How to Prepare Foods to Decrease Advanced Glycation End-Products
This is the third in a series about Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs). AGEs are implicated in initiating and promoting chronic disease.
Many foods, such as meat, cheese, roasted nuts are high in AGEs. We cannot eliminate AGEs from what we eat. However, even more importantly, we can lower our consumption of AGEs by adding moisture and avoiding dry, prolonged and high temperatures when cooking.
Here are 15 things you can do to lower AGEs in what you eat:
1.Don’t eat charred meat. Ever. High heat for prolonged temperature results in excessive AGEs. (Sharma, Kaur, Thind, Singh & Raina 2015)
2. Consume fewer foods that are processed. Anything that comes in a box, can or bag are baked or fried at high temperatures.
3. Consume raw nuts and seeds. Raw has 45% fewer AGEs than roasted. Seeds, such as those from the Go Raw brand, are salted, but are not roasted or baked.
4. Marinate. A mixture including an acid, such as vinegar or lemon juice poured over meat for one to 12 hours before cooking decreases AGEs. Uribarri, et. al,, 2010 noted that AGEs decreased by at least 50% when beef was marinated in vinegar or lemon juice 60 minutes prior to cooking. (Uribarri, et. al., 2010)
5. Braise. Add wine or broth to the bottom of the pan along with onions and herbs; place raw meat on top. Seal with a lid, or leave the lid cracked.
I like to cook fish in parchment, which steams the fish. Follow this link to learn how: cooking in parchment packages.
6. Avoid fructose. Sodas are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. Fructose is ten times more reactive than glucose in the formation of AGEs. (Gugliucci 2017)
7. Eat more fish and seafood. Fish and seafood have fewer AGEs and are high in omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory. (Devassy, Leng, Gabbs, Monirujjaman, & Aukema 2016)
8. Eat more fish and seafood. Fish and seafood have fewer AGEs and are high in omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory. (Devassy, Leng, Gabbs, Monirujjaman, & Aukema 2016)
9. Eat more antioxidants. Polyphenols in fruits and vegetables, tea and coffee decrease formation of AGEs. (Yeh, Hsia, Lee & Wu, 2017)
10. Poach and steam. Cooking with moisture is important in decreasing AGEs.
Instead of grilling steak, try poaching in beef broth. I tried this recipe: Jamie Oliver’s poached beef. Next time, I will use a smaller amount of broth, perhaps one cup, which will make it easier to determine when it is done. When finished, the broth is super flavorful for a gravy or au jus.
11. Stew. This is a great method for one pot meals. I love to cook in one pot for easy clean up. Add vegetables to meat and broth for a wonderful soup.
12. Avoid fast foods. Fast foods have extremely high AGE content. Link to previous post.
13. Avoid frying. Scramble or poach eggs rather than frying eggs. Cook bacon in the microwave to decrease AGEs Fried bacon has nearly 12,000 AGEs ku/90 ml serving, whereas bacon that was microwaved for 3 minutes has under 1,200 AGEs Ku/90 ml serving. See previous post.
14. Cook for less time. Meats that are cooked for shorter time periods have fewer AGEs.
15. Lowering the temperature reduces AGEs. I have found that lowering the temperature makes meat more tender!
Take care when cooking meat. Know that grilling, roasting and frying increase AGEs by several times more than the raw state.
Oxidative stress occurs when you consume foods that are high in AGEs without sufficient amount of antioxidants. (Lobo, Patil, Phata & Chandra, 2010)
When there is an imbalance between oxidation as from AGEs and antioxidants, AGEs become toxic and wreck havoc in our body. Without sufficient antioxidants, such as when we eat hamburgers and french fries, we are eating foods that are “oxidants” without the antidote of antioxidants. Antioxidants are in many vegetables, herbs and fruits. (Serafini and Peluso, 2016)
Further Reading:
Forum re: advanced glycation end-products
Are there foods that you enjoy that are high in AGEs? Have you found a substitute?
Do you have suggestions for future topics about how to improve your health? Do you have questions about how you can change how you prepare foods to lower AGEs? Please let me know!
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