer, if it were proven helpful, it should not be offered to children because it can inhibit growth and add a greater amount of health risks being under age. When considering recommending alcohol to the community one also needs to consider how greatly an impact it will make on each individual's health. Even though many people have become very optimistic about drinking a beer with your barbeque, I would still be conscious of the risks of alcohol itself when it comes to cancer. I do not believe that beer is a solution, non-alcoholic beer is.
Work Cited
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. "Acetaldehyde In Alcohol: 'Hangover Chemical' May Be Overlooked Risk Factor For Cancer." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 Mar. 2009. Web. 03 June 2014. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090319102419.htm>.
"Chemicals in Meat Cooked at High Temperatures and Cancer Risk." National Cancer Institute. National Cancer Institute, 15 Oct. 2010. Web. 21 May 2014.
"Going To A BBQ? Grab A Darker Beer." The Huffington Post. AFP/Relax News, 27 Mar. 2014. Web. 21 May 2014.
Gapstur, Susan M., PhD, MPH. "American Cancer Society Expert Voices Blog." Cancer.org. N.p., 26 June 2013. Web. 21 May 2014.
Raloff, Janet. "Beer's Well Done Benefit." Science News. N.p., 28 Feb. 2005. Web. 21 May 2014.
Raloff, Janet. "Carcinogens in the Diet." Science News. N.p., 14 Feb. 2005. Web. 19 May 2014.
Serrao, John. "Nutrition Wonderland." Beer and Barbecue Really Do Belong Together: A Lesson in Cancer Prevention | . N.p., 23 Jan. 2009. Web. 21 May 2014.
