Food related diseases are often contracted through consumption of undercooked or raw meat. Such disease can easily affect the bodybuilder’s lifestyle by bringing about vomiting, fever, diarrhea, etc. Any bodybuilder must be cautious about the bacterial pathogen Campylobacer found in poultry. The most widespread food-related diseases in the US are commonly caused by this pathogen. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention reports that a single drop of chicken “juice” can contain up to 500 of these little devils, a quantity large enough to put you into miserable state for days.
While you may argue that consumption of raw chicken juice is hardly ever practiced by people, in reality poorly cooked food can easily be contaminated with this juice. By no means can you take food-related diseases as rarity.
One precaution is to clean the cooking tools thoroughly when handling raw chicken. When grilling a chicken, make sure to place cutting board, marinade bowl, platter, and other kitchen tools used for preparation into the sink and scrub them thoroughly in soapy water afterwards. Furthermore, hands need to be washed with soap and water after handling the chicken as well. Once the chicken is cooked a good idea is to double-check its doneness with a special meat thermometer.
While we advise you to cook meat thoroughly, by no means it implies to overcook the meat. Overcooking contributes to another dangerous disease – cancer. High temperature acts on the proteins in the red meat, fish, and poultry and produces heterocyclic amines (HCAs). HCAs are known to increase cancer risk. In order to reduce amount of HCAs significantly you can briefly microwave the meat prior to grilling. The liquid present in the container with the meat after microwaving must be disposed.
The choice of marinade also affects the amount of HCA present. Use thin layer of a marinade containing herbs, garlic, or citrus fruits. When cooking ground meat add soy protein (textured) into it and mix well before putting it on the grill. Burgers frequently flipped over low heat will also contain less HCA than the ones made on high heat. Having iced tea along with your meal will also remove HCAs from your organism. Note that instant tea does not have those properties.
Last but not least come vegetables and fruits. Those foods do not form HCAs and even reduce cancer risk when consumed with meat dishes. So, make sure to have plenty of healthy veggies and fruits in your diet.