Some foods taste great raw, like blueberries and carrots. However, many foods taste better and are digested easier when cooked, like chicken and sweet potatoes. There are many different ways to cook these foods, but they are not all equally conducive to good health.
Microwaving food requires the least time and effort out of all cooking methods. You just put the food in the microwave, set the timer, and the food will often come out hot and ready to eat in a matter of minutes if not seconds. Cooking food in a microwave fits very well with our often busy lives, offering near-instant gratification at the touch of a button. Unfortunately, microwaving food is not the healthiest way to prepare food, nor is it forgiving to our taste buds- microwaved food just doesn't taste as good!
A microwave oven cooks food very differently than a regular oven. Instead of using external heat to cook the food, microwaves use electromagnetic radiation. Waves of magnetic and electrical energy are absorbed by the water molecules in the food, which causes the water molecules to vibrate intensely. This intense water molecule vibration causes molecular friction, which is what heats the food. Because different areas of microwaved foods often have different amounts of water molecules, they are not heated equally which explains cold spots occasionally present microwaved food.
The radiation in microwaves has been a cause for concern for many people, many of whom believe that the radiation from microwaves makes them ill. The term "Microwave Sickness" is used to describe symptoms of insomnia, night sweats, and various sleep disturbances, headaches and dizziness, swollen lymph nodes and a weakened immune system, impaired cognition, depression and irritability, nausea and appetite loss, vision and eye problems, frequent urination and extreme thirst. While these are all self reported accounts, they should not be disregarded. One proven effect of microwave radiation on the body: increased heart rate and heart rate variability.
While "Microwave Sickness" has not been studied extensively, there has been a fair amount of research done on the effects of microwaving food. One study found that microwaved broccoli can lose 97% of its antioxidant content, and another found that microwaving asparagus significantly decreased its Vitamin C levels. Mid 20th century Russian research found that carcinogens formed in fruits, vegetables, meat, and grains when microwaved. And not only solid food is affected by microwave radiation; microwaving milk has been shown to decrease its Vitamin B12 levels, and microwaving breast milk decreases its disease fighting anti-body count.
Microwaving food is clearly not ideal, but there are some steps to mitigate the danger. Make sure the only things in the microwave are the food or drink being heated/cooked and a microwave safe plate, bowl, or cup. Putting plastics, wrappers, and other non-microwave safe materials into a microwave with food can bring out cancer-causing substances into the food. Limiting the time that the food is microwaved helps as well. This is evidenced by garlic, which takes a full minute of microwave radiation exposure to deactivate its cancer fighting properties.
There are many ways to cook food other than using a microwave, including using an oven, crock pot, barbeque, skillet, and toaster oven. Even when using these safer cooking techniques, there is a way of cooking that is healthier. The general rule is this: cooking foods at very high temperatures and overcooking food is bad.
A microwave oven cooks food very differently than a regular oven. Instead of using external heat to cook the food, microwaves use electromagnetic radiation. Waves of magnetic and electrical energy are absorbed by the water molecules in the food, which causes the water molecules to vibrate intensely. This intense water molecule vibration causes molecular friction, which is what heats the food. Because different areas of microwaved foods often have different amounts of water molecules, they are not heated equally which explains cold spots occasionally present microwaved food.
The radiation in microwaves has been a cause for concern for many people, many of whom believe that the radiation from microwaves makes them ill. The term "Microwave Sickness" is used to describe symptoms of insomnia, night sweats, and various sleep disturbances, headaches and dizziness, swollen lymph nodes and a weakened immune system, impaired cognition, depression and irritability, nausea and appetite loss, vision and eye problems, frequent urination and extreme thirst. While these are all self reported accounts, they should not be disregarded. One proven effect of microwave radiation on the body: increased heart rate and heart rate variability.
While "Microwave Sickness" has not been studied extensively, there has been a fair amount of research done on the effects of microwaving food. One study found that microwaved broccoli can lose 97% of its antioxidant content, and another found that microwaving asparagus significantly decreased its Vitamin C levels. Mid 20th century Russian research found that carcinogens formed in fruits, vegetables, meat, and grains when microwaved. And not only solid food is affected by microwave radiation; microwaving milk has been shown to decrease its Vitamin B12 levels, and microwaving breast milk decreases its disease fighting anti-body count.
Microwaving food is clearly not ideal, but there are some steps to mitigate the danger. Make sure the only things in the microwave are the food or drink being heated/cooked and a microwave safe plate, bowl, or cup. Putting plastics, wrappers, and other non-microwave safe materials into a microwave with food can bring out cancer-causing substances into the food. Limiting the time that the food is microwaved helps as well. This is evidenced by garlic, which takes a full minute of microwave radiation exposure to deactivate its cancer fighting properties.
There are many ways to cook food other than using a microwave, including using an oven, crock pot, barbeque, skillet, and toaster oven. Even when using these safer cooking techniques, there is a way of cooking that is healthier. The general rule is this: cooking foods at very high temperatures and overcooking food is bad.
Overcooked food is difficult for our bodies to process because its chemical configuration is literally different than the same food raw or lightly cooked. The body's enzymes aren't as adept at digesting the new chemical configurations of overcooked food.
When food doesn't digest properly, it can sit in the gut. This irritates the lining of the gut, which can create something called a "Leaky Gut." With a leaky gut, undigested or poorly digested food can slip into the bloodstream, becoming toxic to the body. This undigested food can cause headaches, moodiness, fatigue, schizophrenia, hyperhydrosis, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, acne, edema, or rashes depending on what part of the body the now toxic undigested food molecules infiltrates and irritates.
University of California Davis research also shows that the more a food is cooked, the longer it stays in the gut. In their experiment, the overcooked food actually elicited an immune response in the body. The overcooked food was not digested well and thus treated as a foreign invader by the immune system.
One study from the Institute of Clinical Chemistry found that eating food cooked at high temperatures caused an unnatural increase in white blood cells. The study also found that when the food was chewed thoroughly, the increase was not as severe.
The Swedish National Food Administration has reported that overcooking certain starchy foods causes Acrylamide to form in the foods. Acrylamide is known as a cancer causing agent in animals. While animal studies are not completely indicative of a human response, I sure don't like the idea of consuming something that is known to give animals cancer!
Cooking meat at high temperatures causes Heterocyclic Amines, known carcinogens, to form in the meat. In one study, those who ate medium-well or well-done steak were more than three times as likely to develop stomach cancer as those who ate their steak rare or medium-rare.
It is definitely alarming to learn the health consequences of microwaving leftovers or grilling up some burgers. But I certainly will still "nuke" food from time to time and have friends over to barbeque meat. The point is not to scare anyone into halting behavior, the goal is to educate people about the effects of different habits on our well being and hope that some change will come about because of that. Now that I know what microwave radiation does to my food, I will use my oven more, eat more foods cold or at room temperature, and possibly invest in a toaster oven. And now that I know what cooking at high heat does to my food, I will cook more food in a skillet at a lower heat rather than frequently using a barbeque. These little changes definitely will add up!
Mercola, Joseph. "Why Did the Russians Ban an Appliance Found in 90% of American Homes?" Mercola.com-Take Control of Your Health. N.p., 18 May 2010. Web.<http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/18/microwave-hazards.aspx>
Appleton, Nancy. "The Dangers of Over-Cooking Your Food." Merocola.com- Taking Control of Your Health. N.p., 29 May 2002. Web. <http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/05/29/over-cooking.aspx>.
When food doesn't digest properly, it can sit in the gut. This irritates the lining of the gut, which can create something called a "Leaky Gut." With a leaky gut, undigested or poorly digested food can slip into the bloodstream, becoming toxic to the body. This undigested food can cause headaches, moodiness, fatigue, schizophrenia, hyperhydrosis, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, acne, edema, or rashes depending on what part of the body the now toxic undigested food molecules infiltrates and irritates.
University of California Davis research also shows that the more a food is cooked, the longer it stays in the gut. In their experiment, the overcooked food actually elicited an immune response in the body. The overcooked food was not digested well and thus treated as a foreign invader by the immune system.
One study from the Institute of Clinical Chemistry found that eating food cooked at high temperatures caused an unnatural increase in white blood cells. The study also found that when the food was chewed thoroughly, the increase was not as severe.
The Swedish National Food Administration has reported that overcooking certain starchy foods causes Acrylamide to form in the foods. Acrylamide is known as a cancer causing agent in animals. While animal studies are not completely indicative of a human response, I sure don't like the idea of consuming something that is known to give animals cancer!
Cooking meat at high temperatures causes Heterocyclic Amines, known carcinogens, to form in the meat. In one study, those who ate medium-well or well-done steak were more than three times as likely to develop stomach cancer as those who ate their steak rare or medium-rare.
It is definitely alarming to learn the health consequences of microwaving leftovers or grilling up some burgers. But I certainly will still "nuke" food from time to time and have friends over to barbeque meat. The point is not to scare anyone into halting behavior, the goal is to educate people about the effects of different habits on our well being and hope that some change will come about because of that. Now that I know what microwave radiation does to my food, I will use my oven more, eat more foods cold or at room temperature, and possibly invest in a toaster oven. And now that I know what cooking at high heat does to my food, I will cook more food in a skillet at a lower heat rather than frequently using a barbeque. These little changes definitely will add up!
Mercola, Joseph. "Why Did the Russians Ban an Appliance Found in 90% of American Homes?" Mercola.com-Take Control of Your Health. N.p., 18 May 2010. Web.<http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/18/microwave-hazards.aspx>
Appleton, Nancy. "The Dangers of Over-Cooking Your Food." Merocola.com- Taking Control of Your Health. N.p., 29 May 2002. Web. <http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/05/29/over-cooking.aspx>.