Chicken, right?
By Sirinia
DAILY XPRESS
Published on October 2, 2008
Those wondering whether the Je Festival's mock meats are safe to try can lay their worries down -- and pick up some chopsticks
Do you turn your nose up at the mock-meat dishes at the Je Festival's yellow-flag stalls? It's not the soybean content that furrows some people's brows but the flavours that go into it. Assoc Prof Kaew Kangsa-dalampai, head of food and nutrition toxicology at Mahi-dol University's Institute of Nutrition, guarantees the mock meats are as safe as the real thing - probably even safer. The mock meat alone is not a health risk, but the flavour comes from the same amino acids that make pork, chicken and beef dangerous when they are burned or deep- fried at high heat, explains Kaew. The more deep-fried and charred you like your food, the higher the risk of cancer you take, he adds.
Safer than real meat Kaew's recent laboratory tests confirmed that there was no problem with chemicals in the meat substitutes. In fact, he found that the veggie sai-ua (Northern-style sausage), meatballs and salted fish all had less of the muta- gens that can cause cancer than the real meats. "Cooking processes and over-consumption are what we should worry about," says Kaew. Over-consumption of carbohydrate and fat is a common problem as people often feel that it doesn't fill them up. Kaew recommends that we should replace the carbs with a diet that's heavier in vegetables.
Oestrogen in soybeans Recent research from the West linking the oestrogen in soybeans to cancer in women is another reason why some people are suspicious of mock meats, says Kaew. But he explains that the oestrogen levels in soybeans are far lower than those produced naturally in women's bodies, especially during menstruation. Regular consumption of soybean is actually an advantage as it prevents the body from over-producing its own. Finally, Kaew insists that it doesn't matter whether you are a carnivore or a pure vegetarian, everyone needs half of their diet to be vegetables - carbohydrates and protein are not enough.
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