• What are AGEs and why are they bad for you?
• Cook your way to a healthier you
• 3 nutrients to help reverse the damage

If you enjoy eating meat every now and then, you know how hard it is to pass up a char-broiled steak, ribs that are fresh off the grill or a few slices of perfectly roasted chicken.

But before you throw your next grass-fed steak under the broiler… before you grill that next batch of ribs… there’s something you should know.

When you cook your meat at high temperatures, it causes sugar molecules to become cross-linked with proteins. The same thing happens when you caramelize foods like onions or carrots.

These cross-linked proteins are called advanced glycation end products (AGEs).

Well, these are inflammatory glycotoxins that build up in your cells, tissue and organs. If you’re diabetic they’ll accumulate even more quickly. This is due to the increased availability of glucose (blood sugar) that accompanies diabetes.

Now, small amounts of AGEs aren’t a problem. For the most part, they’re excreted via your kidneys.

But if you’re putting more AGEs in your body than you’re able to get rid of, they can become a horrible health threat. That’s because the tissue damage caused by these crossed proteins contributes to many of today’s most dreaded health issues. These include…

• Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
• Heart disease
• Kidney disorders
• Diabetes
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Inflammation
• Muscle loss (sarcopenia)
• Cataracts

With this in mind, it’s essential that you take measures to limit your exposure to AGEs. Thankfully, there are several ways you can do that.

How to Avoid the Formation of AGEs

When it comes to the amount of AGEs in your body, meat is one of the biggest culprits. Processed meats like bacon and hot dogs top the list. Roasted, barbequed and fried chicken are all very high in AGEs, too. So is red meat that’s pan-fried, roasted, broiled or stir-fried.

Compared to other meats, broiled lamb (my favorite type of meat!) is relatively low in AGEs.

You can drastically reduce the formation of these cross-bound proteins simply by changing your cooking methods. This means passing up on dry, high heat methods of cooking that involve roasting, frying grilling, searing or caramelizing.

Instead, opt for slower cooking methods. Lower temperatures and more moisture are key. Steaming, boiling, poaching or using a slow cooker to stew your meats are all great alternatives. One of the best methods is braising your meats.

As a matter of fact, you can cut the formation AGEs in beef by about 63% – and by as much as 80% in chicken – if you boil or stew these meats instead of broiling them.

Keep in mind that you should limit the amount of meat you eat to about 13% of your diet. I also suggest choosing lean cuts of meat from grass-fed livestock and free-range poultry. The leaner the meat, the fewer by-products will be released when cooking.

Three Supplements to Slash the Damaging Effects of AGEs

If you’ve been eating a high AGEs diet, it’s important to help your body get rid of those cross-bound proteins as soon as possible. And there are a couple of supplements that can help.

Carnosine has both anti-glycating and anti-cross-linking properties. In other words, it helps to stop sugar molecules from binding with proteins. This makes carnosine a front runner when it comes to inhibiting the formation of AGEs. I recommend taking 500 mg twice a day.

Chlorogenic acid is another nutrient that can help guard against the formation of AGEs. In fact, it works even better than aminoguanidine, a well-known AGEs inhibitor. You can get more chlorogenic acid by supplementing with a green coffee bean extract.

Resveratrol is one of my favorite nutrients. And it shows great promise when it comes to fighting off AGEs. In animal studies, it’s shown to down regulate the expression of AGEs receptors. Just as important, resveratrol activates your SIRT1 gene. This gene up regulates other receptors that increase the turnover rate of AGEs. I recommend taking at least 250 mg. of resveratrol each day.

It’s also a good idea to limit foods that are processed, and those with a high sugar or HFCS content. These high glycemic foods also increase the amount of AGEs in your body.

Replace them with plenty of organic fruits and veggies that are naturally low in AGES. As an added bonus, the antioxidants and other nutrients found in these fresh, natural foods can help offset some of the damage caused by AGES.

SOURCES:

Luevano-Contreras C, et al. Dietary Advanced Glycation End Products and Aging. Nutrients. 2010 Dec; 2(12): 1247–1265.

Uribarri J, et al. Advanced Glycation End Products in Foods and a Practical Guide to Their Reduction in the Diet. J Am Diet Assoc. 2010 Jun; 110(6): 911–16.e12.

Hipkiss AR. Carnosine, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. Expert Rev Neurother. 2009 May;9(5):583-5.

Kim J, et al. Chlorogenic acid inhibits the formation of advanced glycation end products and associated protein cross-linking. Arch Pharm Res. 2011 Mar;34(3):495-500.

Khazaei M, et al. Effects of Resveratrol on Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGE) Expression and Oxidative Stress in the Liver of Rats with Type 2 Diabetes. Phytother Res. 2016 Jan;30(1):66-71.

Nowotny K, et al. Advanced Glycation End Products and Oxidative Stress in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Biomolecules. 2015 Mar; 5(1): 194–222.