Find a
Nutritionist,
Dietician & more

Find a therapist near you

City or Zip Code:

Powered by: Psychology Today

Advertisement

Related Programs

Understanding the Link Between Hypertension and Diabetes Hypertension and Diabetes: Treatment Goals

Nutrition Healthy Eating

Healthy Skills for Your Grill

Summary & Participants

Grilled foods are a popular staple for just about every chef, from backyard barbecuers to gourmet cooks, and grilling can be a great way to prepare low-fat meals. But some studies have shown that chemicals created through the grilling process can be carcinogenic. Is there really a cause to worry? And if so, what can you do to cut down the health risks of this otherwise healthy cooking technique? Join our panel of experts to find out.

Medically Reviewed On: July 08, 2008

Webcast Transcript

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: Welcome to our webcast. I'm David Folk Thomas. Our topic is healthy eating, and specifically grilling. Have you got the barbecue out? Fired it all up? Well, there are certain things you've got to do to make sure when you're grilling that steak or that burger that it's as healthy as you can make it. Joining me to tell you how to grill healthy and not harmful, on my left, is Laura Pensiero. She's a culinary consultant and she also has her own company, Recipe Works. She is also a co-author of "The Strang Cookbook for Cancer Prevention" published by Dutton.

Next to Laura is Heidi Skolnik. She's the team nutritionist for the New York Mets baseball team and the New York Giants football team. She has her company, Nutrition Conditioning, in New Jersey. Ladies, thanks for joining me here today.

I think we should be dressed a little differently since we're talking about grilling. This is a formal grill session. But those of you out there feel free to be in shorts and T-shirt.

Laura, let me ask you about grilling. How can it be healthy, and at times harmful?

LAURA PENSIERO, RD: It's one of the best ways to cook low fat. It's direct heat. You're not adding any fat in the cooking method. It adds a lot of complexity of flavor to the food. There are great flavor profiles when you use a grill. The only drawback may be some of the foods that we choose to grill, which may be going with more meat than we're supposed to eat, or some of the compounds that are created in the grilling process, which can be carcinogenic,but we want to put that in perspective of what it really means in terms of relative risk.

DAVID FOLK THOMAS: Heidi, as far as bad foods that you're grilling out there, what should you kind of avoid?

HEIDI SKOLNIK, RD: I like to think of it more as what foods can you add that are going to benefit you and expand the variety. So instead of always cooking up burgers and hot dogs, go ahead and try some great swordfish steaks or tuna steaks. They are so delicious, and grilled makes them that much better. They are easy.

Go ahead and make chicken kabobs. Add some vegetables. Grill up some vegetables to round out that meal. Try venison, which is a really low fat red meat that's absolutely delicious. You can try it with different marinades. Just expand the repertoire so it's beyond the typical burger and hot dog.

LAURA PENSIERO, RD: Even getting used to the fruits and vegetables on the grills. They are a little more used to cooking vegetables on a grill, but you can actually cook sliced fruit like pineapple and banana on a grill. It's another way to eat more fruit during the summer.

HEIDI SKOLNIK, RD: I'm going to put in my bias. The only time that I would grill a fruit would be like a s'more, and then it looses some of the benefit. Hot pineapple doesn't do it for.

Page 1 of 3 Next Page >>