Eating meat cooked at high temperatures can increase a person's risk of getting high blood pressure, according to a study by the American Heart Association. This includes grilled, barbecued, broiled, and roasted meat.

Cooking Meat

Researchers tracked 32,925 women from the Nurses' Health Study, 53,852 women from the Nurses' Health Study II, and 17,104 men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. They analyzed the cooking method used by each person.

At the beginning of the study, none of the people had high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, or cancer. They regularly ate beef, poultry, or fish.  

Participants in the study were then followed up for an average of 12 to 16 years. Out of the more than 108,000 participants in the study, 37,123 of them developed high blood pressure during the time of the study. Those in the study were mostly health professionals and Caucasian.

In those who had at least two servings of red meat, chicken, or fish a week, the risk of developing blood pressure was 17 percent high if they grilled, broiled, or roasted beef, chicken, or fish more than 15 times per month. The risk was 15 percent higher for those that liked their meat well-done. It was 17 percent higher for those who liked to have their meat charred or exposed to high temperatures.

The High Temperature Effect

Researchers noted that meat cooked at high temperatures was the cause of the development of high blood pressure. The process was found to result in oxidative stress, inflammation, and insulin resistance — all of these things can affect the linings of blood vessels and eventually lead to high blood pressure. It can also lead to atherosclerosis, a disease in which the arteries narrow due to a build-up of fat and cholesterol.

Meanwhile, a study from 2017 shows that meat cooked at high temperatures can also increase the chances of developing cancer. Scientists found that compounds in red and processed meat produce carcinogenic compounds that can change a person's DNA.

Heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are formed when meat is cooked at high temperatures. As they cause a change in a person's DNA, the risk of cancer increeased. So far, these changes have been noted in labs using animals such as rodents.

Avoiding cooking meat at high temperatures can therefore help reduce the risk of hypertension. About 75 million Americans, which is 29 percent of the nation's population, suffer from high blood pressure. High blood pressure can also increase the chances of heart disease and stroke, which are among the leading causes of death in the United States.