Sunday, August 15, 2010

Food For The Human Heart

Two Oxidized Burgers and Fries, Please!

Oxidation occurs rapidly when oils get old or when they are exposed to high temperature in the cooking process. When that burger is fried, it gets oxidized. This process generates a potent source of free radicals that can cause inflammation. The cholesterol in the burger also gets damaged and becomes plaque-producing (atherogenic).

When you ingest the burger and fries, you are taking in oxy-cholesterol that has the potential to damage your own blood arteries. The fries act like a sponge, absorbing the free radicals and trans-fatty acids in the cooking oil and carrying them into the meat which gets converted to toxic homocysteine. Cooking at high temperature creates other toxic compounds, as well , such as acrylamide ( a cancer substance)

A diet high in fresh vegetables provides your human body with a great natural source of antioxidants. Fresh vegetarians are also not getting as much exposure to oxidized cholesterol. Additionally, a low-animal-protein diet results in lower homocysteine levels in your blood.

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