Advanced glycation end products in foods and a practical guide to their reduction in the diet

Uribarri J, Woodruff S, Goodman S, Cai W, Chen X, Pyzik R, Yong A, Striker GE, Vlassara H · Journal of the American Dietetic Association

Measures how much of a food's AGE content is under a cook's control. Dry heat raised AGE content 10- to 100-fold above the uncooked state across food categories. Animal foods high in fat and protein are AGE-rich and gain the most during cooking; vegetables, fruit, wholegrains and milk stay comparatively low even after cooking. New AGE formation was reduced by moist heat, shorter cooking, lower temperatures, and acidic ingredients such as lemon juice or vinegar. Broiled chicken at 5,828 kU per 100 g fell to 1,124 kU when boiled, and the mean intake in a healthy New York cohort was about 14,700 kU a day.

Population

549 foods analysed for carboxymethyllysine by immunoassay, with methylglyoxal derivatives measured in a subset, chosen from the diets of a New York urban population

Intervention

Cooking method, temperature, time and added acid

Comparator

The uncooked state

Limitations

A food-composition and method paper with no health endpoint of any kind, measuring two of many AGEs by immunoassay in foods from one northeastern US city. How much dietary AGE is absorbed, and whether it reaches cartilage, is a separate question this database does not address. National Institute on Aging funding; no conflict declared.