Meat contains high nutritional value, after all, vegetarians are still a very small minority, so meat is an essential food on the public dining table. However, there are still a few taboos about eating meat.
Overcooked meat is carcinogenic
No matter what kind of meat people eat, they feel that the longer it is stewed, the better. Thus, the pressure cooker was born. Using it to stew spare ribs, in a dozen minutes, even the bones become soft.
However, at temperatures of 200°C to 300°C, amino acids, creatine, sugar, and harmless compounds in meat undergo chemical reactions to form aromatic amines. These food-derived aromatic amines contain 12 compounds, 9 of which are carcinogenic.
In modern life, industrial pollution accounts for 50% of human carcinogenic effects, while diet accounts for 35%. In the past, we underestimated the factor of toxic chemicals in food causing cancer. Before the issue of aromatic amine compounds is fully clarified, do not eat overcooked meat. The best method is to cook meat in the microwave and then discard the broth, which contains many compounds, thus avoiding the harm of aromatic amine compounds to the human body.
Frying pickled meat produces a large amount of nitrites
Pickled meat contains nitrate. After frying or pan-frying, it will produce the carcinogen nitrosopyrrolidine. Therefore, when eating foods like salted fish, cured meat, sausages, and ham, avoid frying or pan-frying. The correct way to eat them is to cook or steam cured meat, sausages, ham, etc., thoroughly, so that the nitrosamines can volatilize with the steam. At the same time, when cooking salted and smoked foods, it is best to add some rice vinegar, because vinegar has the effect of decomposing nitrites and can also sterilize.
Eating too much lean meat can easily cause spots
Some people think that eating fatty meat will make them fat, and eating lean meat will not make them fat while ensuring nutrient intake, so they eat a lot of lean meat. In fact, eating more lean meat is not necessarily better. Lean meat has a high content of methionine. Under the catalysis of a certain enzyme, methionine can be converted to homocysteine, and excessive homocysteine can also lead to atherosclerosis. Animal experiments have shown that homocysteine directly damages animal endothelial cells, forming typical atherosclerotic plaques. Therefore, lean meat should be eaten in moderation; more is not always better.
Soaking pork in hot water loses nutrients
Some people often soak fresh pork in hot water after buying it. This will cause the pork to lose many of its nutrients.
In the muscle and fat tissues of pork, there is a large amount of protein, which can be divided into myosin and myogen. The coagulation point of myogen is 15°C to 16°C, and it is highly soluble in water.
When pork is soaked in hot water, a large amount of myogen is lost. At the same time, myogen contains components such as organic acids, glutamic acid, and sodium glutamate. Losing them will affect the taste of the pork. Therefore, pork should not be soaked in hot water, but should be quickly rinsed clean with cold water.