The Effects of Microwave Cooking on Your Food

Is microwave cooking safe? We like to say "yes" because it is so easy if you are coming home and your food is ready in a short time. Many years ago we saw the microwave as one of the best technological inventions of the last centuries. Cooking and heating food up was never easier and happened faster than ever. Also now microwave cooking is very popular despite all the warnings given to the negative effects of microwave cooking to our health.

Almost everyone experienced the ease of microwave cooking for many years now. But has someone really thought about the health effects of this kind of cooking? Probably not because you can't find almost somebody who doesn't have one and even restaurants use them. Why should it then be dangerous? If you take the time and think how a microwave works maybe your opinion will change. The waves of electronic energy are very short and almost everyone believes that microwave radiation is different than radiation treatment but is this really true?

Many studies are done about the safety of microwave cooking but there is contradiction between the results.

- The study done by "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration" claimed microwave cooking is a more efficient way of cooking than the traditional one and keep more vitamins and minerals in the food because the fast way of cooking and without adding water. Another important issue in this study is that cooking in a microwave doesn't make the food radioactive.

- A Spanish study published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture in 2003 shows us another story. In this scientific report you can read that the most important nutrients in the food are destroyed by microwave cooking. Most vegetables lose between 60% and 90% of their nutrients.

I am almost sure traditional cooking is the most efficient way of cooking but the negative health effects of microwave cooking are often exaggerated. Most reports prove a great loss of the necessary vitamins and minerals and some negative health effects can't be denied.

Almost 50 % of vitamin B12 is destroyed by cooking our dairy food and meat in microwave ovens in a time of 6 minutes.

Researchers in Russia reported terrible problems in 1998 by the Journal of Natural sciences. Many cancers were related on the use microwave cooking. Statistics showed that people who ate micro waved food had a higher risk of stomach and intestinal cancers. The results of this research leaded to a total ban of microwaves in Russia in 1976. Of course this ban was overturned and other countries seem to ignore this warning.

More research needs to be done on the impact of eating micro waved food but I am sure that the traditional way of cooking is the healthiest way. One thing is sure: it doesn't keep me away to use the microwave oven from time to time but a mix of both methods seems me acceptable to live on a healthy way.