Dangers of Microwave Cooking

The Center for Unhindered Living

At the present time I would like to alert everyone to the pervasive danger in the use of microwave cooking. Our family no longer has a microwave, and we try not to eat anywhere that we know microwave cooking is used.

The Nazis are credited with inventing the first microwaves. Known first as radiomissors, they were used for preparation of meals on a mass scale during the invasion of Russia -- thus eliminating the logistical problem of cooking fuels. After the war, the Russians had retrieved some of these microwave ovens and conducted thorough research on their biological effects. So alarmed by what they learned, the Russians banned microwave ovens in 1976.

Here is a simplified explanation of the dangers:

In a study published in the November 2003 issue of The Journal of the Science of Food andAgriculture found that broccoli cooked in the microwave with a little water lost up to 97 percent of the beneficial antioxidant chemicals it contains. By comparison, steamed broccoli lost only 11 percent or fewer of its antioxidants.

When microwaving, caracinogenic toxins are leached from the plastic containers or plastic wrap used to microwave foods.

If you are familiar with homeopathy, you will instantly realize the problem. Microwaves heat your food by causing it to resonate at very high frequencies. While this can effectively heat your food, it also causes a change in the chemical structure of the food that can lead to health issues.

Microwave cooking changes the molecular structure of food. In test subjects who ate microwaved food, the following changes in blood chemistry were observed:

Decrease in hemoglobin values
Decrease in HDL Cholesterol (the good kind)
Decrease in lymphocytes and leukocytes (white blood cells, the ones that kill germs)
Increase in luminous power by luminous bacteria exposed to blood of volunteers (in essence, radioactive energy was passed on from the microwaved food to the blood cells of those who ate the food)

In other words, the implications are that a person who eats microwaved food for an extended period could become anemic due to destruction of hemoglobin, have an increase in heart disease from the decrease in good cholesteral and the ratio between good and bad cholesterol, and could become subject to a host of contagious diseases due to immune system compromise.

It has also been discovered that when microwaved, molecules are torn apart and deformed. These cells become extremely vulnerable to viruses, fungi, and other micro-organisms. These cells' ability to repair themselves is suppressed so that rather than producing water and carbon dioxide in the process of cell repair, hydrogen peroxide and carbon monoxide are produced. Can you imagine eating food filled with carbon monoxide? Can you imagine your own cells producing this compound?

When food is exposed to microwaves, the destruction and deformation of the molecules produces substances called radiolytic compounds, and the effects of these substances upon health is unknown.

To read an article about this research, Click Here

As a seventh grade student, Claire Nelson learned that di (ethylhexyl) adepate (DEHA), considered a carcinogen, is found in plastic wrap. She also learned that the FDA had never studied the effect of microwave cooking on plastic-wrapped food. Claire began to wonder: "Can cancer-causing particles seep into food covered with household plastic wrap while it is being microwaved?"

Three years later, with encouragement from her high school science teacher, Claire set out to test what the FDA had not. Although she had an idea for studying the effect of microwave radiation on food, she did not have the equipment. Eventually, Jon Wilkes at the National Center for Toxicological Research in Jefferson, Arkansas, agreed to help her. The research center, which is affiliated with the FDA, let her use its facilities to perform her experiments, which involved microwaving plastic wrap in virgin olive oil.

Claire tested four different plastic wraps and "found not just the carcinogens but also xenoestrogen was migrating [into the oil].... "Xenoestrogens are linked to low sperm counts in men and to breast cancer in women.

Throughout her junior and senior years, Claire made a couple trips each week to the research center, which was 25 miles from her home, to work on her experiment.

An article in Options* reported that analysis found that DEHA was migrating into the oil at between 200 parts and 500 parts per million. The FDA standard is 0.05 parts per billion. Her summarized results have been published in science journals. Claire Nelson received the American Chemical Society's top science prize for students during her junior year and fourth place at the International Science and Engineering Fair (Fort Worth, Texas) as a senior.

* "Carcinogens -- At 10,000,000 Times FDA Limits" Options May 2000.

Published by People Against Cancer, 515-972-4444;
COPYRIGHT 2001

Dr. Edward Fujimoto from Castle Hospital is the manager of the Wellness Program at the hospital. He was talking about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat and plastics releases dioxins into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Dioxins are carcinogens and highly toxic to the cells of our bodies. Instead, he recommends using glass, Corning Ware, or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results without the dioxins. So such things as TV dinners, instant saimin and soups, vegetables, etc. should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. Just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He said we might remember when some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

I don't know about you, but I can do without microwaving just fine. The food tastes better and has a better texture. Our family has not missed having one at all.

As a side note, it was recently announced that all meat is now going to be irradiated, herbs and spices already are, and many fruits and vegetables are irradiated to give them a longer shelf life. Personally, we get our meat from a local farmer who grows it organically, or free range, and we buy our fruits and vegetables organically also to avoid the contamination of our foods by radiation. The texture and taste of such fruits and vegetables are much superior to the irradiated variety, and are much better for you.

If having a microwave in the home was a necessity, then perhaps I wouldn't feel so strongly. But it is totally a luxury, one we can do without, and to risk one's life for a luxury.....not me. You can install a convection oven which cooks almost as quickly as a microwave, without the possible dangers. Here is where you can purchase a small, inexpensive convection oven if you don't want to install a convection oven in place of your regular one. I happen to have replaced my old conventional oven with a KitchenAide self-cleaning convection oven, and I love it!

Back to Removing Obstacles to a Healthy Body and Mind

Back to The Knowledge Collection

Drop us a line!

FAIR USE NOTICE