I always think that frying food is bad because the food is "fried" - it's greasy, it's not that good to your health and it possibly provides more fat content than you want. I am not aware of the fact that different cooking methods can also have different effects on the intake of a harmful substance called acrylamide.
According to Kitsap Sun, the article "Practical Prevention: Moderate Your Dietary Intake of Acrylamide" suggests that there are laboratory studies in animals have linked cancer to the amount of intake of acrylamide, although we humans normally have lower intake of this substance. However, if Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has initiated research on this subject, it means that we need to pay some attention to it.
So, what is Acrylamide? "It's a chemical that forms in some foods during cooking at high temperatures. The natural sugars and the amino acid asparagine found in some plant-foods combine naturally to produce acrylamide when subjected to high heat. Common food sources of the chemical include potatoes, grain products, and coffee."
This substance can cause nerve damage to people when intake amount at very high levels. World Health Organization (WHO) also has classified acrylamide "probably carcinogenic to humans".
Several methods are suggested from the article that can help to reduce the possible intake of acrylamide, "such as boiling, steaming, poaching, braising, blanching and microwaving". But acrylamide is normally "not associated with meat, diary products or seafood."
So, remember next time when you cook certain food that can create acrylamide, be sure to cook them properly, and at the same time, be sure to prepare and rest the food in a way to allow reduction in the formation of this chemical.
Reference:
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/nov/16/practical-prevention-moderate-your-dietary-of/
