Cooking habits can cause cancer. Are you one of them?

Recently, the article "Four Habits When Cooking May Cause Cancer" has been forwarded in the circle of friends. Cooking without washing the pot, turning off the range hood after cooking, and repeatedly using the oil used for frying food... These seem to be the "good recipes" that stay-at-home moms must have to save money, but in fact they are "poisoning" our health or causing cancer. Nutritionist Xia Pengbin from the Department of Clinical Nutrition at the Zhongda Hospital Affiliated to Southeast University pointed out that these four common habits are actually bad habits, so be careful about causing cancer.

Bad habit 1: Not cleaning the pan after cooking and then continuing to cook

This is the first bad habit mentioned in the circle of friends, and it is also one of the common life habits of most lazy people. After frying the eggs, there is still some oil in the pan. It’s okay. Just add some more oil and fry other dishes. This saves money and oil, killing two birds with one stone. I just fried some vegetables, there is not much oil, and the pan is clean, so I can just keep using it… However, nutritionist Xia Pengbin from the Clinical Nutrition Department of Zhongda Hospital pointed out that grease and food residues will adhere to the surface of the seemingly clean pan, and when heated again at high temperature, carcinogens such as benzopyrene may be produced. Moreover, if you continue to cook without washing the pot, you will find that the remaining vegetables in the pot are easily burnt, which also poses a certain risk of cancer. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not skip the step of scrubbing the pot. For the sake of health and the good appearance of the dishes, you should still scrub it!

Bad habit 2: Turn off the range hood immediately after cooking

The dish is about to be served. Turn off the fire, turn off the range hood, serve the dish, and a series of actions are completed in one go. The dish is ready. However, this casual habit actually harbors a murderous intent. Nutritionist Xia Pengbin said that some people like to turn off the range hood immediately after cooking, which is as natural as turning off the lights, but it is not good for your health. If the fire is particularly big and the food is burnt, it will cause the release of harmful substances, especially harming the respiratory system, and may even induce lung cancer.

Xia Pengbin further explained that a large amount of harmful substances will be produced during the cooking process, especially high-temperature oil smoke, and the range hood plays a very important role in removing exhaust gas. In fact, it takes time for the range hood to expel exhaust gas. When cooking is finished, there is still some exhaust gas left in the kitchen. After cooking, you may want to let the range hood continue to run for 3-5 minutes to ensure that harmful gases are completely discharged. In addition, try to close the kitchen door and open the windows for ventilation when cooking, which can reduce the residue of harmful substances in the kitchen to a certain extent.

Bad habit 3: Cooking only when the oil is smoking

How to tell if the oil is hot? Many people would answer that just seeing smoke coming out of the oil pan is enough. But is this healthy? Xia Pengbin pointed out that when the oil pan starts to smoke, the oil temperature has often reached above 200°C. If the vegetables are put into the pan at this time, the carcinogens produced will increase the risk of cancer. Under such conditions, many nutrients in vegetables are also destroyed. In addition, when the oil is at this temperature, not only the fat-soluble vitamins contained in it are destroyed, but the essential fatty acids in the human body are also oxidized and destroyed, reducing the nutritional value of the oil. Nutritionists recommend that during the cooking process, it is best to use a hot pan and cold oil. The trans fatty acids produced by oil at high temperatures are harmful to the human body.

Bad habit 4: Using leftover frying oil for cooking

Many people are reluctant to throw away used frying oil and use it for high-temperature cooking or deep-frying. In fact, this practice is very undesirable. Xia Pengbin believes that if oil has been used many times, there will be residual carcinogens in the oil, mainly benzopyrene, as well as some aldehydes, heterocyclic compounds, etc. It is best to use cooking oil only once, and at most 2-3 times under the condition of controlling the oil temperature. From this point of view, the fried skewers and fried stinky tofu on the street are not worth eating!

Regarding the selection of edible oil, Xia Pengbin introduced that in terms of its sources, edible oil mainly comes from animal and plant sources. Try to use less animal fats in daily life, and choose vegetable oils while controlling the total amount. In the absence of sufficient evidence to prove that genetically modified foods are harmless, it is recommended to use non-genetically modified vegetable oils. From the perspective of processing technology, oil produced by physical pressing methods should be given priority, and oil produced by chemical extraction methods should be used less frequently, because these oils contain some harmful chemicals remaining from the chemical processing process. Although these chemicals are within a safe range, it is better to consume less of them.

In addition, nutritionists also specifically remind you to pay attention to controlling the oil temperature when frying fish, as fried fish can easily become burnt. It is best to add oil when the pan is hot and then put the fish in, so that it will not easily stick to the pan. Never wait until the pan smokes before adding oil.