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from Natural Life Magazine,
May/June 2005 Q: I’d appreciate having your view on microwave cooking. I am confused as to whether microwaving destroys nutrients. Is it safe, and just a different form of cooking? Some time back, I read an article that caused me to get rid of my microwave as it stated it affected nutrients in food. A: Microwave ovens, their safety and their effect on the nutritional value of food is yet another subject that yields wildly conflicting information. The microwave oven generates electromagnetic waves (called microwaves because they’re short) at a frequency of 2450 megahertz (FM radio waves are generated at around 100 MHz and cell phones transmit 800 MHz). The microwaves bombard the molecules of water in the food. These molecules each have a positive and negative end, or “polarity”. The polarized molecules try to line themselves up with the electrical field, like compass needles trying to point North. But because the electrical field is reversing polarity at a rate of 2,450 million cycles a second, the water molecules end up rotating at the same speed. That activity generates heat, which cooks the food, literally from inside out, as opposed to other types of cooking, which transfer heat convectionally from the outside in. Unfortunately, this violent movement of molecules causes substantial damage to some molecules, often tearing them apart or deforming them. There are very few studies on the health effects of microwave cooking, but the studies that do exist suggest you made the right move by tossing out your microwave oven. On the other hand, conventional government and medical wisdom is reassuring and tends to portray the concerns as alarmist and pseudoscientific, in spite of no scientific research disproving them. For instance, Food Science Australia, a government and industry-funded company whose mission is to “help make Australian food companies among the most competitive in the world”, dismisses consumer concerns about microwave cooking as ... To read the rest of this article, subscribe to Natural Life's digital edition. Wendy Priesnitz is the Editor of Natural Life Magazine and a journalist with over 30 years of experience. She has also authored nine books. Visit her website. |
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