With all the microwaving of food done on the past 30 years, I am imagining a link to the rise in human disease especially cancer since a cancer cell is a normal cell that has been genetically corrupted and the microwave affects the molecular biology of said food, altering it. The perception that microwaving food doesn't harm humans might be correct due to the small amount of radiation used but what about the compounding cumulative effects on humans. There is a sharp rise in cancer victims and they are getting younger and I can't help but notice the introducion of the microwave correlating to the cancer victims who grew up with a microwave as a "normal" way of cooking food.
All a microwave does is excite water molecules, which causes friction. An cancer causing compounds are already in the food from pestcides, unnatural compounds, or leached from the packaging.
I don't even think it's the microwave process that hurts us. Rather I think it's the way we grow and store foods.
Consider the chemicals used to grow foods for the mass population.
Consider the chemicals/preservatives used to create a longer shelf-life.
Consider all the BPA plastics used before "BPA free" was a concept....All those microwave trays sold to millions of consumers and dinners bought in plastic trays! Just add heat and the chemicals leach into the food.
Every time you go outside when it's light, or walk into a room that's not 100% dark, you are being exposed to a type of radiation (light). Tempest in a teapot.
I agree with Olivia. But what militates against that thought is that lifespans have increased. Even if they level off then we are not being killed by our food.
The sharp rise in cancer victims is just a likely due to improved detection techniques and more people getting tested. Before you just got sick and died because people just got sick and died.
And think about this:
-Walk out in the middle of a field with an AM radio, an FM radio, a satellite radio, a cell phone and a television.
-Stand next to them.
-Turn them on.
-They will all receive a signal, each on a different wavelength.
-Do the same thing while sitting on your couch.
-The satellite radio will lose its signal, because microwaves are line of sight. Everything else will still work. Only the satellite radio must have the antenna aligned "just so" out in that field, and will NOT work inside.
It's EVERYWHERE!!!!!
We are being bombarded all the time.
Our food is being bombarded all the time.
And that does not even include the waves from the sun.
Cooking vegetables in microwaves is perfectly healthy AND the preferred way to cook some vegetables, preserving the nutrients in them. Cancer is not caused by eating microwaved food. It's caused by a host of things - some which have absolutely nothing to do with food. You're in far more danger from the air you breathe than in standing next to a working microwave or eating food cooked in one.
Is he out of his mind? Microwaving changes the enzymes/chemistry in foods and can kill the cancer-fighting benefits. The guy is nuts! I put my broccoli in a sauce pan, just cover the bottom with water, put the lid on, and as soon as the shallow water starts to boil/simmer, I take it off and let the steam from that little bit of water soften the broccoli as much as I want it. It doesn't take out any of the nutrients because the broccoli isn't submerged in water. But don't microwave it! Dumb!
I totally agree with you NOYB. People can steam their broccoli on the stove. You just don't want to cook it to death. It should be bright green and crisp-tender. YUM!
This guy is an idiot!! You're absolutely right about the science oven killing all the enzymes! A microwave also destroys nutrients/enzymes in a 6 foot radius in the kitchen. Olive, coconut and avocado oil all loose their nutritional benefits by being in the cabinet next to the wave.
There is no science to back up this urban legend; in fact, there is data proving that the faster cooking method of using a microwave actually PRESERVES vitamins, because the food is subject to vitamin-robbing heat for a shorter period of time and you use just a tiny amount of water.
The fact is that ANY form of cooking kills vitamins to an extent, due to heat and/or water, although cooking tomatoes and carrots makes their nutrients more available for absorption.
Lots of articles out there on this subject. If you can find one that says mirco-waving veggies is worse than other forms of cooking, please post the search term so we can look at it.
It's a fact that breast milk is not recommended to be microwaved before giving to babies. I'm not a chemist, but it would make sense, if it destroys enzymes/vitamins and the good stuff in breast milk, it also destroys them in other foods too. I personally never microwave anything, too unnatural.
I've been cooking it like this for years along with Cauliflower Carrots etc.All my frozen vegis also go into the microwave.With all the e coli floating around I know longer eat fresh vegis with out microwaving for a minimum of 2 min plus.
I'm sure the so-called 'practicing professionals' will either come out and state that new research says microwaves cause cancer-causing compounds that they previously this or that... what a scam! All these doctors, lawyers etc... should make no more than an auto mechanic and until the time comes that they do just that may cancer rates increase in the medical community. Physician, heal thyself!
I don't like overcooked, mushy broccoli---I like it still a little crisp. Too many people overcook veggies, and it destroys most of the valuable nutrients.
When I was a child, just about everyone cooked vegetables until they were totally limp and mushy, and I didn't like vegetables as a child, but now I love them. And canned vegetables already have most of the nutrients cooked out of them. At least frozen vegetables are a lot fresher and better for us.
Easier yet...microwave one of those steamable bags of frozen broccoli for 5 min. I have often bought and steamed fresh broccoli, but the quality of the fresh broccoli varies. I have found the frozen bags are always at peak freshness. Never get tough stems.
Everything is wrapped in plastic nowadays. Really, people need to stop buying lettuce, carrots, any fruit and vegetables in plastic bags. So bad for the planet!
Who in the hell boils vegetables in water anymore? The only exception is Swiss Chard. It's common sense to either steam vegetables, stir fry, or microwave. Are people still that ignorant these days? UNBELIEVABLE!
I grind broccoli up in my wife's food processor along with a lot of other veggies. Then I separate the mixture into individual sandwich bags and then I freeze the whole lot. I take one out each day and eat it raw as part of my meal. I am elderly and my teeth are weak so this eliminates a lot of hard chewing. I've been doing this for the 21 years I've been retired and am doing fine.
The editor of Cook's Science? Recommended microwaving? What a dunce! Steaming is the way to go, but microwaving anything changes the molecular structure. The same method by which the food cooks, accelerating atomic movement, damages atoms. Where do you get these so called "experts" who give out this bogus advice?
Microwaves don't affect the molecular structure of the food, except through the thermal effects we associate with normal cooking (e.g., denaturing of proteins with heat and caramelizing of sugars). That's because, like all electromagnetic waves, microwaves are emitted and absorbed as particles called "photons." The energy in a microwave photon is so tiny that it can't cause any chemical rearrangement in a molecule. Instead, it can only add a tiny amount of heat to a water molecule. During the microwave cooking process, microwave photons stream into the food and heat it up. But millions of them would have to work together in order to cause non-thermal chemical changes in the food molecules and they don't normally do that. The photons can only work together if there is a conducting material, such as a metal wire, inside the oven. In that case, the photons can accelerate mobile electric charges along the conducting paths and create sparks. Such sparks can cause chemical damage, but nothing worse than the chemical damage caused by scorching food with a flame or broiler. Even if your microwave is full of sparks for some reason, I doubt that the food will be any worse for you than it would be if you cooked it over an open flame or barbecue.
The only way that I eat broccoli, except for very rarely having a little of it raw in a salad, is to throw it in a pressure-type rice cooker along with the rice, sliced carrots, cubed chicken breasts, hot chili peppers, seven secret spices, and a little white wine. If that destroys broccoli's nutritional value, then so be it. Otherwise, the repulsive "green twig" taste is too much to stomach. The hell with leafy greens - give me another steak and a big glass of red wine. If there's no hope in good taste, then there's no hope. Thinking about it, what with the 2016 Presidential election coming up, there's no hope anyway.
@GM P9- Never give up hope-you just never know what's ahead in life. And, thanks for your broccoli conglomeration; sounds yummy. I hope 'we' survive post-election.
Microwave is not a healthy way to prepare food. My friend shared following method with me many years ago which I like. Boil water in the pot, and as soon as you see bubbles turn off the heat. Than add fresh broccoli, cover it, and wait five minutes. After that drain water from the pot. Rinse with ice water and you will have bright green, perfectly steemed broccoli.
Microwaves are an excellent and healthy way to prepare vegetables as long as you don't cook them to death. Unlike microwaves when they first came out, today's microwaves are far less damaging. They cook the food fast enough not to destroy the nutrients in them. Check a few sites - science says microwaves are actually the preferred method to cook some vegetables.
This article swings and misses at a crucial point, and the point being we need to eat the majority of our fruits and vegetables RAW (less than 118 degrees Farenheit). Eating raw means that the living nutrients, vitamins, phytochemicals, and antioxidants assimilate correctly into our bloodstream. Remember, cooked food for the most part is DEAD food. It taxes our pancreas to have to release its critical stores of enzymes to break down dead food wheras living food breaks ITSELF down once swashed with hydrochloric acid (stomach acid) and amalyse (breaks down sugars/starches), lipase (breaks down plant fats), and protease (breaks down plant-based amino acids and proteins). Humans were designed to be raw-food vegans in order to mitigate disease, proactively age slower, and live a healthier, alkaline, disease-free life.
RAW? I thought eating raw vegetables is another way we can get bacteria. Almost every time a food born bacteria spreads throughout a region it's traced back to the vegetables that are not cleaned or cooked properly?
Now, I could be wrong because I think I was a few years ago.
I frequently steam veggies...usually broccoli and asparagus.
I then put them in a sheet of aluminum foil with a pat of butter, salt and a squeeze of a lemon. I then seal up the foil long enough for the butter to melt.
Toss the veggies in the melted butter/lemon juice to fully coat, and fish them out, leaving the excess liquid behind.
Once a week mixed juice of whole broccoli top and fresh carrots is my suggestion plus every now and then lightly steamed broccoli dipped in good yogurt.
toss broccoli in olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and some chopped garlic and broil in the oven for a few minutes until edges begin to brown and enjoy. Microwave broccoli? Really???
