Food Ingredients Exposed to High Temperatures Suffer DNA Damage
Damaged DNA Enters the Body Causing Alteration
Early Stage Research... Further Studies Needed
A study has suggested that the reason why high-temperature cooking methods such as direct flame grilling and frying increase the risk of cancer may be due to 'DNA.' It explains that when the DNA of cooked food enters the human body, it binds with our body's DNA and causes mutations.
On the 13th (local time), a paper containing these research results was published in the international academic journal American Chemical Society (ACS) 'Central Science.'
According to the research team led by Professor Eric Kool of Stanford University, USA, when humans or animals consume food, the DNA of that food enters the body. The team conducted experiments to determine the effects of DNA entering the human body through cooked food.
The experimental method involved using high-temperature cooking methods such as boiling various meat and vegetable ingredients like beef, pork, and potatoes in water at 100 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes or grilling them on a 220-degree Celsius griddle for 20 minutes.
Analysis by the research team showed that the DNA inside the cooked ingredients was all damaged. According to the team, all DNA that underwent changes in this way exhibited toxicity that could impair the original function of the genes.
Furthermore, when a solution containing this damaged DNA was fed to laboratory mice for one week, it was found to affect the DNA within the mice's bodies. In particular, the team explained, "It appears that more DNA damage occurs in the small intestine where food digestion takes place."
The research team added, "As a result, how much high-temperature cooking can damage the DNA of ingredients and whether the damaged DNA can actually enter the human body could potentially become an important focus of health research."
However, since this is still an early stage of research, it is reported that this hypothesis cannot be fully proven yet. The team emphasized, "Research on cooked foods has been conducted over decades, and the risk to the human body can only be revealed through large-scale population studies."
They further explained, "Our goal is to test individual parts of the 'food DNA damage hypothesis' to gain insights into its feasibility."
The research team plans to investigate through follow-up studies △ how much cooking damages the DNA of ingredients, △ whether damaged DNA causes chromosomal damage when it enters the body, and △ to what extent damaged DNA is digested and integrated into cellular DNA.
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