If you’re concerned about cancer, skip the braai but enjoy the biltong, say researchers at the University of the Free State.
In a paper published in the latest issue of the South African Medical Journal, they have described the results of a battery of tests on nine volunteers fed a biltong-enriched diet over five days.
”This study demonstrated that with regard to pro-carcinogenic content, meat is safer when eaten dried, as in biltong prepared the traditional South African way,” they said.
Chemical compounds that could lead to cancer formation were produced by ”high-temperature cooking of animal proteins”, they said.
”First of all, biltong does not contain the chemicals that can be converted to cancer radicals by enzymes in the body,” said project leader and head of the university’s pharmacology department, Professor Andrew Walubo, on Thursday.
”And then we found that biltong has no effect on the enzymes in the body,” he said.
”It does not stimulate or inhibit them…. Biltong is a food worth promoting because of its health value in reducing the risk of cancer.”
Walubo said the findings were an indication that more attention should be paid to traditional foods and recipes.
”Myself, I’m not a biltong lover, but I’ve started chewing it whenever I find it,” he said.
He warned, however, that people should avoid biltong made with a lot of salt, as this posed a blood pressure risk. – Sapa