Several readers have recently asked me why I don’t use the Microwave Oven…Here are my top 5 reasons:
- Microwaves were never thoroughly researched before adoption in the United States. The microwave oven was developed more than 80 years ago, and in WWII German solders were given these ovens to warm meals. Germans conducted several studies about the biological effect of using microwaves, which were transferred to the United States for further scientific investigation, but were never researched thoroughly before these ovens were mass produced for the general public. The FDA even states today that there have been no long term studies on the effects of microwaved foods on humans; however, the studies that the Germans produced are actually some of the same ones Russia used in issuing their temporary ban of microwave ovens in 1976 (it was lifted after a change in political power). The studies produced indicated that several of the German soldiers developed cancers of the blood and that microwaves voided nutritional content of the food.
- Microwaves destroy the nutrient value of your food. Live, healthy, and nutritious foods can become dead in a matter of seconds when you use a microwave. We are the only species on the planet that destroys the nutrient content of our food before eating it.A study published in the November 2003 issue of the Journal of Science of Food and Agriculture found that broccoli cooked in the microwave lost up to 97 percent of its antioxidant content.In the book “Health Begins in the Colon” – Dr. Group says that a microwave oven decays and changes the molecular structure of the food by the process of radiation. The radiation breaks down any vitamins and minerals in the food and changes its natural structure. Your body cannot handle these irradiated molecules and they eventually weaken your immune and digestive and don’t provide you with proper nutrition. Also, it is widely known that vitamin B12 becomes completely inactive once heated in a microwave. This is a critical vitamin for plant based eaters, since our soil has been depleted of this important vitamin over the years. Dr. Mercola quoted one study where it was discovered that microwaving can destroy the essential disease-fighting agents in breast milk that offers protection for your baby. The study found that microwaved breast milk lost lysozyme activity, antibodies, and fostered the growth of more potentially pathogenic bacteria.
- Microwaves create carcinogenic compounds in your food. Heating meat, dairy products, plastics and paper have all been shown to create carcinogens. The Nutrition Action Newsletter reported the leakage of numerous toxic chemicals from the packaging of common microwavable foods, including pizzas, chips and popcorn. These chemicals included BPA, polyethylene terpthalate (PET), benzene, toluene, and xylene. Microwaving fatty foods in plastic containers leads to the release of dioxins (known carcinogens) and other toxins into your food.The summary of Russian investigations published by an Educational Center in Portland, Oregon showed carcinogens were formed in virtually all foods tested and no test food was subjected to more microwaving than necessary to accomplish the purpose, i.e. cooking, thawing, or heating to insure sanitary ingestion.
- Microwaves provide unnecessary daily exposure to radiation. I cannot knowingly use a microwave considering they are slowly destroying my cells.According to the book Cancer is Not a Disease – It’s a Survial Mechanism, “when you stand in front of a radar device you will start perspiring/cooking from the inside out, just like food is cooked in the microwave oven. The heat is generated by the rapid movement of molecules and the breaking down of molecular bonds. Each year millions of birds are killed when they get too close to, or sit on, cell towers. And apparently, the same can happen to the human body when it is exposed to this type of radiation on a regular basis. After all, human cells are made of molecules and molecular bonds are broken and destroyed when exposed to radiation.”
- Microwaves can create severe health issues. The massive adoption of the microwave and the increase in obesity can be linked. The microwave has made it extremely easy and convenient to eat processed foods and then further destroys its little nutritional content. The more dead food people eat, the more calories they consume trying to get the nutrition their body so desperately needs.A Swiss clinical study conducted by Dr. Hans Ulrich Hertel found significant and disturbing changes in the blood of individuals consuming microwaved milk and vegetables. Eight volunteers ate various combinations of the same foods cooked different ways. All foods that were cooked in the microwave caused changes in the blood of the volunteers. Hemoglobin levels decreased and overall white cell levels and cholesterol levels increased. The doctor in this study was actually able to cure people who were diagnosed with chronic fatigue by having them literally throw out their microwave.
Last by not least, Dr. Masaru Emoto, who is famous for taking pictures of various types of waters and the crystals that they formed in the book called “Hidden Messages in Water,” found water that was microwaved did not form beautiful crystals – but instead formed crystals similar to those formed when exposed to negative thoughts or beliefs. If this is happening to just water – I can only imagine what a microwave is doing to the nutrients, energy of our food and to our bodies when we consume microwaved food.
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When’s the last time you used a microwave? At my house, I still have a microwave, but I never turn it on. I use it for the timer feature and that’s about it. If you have any suggestions on how I could use this space above my oven in an aesthetically pleasing way, I’m open to suggestions!
Food Babe
I am so happy that you have covered the dangers of using a microwave! Way to go, girl! I have not used one for years. As someone who had a brain tumor two years ago, I tend to lean on the cautious side but it is becoming clear to so many people that simplifying is the way to go. For those who are concerned about the extra steps it takes to live microwave free listen up! My sister, who is a single mom with two growing boys lives microwave free. She works 50 hours a week and still has time to prepare healthy meals WITH her children. Get them involved. We are so disconnected from our food and it’s source today. This is just one step to reconnect. If the only change you make is to get rid of your microwave then that in itself is HUGE!
Thank you again Food Babe. I remember meeting you at a Raw Food Class when you were just starting the blog. I am so happy for you and all that you have created with this work! I look forward to your posts and I truly appreciate your passion and your love of the human race. Your huge heart and questioning mind is rare and admirable. Thank you and many Blessings on your path!
I get that eating raw foods is better and using a microwave could cause health risks, but when you’re adding the word “Satan” and things mixed with “negative or bad thoughts” you’re going to lose people. That argument is invalid, keep to the health stuff, not the spiritual.
Lisa – I hear ya – but Dr. Emoto did conduct scientific research on water in his book. I can see now that many people haven’t read his work – it’s fascinating and I’m THRILLED to share his work with more people. It’s interesting that people are so up in arms about giving up their microwave. I am daring everyone to just think a little differently and maybe try not using it and see what happens.
I have read the book and it is simply AMAZING! Of course, the word “Satan” wouldn’t produce the same response in everyone, but knowing it represents hate is the point here. You should also watch “What the Bleep?” which states, If your thoughts can do this to water, just think about what your thoughts do to you! Since our bodies are comprised of 60-70% water, I can see how this is valid.
I thought about putting a few shelves there and keeping my cookbooks in the dpace
I’ve heard of people using microwaves as a breadbox. It keeps the bread fresh, and you never have to turn it on.
I’ve also heard that microwaves help bread dough to rise quicker. You just put your dough in the microwave and leave the door open a hair. The heat from the light bulb creates a warm environment for the bread dough.
I don’t have a microwave; I just have cabinets over my stove.
Mine caught fire grease i took it to scrap yard my counter is spacious i cook then i warm food up losing weight cause food not ready
I have not used a microwave in about 6 months. I live in a tiny studio apartment and don’t have much storage in my kitchen so I’ve unplugged my microwave and use it to store spices and teas! My trick for heating up a cup of water (for teas or a hot lemon drink in the morning), aside from just using a regular pan over the stove (I don’t even own an tea kettle because I wouldn’t know where to store it) is to let the water boil in the pan and insert a cup of water into the pan (creating a double boiler, in effect). When I lift it out, I have a cup of hot water ready to go! Works pretty well. However, I would love to hear about to heat leftovers (like soups) without dirtying a entire pan for a small serving.
Tell me more about the steaming in the oven part. I have never heard this. How exactly do you do this? Is it a steamer insert in a pot of water that you use?
I’m not 100% sure about any of the studies, but common sense tells me, most shortcuts come with compromises.
BAD, BAD, BAD! Plain and simple, microwaves not only kill nutrients (restructuring the molecular structure) they add poison. Yup, medical doctors are taught very little if anything about nutrition. They are taught to fight off and remove symptoms. My fiance’ is a holistic/neurological chiropractor who has helped hundreds and hundreds of people get back on track with their health. This is one thing he says must go.
Here’s a test: Take two similar plants. Water one with regular filtered water. Water the other with nuked water. Watch what happens! ;o)
Just my 2-cents.
After learning, when I had my son, microwaves killed the antibodies in breast milk, I no longer had a microwave in my house. If I used one I thought it harmless to heat water. Thankyou for the molecular studies and info. I have wanted to eliminate the microwave at my present home and now I have the facts to convince my man to do it! The note on chronic fatigue stuck with me because I have been fighting it for about 3years now. I believe everyones CFS is personalized by the stresses from their own individual lifestyle. The info you have provided is helping me move forward from mine. My biggest concern is how much are our schools using microwaves and is it related to all the attention deficit/B12deficiency? Keep me posted….
Einstein won the Nobel prize in physics not for the Theory of Relativity, not for more or less, the discovery of the atom, but for his work that demonstrated at the turn of the 20th century – and research which has *never* been contradicted in peer reviewed studies – that the radiation in microwaves is harmless. For those of you afraid of the “r” word – radiation, I’m afraid to inform you that ALL visible light is electromagnetic radiation. The remote controls in your house emit electromagnetic radiation. uV rays in sunlight – one form of electromagnetic radiation – are harmful. That’s because as the frequency of the radiation increases, the energy per photon increases. With sufficient energy, the radiation is ionizing – that is, it can effect chemical changes; can affect DNA, etc. If you go out at night, the light reflected from the moon, since it’s a form of light, is also electromagnetic radiation. It is on the order of 1 million times more harmful to you than the photons from a microwave oven. Now, as Einstein demonstrated over 100 years ago, if you increase the intensity of the radiation, it does NOT increase it’s ability to knock electrons loose, etc. But, as energy is always conserved, it will lead to heating.
The chemical changes from this heating are NOT different from the chemical changes of heating by cooking in an oven, on a stove top, using electric heat/gas heat/induction. So, while it’s true that microwaving does destroy some of the nutrients in food, making the claim in the absence of pointing out that all other forms of cooking – steaming, baking, etc., also destroy some of the nutrients.
I challenge Lisa to use dispute any of this using peer reviewed research – that is, research that other scientists will say was conducted validly. There’s no shortage of charletans and frauds who publish books. Fear-mongering makes for good profits.
Tom
I believe that Einstein won the Nobel Prize for his work on the photoelectric effect.
Thank you for posting this Tom. It’s about time somebody addressed the misinformation here instead of just adding to the paranoia. People hear the word “radiation” and they flip out not realizing they’re already bathing in it. If fact, if you’re reading this you’re subject to the radiation emitted by your computer monitor.
The so-called “research” being referred to here isn’t research at all. They’re just regurgitating what they read and hear from what any reasonably intelligent person would deem as highly questionable sources. Research is conducted in the field and in the laboratory gathering hard data, not browsing the internet.
While Dr Emoto’s work is fascinating, his research is a far cry from being real scientific research. His methodology is incredibly flawed, allowing for a tremendous amount of human error. ANY good scientific experiment should be able to be described so that others can conduct the same experiment. No one else has duplicated his results. For a great example on this phenomenon, see “cold fusion.” That study has never been duplicated, resulting in the original authors being ridiculed.
Vani, I would be very interested to hear your take on this recent (rather contradictory) article …
http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/02/26/jane-says-everything-you-know-about-microwaves-wrong?fb_action_ids=10151303047716674&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_ref=.US5YN8FD76s.like&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582
Please have a read and add your thoughts if you have time, thanks.
I don’t know about this one! Each point could be rebutted!
1) Research is forever ongoing, I’m sure those who invented fire didn’t wait for the nerdy neanderthal in the group to clear it before cooking delicious dinosaur meats!!
2) Any energy (aka cooking) breaks down vitamins in food, but it also makes them more bioavailable to those who eat them. It’s a trade-off. Microwaving may damage more vitamins than other types of cooking, but it’s misleading to suggest microwaves solely rob all nutrient quality of our food.
3) So does frying. So does grilling. So why make this point? Char-grilled burgers are a much bigger culprit, unless somebody is constantly microwaving tomato sauce in plastic bowls.
4) This explanation doesn’t link microwaves to radiation exposure. Microwaves are larger than the holes seen through the microwave door. Thus, they are contained inside. They also dissipate in milliseconds, thus the user isn’t exposed when they open the door either.
5) This one also can’t be directly argued for or against benefits of microwaves. Yes, microwaves are very convenience, and a generation was taught that TV dinners were the norm and the taste turned out terrible. But happy water? Not particularly scientific. Anyways, that microwaved water is now free of pathogens and safer to drink than any running water found in the natural environment anywhere.
This is asinine psuedoscience at its worst. Please stop spreading half truths and crap science. These types of articles remove credibility from legitimate concerns by diluting the conversation with rubbish.
here is an article that I find slightly less revolting. http://ehealthmd.com/content/microwaved-food-dangerous-myths-and-facts#axzz2Os5AKTmv
That is correct. A summary of the results of those discoveries includes that microwaves are non-ionizing forms of radiation. People hear the word “radiation”, and to those without a sufficient science background, it’s a scary word. X-rays are radiation. Gamma rays are radiation. And, those, along with ultraviolet radiation have sufficient energies (E=planck’s constant times the frequency) to ionize & effect chemical changes directly. But, what those people fail to realize is that the stuff hitting their eyes as they read this (known as visible light) is the exact same stuff – electromagnetic radiation. It’s just radiation with a larger wavelength/smaller frequency. To put it in terms that most people might understand, Gamma rays & X rays on the electromagnetic spectrum would be like giant boulders being dropped on you. Ultra violet like large rocks. Then visible light radiation is like pebbles. Well, not quite – because those might hurt a little, but for the sake of having a continuum for the analogy. Then comes infrared. Now, we’re talking about people dropping grains of sand on you. Then, dust. That would be the microwaves. (Then lighter than dust – radio & long radio waves.) Except in circumstances where the intensity of microwaves is sufficient to cause heating, they are completely harmless. Anyone saying otherwise is either ignorant of a wealth of knowledge, else one of those nutcases who thinks that there’s some huge conspiracy, else someone trying to sell you something.
Hmm, I have to disagree with some of these points. They may not have been researched when they were adopted, but they have been since. I think some of the studies you reference were scare tactics based on the fear of new technology.
Microwave ovens, like any technology, require a good understanding of them to be used effectively. You can find evidence supporting whichever claim you want to make about microwave ovens, but the fact is it’s just using microwaves (basically a type of radio wave) to excite molecules to heat food. Other cooking methods use convection, which requires longer cooking times. It has been shown that boiling vegetables causes nutrients to leak into the water, meaning that if you dump the water you dump quite a bit of nutrients. Microwaves, on the other hand, can steam, boil, or heat your food much quicker (because of the penetrating quality of microwaves), and can therefore preserve more nutrients. In the end, though, it depends on what you’re cooking. (Obviously, eating processed foods is easier with a microwave, etc., and so one must be careful what one puts in there!)
For instance, plastics can leak into your food if they are not rated microwave safe (and I’m not sure I’d judge safe what the FDA considers microwave-safe, to be honest). Plus there’s a risk of overheating and/or not evenly heating food, which could cause problems. So, I think careful use of microwave ovens, rather than suspicion of them, is more useful.
I’m not refuting that being exposed to microwaves isn’t bad for your health (though the radiation levels are low, but over the years, maybe) or they create carcinogens in foods–cooking in general does that–but as for nutrition, I think you may be misled by certain studies. I’d like to see you revisit this topic after looking at more research (especially check that the study was done using the scientific method).
All that said, I really enjoy your work and what you’re doing for people trying to be healthy, like me. I don’t have the time to research everything about microwaves, for instance, and I’d love you to take another look!
I currently am using Lisa’s (100 days of real food) popcorn trick with a paper bag in the microwave. That is the only thing holding me back from getting rid of my microwave. How do you make popcorn?
The New York Times, Havard and CNN? Those are your sources? Dude man, they are all eating in corporation’s hand! You can’t trust it, for the only reason they have money to make out of it! You better trust yourself and what you really feel, trough your own experiences. If you are super healthy, that’s great! Maybe you have a strong nervous system that breaks all the waves around you! ;o)
J Hannah, you know what I am tired of? People that doesn’t trust their own impressions, people that needs to rely to some random scientists, often hired by corporations to deliver a false result with a so-called credible cover. It’s not the first time it happens, history is full of false studies, ordered by politicians and companies. I trust scientists better when they are not attached to a corporation or a corrupted school, and when there is no money to make out of their results!
FYI: Valid scientific research adheres to The Scientific Method. That is, it must be based on measurable evidence, and be able to be duplicated. The fact that anyone can conduct the same research and get the same results establishes credibility. Research conducted by these sources fit this criteria, therefore are credible.