LIFESTYLE: How Microwaving Food Is Slowly Killing Us

My dearest reader, I am glad to have you here again. This post is not in any way meant to be a scare or deter you from your daily sweet life. It is just a call to awareness. If you have a different perspective to what you would be reading, kindly drop your opinion in the comment section below.

Our microwave ovens are gradually becoming part of our everyday life. As part of ease or to show class as the case maybe, it is now a common thing to find a microwave in households, eateries and other establishments.

The microwave oven is a powerful machine, with the capability of emitting up to two-thousand watts of electricity and heating food to over 200°F. It uses high-frequency radio waves (called microwaves) to make food molecules move very fast, thereby creating heat.

Dangers Of Microwaving Foods

Using the microwave might sure a fast way to get our meal ready. But it doesn't go without is downsides

While warming leftover food, making popcorn or defrosting meat we are exposing ourselves to little known dangers. It has been gathered that a lot new mothers use the microwave to heat up breast milk or formula for their infants.

Firstly, microwave radiation kills a major part of our food nutrients and makes our plastic containers to release toxic chemicals which are harmful to the body. It significantly decrease the nutritional value of food.

A research by Body Ecology (BE) revealed that microwaving food 

1. Reduce levels of vitamin B 12 (Vitamin B 12 is essential for red blood cell formation, preventing anemia, and a healthy nervous system.)
2. Decrease flavonoids by 97%! (Flavonoids have anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-microbial properties.)
3. Break down bacteria-digesting enzymes in breast milk. (Babies rely on enzymes from breast milk to establish a healthy inner ecosystem that digests food, absorbs nutrients and protects against pathogens.)
4. Lower levels of sinapic acid derivatives (Sinapic acids scavenge for and neutralize free radicals, cancer-causing agents in your body.)
5. Decrease antibody levels in breast milk (Antibodies in mother’s milk protect babies from infections.)
6. Microwaving our foods can significantly alter levels of vitamins and nutrients that you need for a healthy body.

Secondly, another risk we face when using microwaves is that cancer-causing compounds from our plastic containers and plastic wraps can find its way into our food.

When microwaving food, do not let the plastic touch the food. Bisphenol A, is a toxic chemical which affects neural and reproductive development. It is present in some plastics and low doses of the chemical are linked to cancers, early puberty, obesity, and diabetes. It is advisable to not use anything plastic when microwaving our food.

Safe Way To Microwave Food

While I have tried to point out what experts have said about the dangers of using the microwave, it is important to note that, the best way to cure is prevention and as such, experts have recommended reduction of our dependencies on microwaves. Here are a few tips they have given

1. Foods, especially fruits and vegetables, are best eaten raw, parboiled quickly or lightly steamed to retain nutrients.
2. If you need to heat water for hot drinks and avoid microwave dangers, use an electric stainless steel kettle!
3. If you must use plastics, do not heat them in the microwave. Look for polypropylene and polyethylene plastic containers if you do use plastics.

You do not have to subject yourself to microwave dangers. By choosing other methods to cook and store your food, you can be sure that your food will retain nutrients and be toxin-free.

Culled from: Body Ecology & Everyday Health