Dangers of Using Microwave Ovens

In all the homes in the western world a microwave oven is almost a necessity. There are however many dangers that scientists have discovered on the use of microwave ovens. The following are some of the dangers:

• Firstly a microwave oven works by causing the molecules in the food to resonate at very high frequencies. This is what heats your food. But while doing this the molecular or chemical structure of the food is disturbed making it lose some of the nutrients that would have remained had the food just been steamed.  
• Scientists reported in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture that broccoli loses about 97 percent of the beneficial nutrients while just steamed broccoli only lost 11 percent of the nutrients.
• Scientists have also discovered that those who eat microwaved food  experience changes in the blood chemistry such as decrease in hemoglobin values, decrease in the good kind of cholesterol, decrease in lymphocytes and leukocytes which are a crucial part of our immune system.
• It has also been discovered that the radioactive energy passed from the microwaved food to the blood cells.
• The elecromagnetic field created by a microwave oven can also cause cancer and scientists continue to study the effects of this. To avoid exposure to these harmful effects it is advisable to stand away from a microwave oven when it is in use and to wait for 1-2 minutes before eating the food.

In view of the above information I think it is better to stop using microwave ovens in our cooking and try steaming instead. For those that cannot stop using microwave ovens it is better to reduce its usage. After all our goal is to get as much nutrients as possible from the food we eat and microwaving foods defeats that purpose by destroying the very nutrients that we need to stay healthy.

Effects of Microwaving Food: Microwave Ovens Effects

In the book The Food Doctor, the authors state that Microwaving causes the the water molecules present in the food to vibrate, and this movement creates the heat which cooks the food. The microwaves bounce off the oven walls and into the food. Nutrient levels of vegetables remain reasonably high after microwaving, probably due to the short cooking time- which is the main advantage of this cooking method. However, nutrients are still lost, so steaming vegetables is a preferable method of cooking.

Further they state that one of the biggest problems with this cooking method is the type of food that is generally cooked in microwave ovens. Processed 'ready meals' contain sugar, salt and often hydrogenated fats - all of which can be harmful to the body. In addition, when they are microwaved, these foodstuffs are the most susceptible to certain molecular changes. This change in molecular structure can lead to free-radical damage.