Healthy Eating Tips - MINIMIZE MICROWAVING

Do you nuke?

I’d be lying if I told you that I never use a microwave. But I am going to tell you that if you’re concerned about getting the most nutritional benefit out of your food, you should microwave as little as possible.

I never thought much about microwaving until I mentioned to my acupuncturist that I microwave my eggs in a glass dish every morning. I thought this method was exceptionally clever. I boasted about my ingenous method, “ hah! no skillet to clean!”

My very knowledgeable ‘puncturist gave me a funny look. Kinda like the look you give someone when they just told you that they drink out of the toilet bowl.

That morning I learned that microwaving essentially strips an egg or any other food, of its essential nutrients. After some further research I found plentiful evidence that microwaving is most definitely not a healthy way to cook or to heat our food.

What’s Wrong With Da Nuker???

Swiss food scientists Dr. Hans-Urich and professor Bernard Blanc of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology taught me a whole big bunch of stuff about microwaving. These two brainiacs have conducted extensive microwave research using a carefully controlled protocol. Here is what I learned:

Free Radical Creation: When food is microwaved, the oven exerts a huge power input that destroys and deforms food molecules. This power input also produces new “radiolytic” compounds in food that are not found in nature. These URP’s (unique radiolyic products) have free radical capabilities that can destroy healthy cells and contribute to abnormal cell growth.

Decreased Nutritional Value: of meat proteins and greatly reduced vitamins and minerals in foods that are cooked in a microwave. Also, lowered metabolic activity of healthy plant substances such as alkaloids,glucosides, galcosides and nitrilosides.

Chemical Alterations: Microwaving causes chemical alterations associated with statistically higher incidence of stomach and intestinal cancers.

Lymphatic Malfunctions: Microwaved foods have been shown to cause malfunctions in the lymphatic system’s ability to protect itself against growing tumors.

Don’t Nuke This Way

NEVER microwave food in plastic packaging. Manufacturers package things a certain way so that you are drawn to their convenience, but if you insist on microwaving it is worth your while to open the package put the food in a glass bowl or on a plate.

Chemicals from plastic packaging (polyvinylchlorides/PVCs) release “plasticizers” to such an extent it is recommended that plastic food packaging NEVER be in direct contact with food in the microwave. As much as 60% of the wax found in packaging for heating has been found to transfer to food while microwaving.

Avoid microwaving packaged food with cooking “receptors” You know, those little cardboard foil-y do-dad’s that help heat your frozen burrito at the speed of light? According to Australian researchers Ashton and Laura’s book, “The Perils of Progress” (1999), these nasty little dudes release a toxic chemical, bisphenol-a-diglycidyl ether into your food when you use them to microwave.

Don’t reheat in the microwave: Microwaving food the first go around is bad enough. If you’re using the microwave to reheat you are further depleting nutrients. Additionally, microwave reheating offers no greater protection against food born illnesses than conventional heating methods. In fact, studies show the opposite to be true.

Don’t heat human milk for your baby in the microwave: Microwaving milk at temps higher than 72 degrees C causes significant decrease in human-milk’s infection fighting properties.

Don’t microwave Baby Formula: The Journal of the American College of Nutrition (1994; 13:209-10) reported small changes in formula due to microwaving can produce molecular changes that compromise nutritional value and can cause toxicity.

I Swear, I’ll Never Microwave Again!

Very few of us can or will completely give up the convenience of microwaving. The fact remains that when the baby is screaming in the middle of the night you may not always feel up to warming milk on the stove. And sometimes heating up last night’s leftovers in two minutes is all you can manage after a long day at the office.

But now that you have a bit more information you can try to limit microwave use. Maybe try to make one or two meals that you’d normally nuke on the stovetop or in the oven instead. And definitely try to remove plastic packaging from anything you microwave – that one is something we can all do.

Killing enzymes in our veggies, obliterating anti-oxidants in fruit, and decimating the protein in meat is unhealthy. Just remember all you stand to lose as you prepare to throw yet another meal in the Nuker.

Besides, no one has ever starved while waiting a few extra minutes for that Burrito Grande to heat in the oven. Read the mail while you wait for God’s sakes.

Love you!
Health Sundae

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