Dr. Fagin on grilling on KTBC
Newscaster: Thinking about these 4th of July barbecues tomorrow, everybody's ready to go. We've got a heads-up for you, though. We wanna give you some nutrition information; a lot of high fat in some of this stuff you need to think about. We wanna keep you healthy, and that's why we've got Dr. Randy Fagin here from the Prostate Center of Austin to talk about some of these things. First of all, it's good to see you.
Dr. Randy Fagin: Nice to see you too.
Newscaster: Thank you, we appreciate it. I guess some of these things are obvious to you, but maybe not so obvious to people that are gonna throw everything on the grill and have at it. There are some risks there.
Dr. Randy Fagin: Absolutely. You know, it's amazing. When it comes to men's health, it's all about the heart and the prostate. And when it comes to the heart and the prostate, what you grill and how you grill it can really make a difference.
Newscaster: So they're linked.
Dr. Randy Fagin: They're linked. They're significantly linked.
Newscaster: Okay. What do we need to know?
Dr. Randy Fagin: Well, it's interesting, you know. Whether you're grilling meats, beefs, chickens, or fish, when you're grilling at high temperatures, it actually breaks down the meat in a very unhealthy way.
Newscaster: Okay.
Dr. Randy Fagin: And it releases these chemicals called HCAs which have been linked to colon cancer, and prostate cancer, and breast cancer. And there's some things that you can do to avoid that.
Newscaster: Okay. What do we do?
Dr. Randy Fagin: Well, there's five ways that you can keep yourself healthier grilling this summer. First of all, if you marinade your meats.
Newscaster: Yeah.
Dr. Randy Fagin: Very interesting. If you marinade your meats, it actually breaks them down in a healthier way, and it reduces those HCAs by 96%.
Newscaster: Really? No kidding.
Dr. Randy Fagin: Second thing you can do is obviously grill leaner. Instead of grilling those nice, high-fat pieces of meat on there, grill leaner because obviously, less fat is better for our bodies, better for our hearts, better for our health.
Newscaster: So lean, for instance, what?
Dr. Randy Fagin: Lean meaning leaner beefs, or use chickens, use fish, use leaner meats than you're gonna grill with otherwise.
Newscaster: So you don't have to give up red meat, necessarily, but go with lean cuts.
Dr. Randy Fagin: Just leaner cuts, you got it.
Newscaster: Gotcha.
Dr. Randy Fagin: Third thing you can do is grill vegetables, you know. Interestingly, if you grill vegetables, that high temperature actually canalizes the sugars inside the vegetables, and it makes them healthier for you and better tasting.
Newscaster: Who knew?
Dr. Randy Fagin: Third thing you can do is actually pre-cook your meats. If you pre-cook your meats at a lower temperature, and then just throw 'em out on the grill for that last little bit of flavor, you'll significantly increase the health of the meats that you're eating.
Newscaster: So, what, do you microwave them? Or however you wanna do it?
Dr. Randy Fagin: Microwave them or stick them in the oven. Low temperature cooking, last little bit onto the grill, much healthier for you.
Newscaster: I didn't know that. How about that?
Dr. Randy Fagin: And lastly, use summertime as your time to get healthy. You know, there is nothing that beats a once-a-year visit to your doctor to get your PSA checked for prostate cancer, your cholesterol checked, your blood pressure checked, your EKG. All those things can keep you healthy for many, many 4th of Julys to come.
Newscaster: Yeah. And you would think, on the face of it, that that would be a pretty simple proposition, but a lot of people avoid that.
Dr. Randy Fagin: It's very simple.
Newscaster: I'm sure you see a lot of it.
Dr. Randy Fagin: Yeah, you know, it's interesting. Preventive medicine is the best way to keep yourself healthy.
Newscaster: Yeah.
Dr. Randy Fagin: It's like our cars, you know. Unfortunately, guys think that if it's not making noise, it's not broken. So they wait until things are really worn down before they go to see the doctor.
Newscaster: And then you gotta give 'em bad news.
Dr. Randy Fagin: Exactly. If your brakes are squeaking, they're really worn down, and you wanna check those things before they get that bad. And the same thing is true with going to the doctor. A lot of these problems that men face, whether it's ED or prostate issues or heart issues or cholesterol issues, so many of these are so preventable if you catch them early. There's very simple treatments for them.
Newscaster: What age brackets are we talking about?
Dr. Randy Fagin: We're talking about guys as young as in their 30s.
Newscaster: Okay.
Dr. Randy Fagin: You know, things that happen to us don't happen all of a sudden. They wear over time. So increasing our health in our 30s and 40s actually keeps us healthier into our 50s and 60s.
Newscaster: Right. So if you're really broken, it's tougher for you to fix it than prevent it.
Dr. Randy Fagin: Absolutely, that's right.
Newscaster: Okay. Good advice, indeed. Dr. Randy Fagin from the Prostate Center of Austin. Grill lean and you'll be okay. Good to see you, thank you for the visit. We appreciate it.
Dr. Randy Fagin: Thank you, my pleasure.
Newscaster: You betcha. Good to talk to you.