My family has been intentionally microwave free for almost 7 years now. Let me tell you food tastes so much better reheated with other methods. Sure, it takes a little bit longer, but it is absolutely worth it.
How does a microwave work?
To understand the dangers of microwaves, we need to know how microwaves work.
Microwaves heat food using microwaves, which are a type of electromagnetic radiation, specifically high-powered radio waves. The high-powered radio waves bounce around in the box of the microwave and are absorbed by the food. As these waves are absorbed by the molecules in the food, they get excited, which causes them to heat up. This method of heating also causes deformities to the molecule structure of the food.
These deformities cause the formation of free radicals, which are harmful to the body. Free radicals are one of the big causes of cancer formation and premature aging.
Why you should ditch your microwave
Damage to DNA
Not only do the dangers of microwaves apply to the person consuming the food, but they also apply to everyone who is around when the microwave is in use.
If you have access to a device that measures electromagnetic fields, like trifield, measure what is coming off of your microwave when it is in use. You will be shocked how far those electromagnetic fields reach and the high levels they emit. Depending on your proximity it can be 100s the amount that is emitted from a cell phone.
Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) can cause damage to DNA even at levels less than what is emitted from a cell phone. Americans for Responsible Technology has compiled a long list of studies showing the dangers of EMFs.
Lower Nutrition Levels
There is also research showing that microwaved foods have a lower nutritional value of as much as 60-90% compared to foods cooked by other methods. A study in the journal of Science, Food and Agriculture found that broccoli that was microwaved lost 97% percent of the flavonoids (known for the antioxidant properties), while steamed broccoli (not in the microwave) had minimal loss.1
Effects on Blood
A study done in 1991 by Dr. Hans Ulrich Hertel and Dr. Bernard H. Blanc of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the University Institute for Biochemistry showed many concerns in regard to consuming microwaved foods. The study was titled “Vergleichende Untersuchungen über die Beeinflussung des
Menschen durch konventionell und im Mikrowellenofen aufbereitete Nahrung” (“Comparative study of the effects on human beings of food prepared by conventional means and in microwave ovens”). The study was silenced for a few years by the Swiss government.
Dr. Hertel’s study found that the consumption of microwaved foods changed the person’s blood. Specifically it caused a drop in hemoglobin levels, an increase in the haematocrit, in leucocytes and in the levels of cholesterol.2
Changes in antiinfective factors
A 1992 study by Stanford researchers looked at the effects of microwaving on breast milk and its antiinfective factors. The study confirmed that high-temperature microwaving of frozen breast milk not only “caused a marked decrease in activity of all the tested antiinfective factors” but that it also allowed E. coli bacteria to spread eighteen times faster compared to non-microwaved milk. The study also found that even at low temperature microwaving accelerated E. coli growth by a factor of five.3
Alternative ways of heating food
There are so many alternative ways to heat your food. Yes, it may take a couple minutes more, but the health benefits are immense. The food will have better nutritional value (meaning you will need to eat less) and it will taste so much better!
- stove
- oven
- toaster oven
- electric fry pan
- hot logic (heat plate)
I absolutely love my hot logics. They are basically a lunch box with a hot plate inside. I have several so that my family can use them at work, on the go, for road trips and at home. The hot logics make it really easy to prepare a meal later in the day from leftovers. When I get up in the morning I plug in the hot logic, put the food inside and then it’s ready for lunch or supper time. It doesn’t get much easier than that!
Otherwise, I prefer using the stove or oven so that I don’t have to keep another appliance in the house. If you already have a microwave in your house replace it with another appliance for reheating that is healthier or enjoy the cleared countertop space.
Chances are you have at least one of these other options available to you in your home right now, so you can start on your microwave free journey right away.
If you have been microwave free how long has it been? Let me know in the comments.
Try it for yourself
If you want to see the effects of the microwave for yourself, take two groups of plants and water one group with water that has been microwaved and cooled back down and then water the other group with normal water and see how the different groups of plants fair. If you do this, I would love to hear your observations.
Leave a Reply