The Microwave: Convenience With a Price

By now, you probably know that what you eat has a profound impact on your health. The saying “What you eat, digest and absorb” is really true. It is important to consider not only WHAT you buy, but HOW you prepare it.

Smart food preparation starts with high quality foods, chopping, slicing, and sometimes cooking and that means saying sayonara to your microwave oven.

Due to the changes in farming practice over the years, our foods now contain 5-40% fewer nutrients than in years gone by so it is very important to get the best nutrition from everything you eat.

When it comes to microwave ovens, the price for convenience is compromising your health.
Research shows that your microwave oven will NOT support you in a healthy way and, in fact, will threaten your health. Microwaves violently rip apart the molecules in your food, rendering some nutrients inert, at best, and carcinogenic, at its worst.

Microwaves are a form of electromagnetic radiation; waves of electrical and magnetic energy moving together through space. EM radiation ranges from very high energy (gamma rays and x-rays), on one end of the spectrum, to very low energy (radio waves), on the other end of the spectrum. Microwaves are on the low energy end of the spectrum, second only to radio waves. They have a wavelength of about 4.8 inches—about the width of your head. Microwaves are generated by something called a magnetron (a term derived from the words “magnet” and “electron”), which is also what enabled airborne radar use during WWII. Hence, the early name for microwave ovens was radar ranges.

Microwaves heat food by causing water molecules in the food to resonate at very high frequencies and eventually turn to steam which heats the food. While this can rapidly heat your food, what most people fail to realize is that it also causes a change in your food’s chemical structure. Besides depleting your food’s nutritional value, there are numerous issues that have emerged since microwave ovens were first introduced to consumers more than 40 years ago.

Another problem with microwave ovens is that carcinogenic toxins can leach out of your plastic and paper containers/covers and into your food.

The January/February, 1990 issue of Nutrition Action Newsletter reported the leakage of numerous toxic chemicals from the packaging of common microwavable foods, including pizzas, chips, and popcorn. Chemicals included 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 food. [8,2]

One of the worst contaminants is BPA, or bisphenol A, an estrogen-like compound used widely in plastic products. In fact, dishes made specifically for the microwave often contain BPA, but many other plastic products contain it as well.

Microwaving distorts and deforms the molecules of whatever food or substance you subject to it. An example of this is blood products. Blood is normally warmed before being transfused into a person. Now we know that microwaving blood products damages the blood components. In fact, one woman died after receiving a transfusion of microwaved blood in 1991, which resulted in a well-publicized lawsuit.

Some excellent scientific data has been gathered regarding the detrimental effects of microwaves on the nutrients in your food:

•A study published in the November 2003 issue of The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture[5] found that broccoli “zapped” in the microwave with a little water lost up to 97 percent of its beneficial antioxidants. By comparison, broccoli that was steamed in water, on a stove, lost only 11 percent or fewer of its antioxidants. There were also reductions in phenolic compounds and glucosinolates, but mineral levels remained intact.

•A 1999 Scandinavian study of the cooking of asparagus spears found that microwaving caused a reduction in vitamin C[6] .

•In a study of garlic, as little as 60 seconds of microwave heating was enough to inactivate its allinase, garlic’s principle active ingredient against cancer[7] .

•A Japanese study by Watanabe showed that just 6 minutes of microwave heating turned 30-40 percent of the B12 in milk into an inert (dead) form[8] . This study has been cited by Dr. Andrew Weil as evidence supporting his concerns about the effects of microwaving. Dr. Weil wrote:

•”There may be dangers associated with microwaving food… there is a question as to whether microwaving alters protein chemistry in ways that might be harmful.”

•A recent Australian study[9] showed that microwaves cause a higher degree of “protein unfolding” than conventional heating.

•Microwaving can destroy the essential disease-fighting agents in breast milk that offer protection for your baby. In 1992, Quan found that microwaved breast milk lost lysozyme activity, antibodies, and fostered the growth of more potentially pathogenic bacteria[10] .

Quan stated that more damage was done to the milk by microwaving than by other methods of heating, concluding: “Microwaving appears to be contraindicated at high-temperatures, and questions regarding its safety exist even at low temperatures.”

Another study about breast milk/infant formula by Lee in 1989[11] found vitamin content becomes depleted by microwaving, and certain amino acids are converted into other substances that are biologically inactive. Some altered amino acids are poisons to the nervous system and kidneys.

Although many of the above studies are not new, there is certainly ample evidence that microwaving is NOT good for your food.

Additionally, microwaving creates new compounds that are not found in humans or in nature, called radiolytic compounds. We don’t yet know what these compounds are doing to your body. In addition to the violent frictional heat effects, called thermic effects, there are also athermic effects, which are poorly understood because they are not as easily measured. It is these athermic effects that are suspected to be responsible for much of the deformation and degradation of cells and molecules. [13]

Microwave Sickness

When your tissues are directly exposed to microwaves, the same violent deformations occur and can cause “microwave sickness.”

People who have been exposed to high levels of microwave radiation experience a variety of symptoms, including:

•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

There is a good amount of data emerging that people are suffering, to various degrees, these kinds of symptoms from living next to cell phone towers and other high-frequency radiation emitting antennas, which emit microwaves around the clock. According to Professor Franz Adelkofer, a leading scientist in the area of biological effects of EMF fields:

“There is real evidence that hyperfrequency electromagnetic fields can have geno-toxic effects. And this damaged DNA is always the cause of cancer. We’ve found these damaging effects on the genes at levels well below the safety limits. That’s why we think it’s urgent to base our safety limits on the biological effects, not the thermic ones. They should be based on biology, not on physics.”

The Powerwatch article summarizes the Russian research quite well, which I will duplicate below.

•Russian investigators found that carcinogens were formed from the microwaving of nearly all foods tested.
•The microwaving of milk and grains converted some of the amino acids into carcinogenic substances.
•Microwaving prepared meats caused the formation of the cancer-causing agents d-Nitrosodienthanolamines.
•Thawing frozen fruits by microwave converted their glucoside and galactoside fractions into carcinogenic substances.
•Extremely short exposure of raw, cooked or frozen vegetables converted their plant alkaloids into carcinogens.
•Carcinogenic free radicals were formed in microwaved plants—especially root vegetables.
•Structural degradation leading to decreased food value was found to be 60 to 90 percent overall for all foods tested, with significant decreases in bioavailability of B complex vitamins, vitamins C and E, essential minerals, and lipotropics (substances that prevent abnormal accumulation of fat).

This finding is supported by the 1998 Japanese study by Watanabe7 about vitamin B12 in milk.

The serious concern is, with all of this radiation surrounding us from cell and cordless phones, radio towers, satellites, broadcast antennas, military and aviation radar, home electronic devices, computers and Internet, we are all part of an involuntary mass epidemiological experiment, on a scale never before seen in the history of the human race. And the truth is that we don’t really KNOW what long term, low-level (but persistent) radiation does to us.

You can survive without a microwave!

•A toaster oven is a great way to heat foods.
•Defrosting can easily be done with hot water in the sink.
•Cook or reheat in a pot on the stove.
•Prepare meals in advanced or double the quantity
•Eat more organic fresh foods and avoid packaged “convenience” items.

References:
[1] Davis D R. (February 1, 2009) “Declining fruit and vegetable nutrient composition: What is the evidence?” American Society of Horticultural Science
[2] Rust S and Kissinger M. (November 15, 2008) “BPA leaches from ‘safe’ products” Journal Sentinel Online
[3] “Microwave oven radiation,” Food and Drug Administration
[4] Havas M. “DECT phone affects the heart!”
[5] Vallejo F, Tomas-Barberan F A, and Garcia-Viguera C. “Phenolic compound contents in edible parts of broccoli inflorescences after domestic cooking” Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (15 Oct 2003) 83(14);1511-1516
[6] Kidmose U and Kaack K. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica B 1999:49(2):110-117
[7] Song K and Milner J A. “The influence of heating on the anticancer properties of garlic,” Journal of Nutrition 2001;131(3S):1054S-57S
[8] Watanabe F, Takenaka S, Abe K, Tamura Y, and Nakano Y. J. Agric. Food Chem. Feb 26 1998;46(4):1433-1436
[9] George D F, Bilek M M, and McKenzie D R. “Non-thermal effects in the microwave induced unfolding of proteins observed by chaperone binding,” Bioelectromagnetics 2008 May;29(4):324-30
[10] Quan R (et al) “Effects of microwave radiation on anti-infective factors in human milk,” Pediatrics 89(4 part I):667-669.
[11] Lee L. “Health effects of microwave radiation-microwave ovens,” Lancet December 9, 1989 (Article)
[12] Thomas W. “Cooked” Alive.com
[13] “Microwave oven and microwave cooking overview,” Powerwatch
[14] “History of microwave ovens” Green Health Watch
[15] “Microwave ovens: A danger to your health?” (January 26, 2010) Nutritional and Physical Regeneration
[16] Villablanca E (December 19, 2007) “Ionizing and non-ionizing radiation: Their difference and possible health consequences”
[17] “Health effects of microwave radiation (Western view)”
[18] Sage C. “Reported biological effects from radiofrequency non-ionizing radiation” Wave-Guide.org
[19] Penn State University. “DNA and the microwave effect” posted from MailBag (April 8, 2002)
[20] Kakita Y, Kashige N, Murata K, Kuroiwa A, Funatsu M and Watanabe K. “Inactivation of Lactobacillus bacteriophage PL-1 by microwave irradiation” Microbiol. Immunol. 1995;39:571-576.
[21] Adams C. (May 6, 2005) “Does microwaving kill nutrients in food? Is microwaving safe?” The Straight Dope