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Wednesday
May192010

Rosemary Reduces Meat's Cancer Risk

Cooking meat at high temperatures, for example on a barbecue grill, produces carcinogens called heterocyclic amines. Now research at Kansas State University has identified an average 40% decrease in these toxins when ground meat was mixed with Rosemary. Garlic, lemon and onion have been shown to have similar effects, but rosemary seems to be a potent inhibitor of toxins in charred meat. The higher the concentration of rosemary the greater the reduction in heterocyclic amines (in some cases the carcinogenic toxins were reduced by as much as 90%.) Researchers have identified three specific antioxidants in rosemary called rosmarinic acid, carnosol and carnosic acid that explain the herbs' power to scrub cooked meat of carcinogens.. See a description of the study. Other studies have found similarly beneficial effects from rosemary-packed marinades. 

 

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