Written By Michael Greger M.D. FACLM • April 28, 2022 . Website
Meat, fish, and egg powder in processed foods present greater risk from cholesterol oxidation byproducts, but there are things you can do to reduce exposure.
“A significant body of evidence indicates that cholesterol oxidation , in the form of oxysterols, is one of the main triggers of AD [Alzheimer’s disease].”
But, that’s not all. Cholesterol oxidation products (COPs) “are associated with the initiation and progression of major chronic diseases,” including heart disease, diabetes, and kidney failure.
COPs are produced when animal products are heated. All forms of cooking can do it, since you can get “maximum cholesterol oxidation and COP production” at only about 300 degrees Fahrenheit, but are there any types of cooking that are worse than others? As I discuss in my video How to Reduce Cholesterol Oxidation, if you look at “foal meat”—baby horse meat—higher levels of oxidation in general were found in microwaved meat, as you can see at 0:40 in the video.
Indeed, microwaving chicken or beef appears to produce about twice as much cholesterol oxidation as does frying. If you look at bacon, though, raw bacon didn’t have any oxidized cholesterol. Like all animal products, it has cholesterol, but it’s not oxidized until you cook it. Grilling seems to be the safest if you eat the meat right away, but if you put leftovers in the refrigerator and reheat them later using the same method, all the oxidized cholesterol levels shoot up, as you can see at 0:58 in my video.
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