heterocyclic amines | Health Topics | NutritionFacts.org

Topic summary contributed by volunteer(s): Selena

Heterocyclic amines are potentially carcinogenic chemical compounds formed in cooked muscle tissue. Examples of heterocyclic amines include harmane, which may cause essential tremor and PhIP, considered an estrogenic carcinogen that may increase breast cancer risk. Poultry meat (see also here and here) appears to have the highest concentration of heterocyclic amines, but muscles are not the only source of these toxins. These carcinogens may be present in eggs, cheese, creatine supplements and cigarette smoke. There are some things those who eat meat can do to reduce the risk of developing cancer. Boiling appears to be the safest cooking method in terms of carcinogen levels. Other foods may help too. For example, cruciferous vegetables have been shown to reduce the absorption of heterocyclic amines for as long as two weeks after consumption. White and green tea may also be protective. Participate in Meatless Monday and our levels of PhIP and MelQx will drop to zero in just twenty-four hours. Veggie meat is a safe bet since it contains no muscle tissue. Even deep fried they contain no heterocyclic amines.

For substantiation of any statements of fact from the peer-reviewed medical literature, please see the associated videos below.

Heterocyclic Amines

17 videos

All Videos for Heterocyclic Amines

Are Organic Foods More Nutritious?

Are Organic Foods More Nutritious?

There appear to be no consistent differences in the level of vitamins and minerals in organic versus conventionally grown produce, but organic fruits and vegetables have more phenolic phytonutrients.

Turmeric Curcumin and Pancreatic Cancer

Turmeric Curcumin & Pancreatic Cancer

Carcinogens in grilled and baked chicken may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer, while curcumin, the yellow pigment in the spice turmeric, may sometimes help even in advanced stages of the disease.

Essential Tremor and Diet

Essential Tremor & Diet

Neurotoxins in chicken, such as the beta-carboline alkaloid harman, may explain the link between meat consumption and hand tremor, the most common movement disorder.

french fries on a plate

Cancer Risk from French Fries

The association between cancer and the consumption of deep-fried foods may be due to carcinogens formed at high temperatures in animal foods (heterocyclic amines and polycyclic hydrocarbons) and plant foods (acrylamide).

Alkylphenol Endocrine Disruptors and Allergies

Alkylphenol Endocrine Disruptors and Allergies

The dramatic rise of allergic diseases such as eczema and seasonal allergies may be related to dietary exposure to endocrine-disruptor xenoestrogens, such as alkylphenol industrial pollutants.

Eggs, Choline, and Cancer

Eggs, Choline, and Cancer

Choline may be the reason egg consumption is associated with prostate cancer progression and death.

Prolonged Liver-Function Enhancement from Broccoli

The boost in detoxifying enzymes triggered by cruciferous vegetable consumption may last for weeks!

Cancer, Interrupted: Green Tea

Using the cooked meat carcinogen PhIP to turn normal breast cells cancerous, researchers explore the use of green tea to interrupt this malignant transformation.

Heterocyclic Amines in Eggs, Cheese, & Creatine?

Even vegetarians could potentially be exposed to the carcinogens typically formed by cooking meat through eggs, cheese, creatine sports supplements, and cigarette smoke.

Reducing Cancer Risk in Meat-Eaters

Those who eat meat risk food poisoning from undercooked meat, but also exposure to cooked meat carcinogens in well-cooked meat. By boiling meat, non-vegetarians can mediate their risk of both.

PhIP: The Three-Strikes Breast Carcinogen

The cooked meat carcinogen PhIP—found in fried bacon, fish, and chicken—may not only trigger cancer and promote tumor growth, but also increase its metastatic potential, by increasing its invasiveness.

Estrogenic Cooked-Meat Carcinogens

DNA-damaging chemicals, formed when meat is cooked, stimulate breast cancer cells almost as much as pure estrogen, and can infiltrate the ducts where most breast cancers arise.

President’s Cancer Panel Report on Environmental Risk

The official National Cancer Institute report on the “unacceptable” burden of cancer stemming from industrial chemical pollutants is strongly worded, but lacks sufficient dietary guidance.

Antimutagenic Activity of Green Versus White Tea

Antimutagenic Activity of Green vs. White Tea

The ability of green versus white tea to protect against in vitro DNA damage caused by a cooked chicken carcinogen (heterocyclic amine).

Chicken Dioxins, Viruses, or Antibiotics?

Chicken Dioxins, Viruses, or Antibiotics?

The association between poultry and cancer may be explained by the presence in chickens’ and turkeys’ flesh of industrial carcinogens such as dioxins, oncogenic (cancer-causing) viruses, and/or the drugs that were fed to the birds.

Breast Cancer Survival, Butterfat, and Chicken

Breast Cancer Survival, Butterfat, & Chicken

Breast cancer survivors may reduce their chances of survival if they eat too much saturated fat, found primarily in the American diet in cheese, chicken, and junk food.

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Preventing Childhood Allergies

What is responsible for the rising prevalence of atopic diseases, such as food allergies, asthma, hay fever, and eczema?

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