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Acrylamide, the Garlic Detox and Sociable Breath
There’s been a little kerfuffle (technical term) around the possibility that coffee (and heated high starch and protein food, like bread and baked potatoes) could be a source of the suspected cancer-causing agent “acrylamide” (1). Although the acrylamide content of these food and drinks is largely agreed on, there is no consensus on whether or not acrylamide is a real risk of cancer. Like many other concerns linking diet and chronic diseases, it is fairly easy to ignore dangers highlighted by research because certain foods are consumed so regularly.
The chemical acrylamide is generally recognised as a cancer-causing agent (i.e. carcinogen) by governmental public health agencies, but the cancer risk may come predominantly from the related molecule “glycidamide” (2). In an attempt to detoxify acrylamide, a portion of acrylamide is converted into the compound glycidamide (3) in the liver (4). Free-“floating” acrylamide and glycidamide infiltrate DNA and stick to it, which readily leads to cancer (3).
The toxicity of acrylamide (and glycidamide) can be monitored in people. Damaged DNA from cells that may be cancerous break off as the cells multiply (forming structures known as “micronuclei”). Funnily enough, people exposed to more acrylamide in their food have more micronuclei, indicating more damaged DNA (2).
