The Study
Cooking methods affect advanced glycation end products and lipid profiles: A randomized cross-over study in healthy subjects
This study showed that how you cook food—like boiling vs. grilling—can change certain body markers in healthy people. But it didn’t prove that one way of cooking makes you healthier or sicker in the long run—it just saw short-term changes in the lab.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
This study tested if boiling or steaming food instead of grilling or baking changes what’s in your blood and gut—even when you eat the exact same food.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 568 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1These changes are meaningful because high AGEs and bad cholesterol are linked to heart disease, and 4E-BP1 may help protect against metabolic problems—even if inflammation didn’t drop.
- 2Boiling/steaming for 2 weeks lowered harmful blood chemicals (AGEs) by 40–50%, lowered cholesterol by 8 mg/dL and triglycerides by 18 mg/dL, and raised a protein (4E-BP1) linked to metabolism.
- 3Grilling/baking raised butyrate in poop but didn’t change gut bacteria.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Cell Reports Medicine
Year
2025
Authors
J. Wellens, E. Vissers, Anaïs Dumoulin, S. Hoekx, Julie Vanderstappen, Joke Verbeke, R. Vangoitsenhoven, Muriel Derrien, Bram Verstockt, Marc Ferrante, Christophe Matthys, J. Raes, K. Verbeke, Séverine Vermeire, João Sabino
Related Content
Claims (5)
Switching from grilling and baking to boiling and steaming food for two weeks lowers blood levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), including CML and MG-H1, by 40–50% in healthy adults, regardless of what they eat.
When healthy adults eat food cooked by grilling or baking instead of boiling or steaming, their fecal butyrate levels rise, even though the types of gut bacteria remain unchanged.
In healthy adults, cooking food by boiling or steaming for two weeks lowers total cholesterol by about 8 mg/dL and triglycerides by about 18 mg/dL compared to cooking by grilling or baking, regardless of the amounts of carbs, fats, or proteins consumed.
Cooking food by boiling or steaming for two weeks raises levels of the protein 4E-BP1 in the blood of healthy adults, while cooking methods that produce more AGEs do not. This difference suggests that cooking methods directly influence cellular metabolic signaling.
When you cook food at high heat—like grilling or frying—it creates harmful compounds called AGEs, which can trigger your body’s inflammation system, making you more prone to chronic swelling and related health issues.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.