Researchers have newly discovered a surprising and potentially significant reason why eating foods frequently cooked at high temperatures, such as red meat and deep-fried fare, elevates cancer risk. The alleged culprit: DNA within the food that’s been damaged by the cooking process.
This study by Stanford scientists and their collaborators at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the University of Maryland, and Colorado State University reveals that components of heat-marred DNA can be absorbed during digestion and incorporated into the DNA of the consumer. That uptake directly places damage in the consumer’s DNA, potentially triggering genetic mutations that may eventually lead to cancer and other diseases.
While it’s too soon to say this occurs in humans – the study only observed heat-damaged DNA component uptake and increased DNA injury in lab-grown cells and mice – the findings could have important implications for dietary choices and public health.
Their study is published in the journal ACS Central Science.
Many people aren’t aware that foods we eat – meat, fish, grains, veggies, fruit, mushrooms, you name it – include the originating organisms’ DNA. The oversight is understandable, since DNA does not appear on nutrition labels in the same manner as protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, and minerals. Yet the amounts of devoured DNA are not negligible. For example, a roughly 500 gram beef steak contains over a gram of cow DNA, suggesting that human exposure to potentially heat-damaged DNA is likewise not negligible.
News source: Stanford
