Is It Bad To Eat Microwaved Food Everyday?
Microwaving food has become a common practice in our busy lives. It’s quick, easy, and convenient. However, with convenience comes a concern for health. The question arises: Is it bad to eat microwaved food every day?
While the microwave is a great tool for reheating food, it’s important to understand the potential health risks associated with microwaving food on a regular basis.
If you are health conscious you probably won’t use a microwave too often. Many people have faded away from the convenience of a microwave oven because of the dangerous health risks they pose.
In this article we are going to answer the question: Is It Bad To Eat Microwaved Food Everyday, analyze why and look into what science says on that matter.
How microwave cooking works?
Okay, picture this: you’ve got your delicious leftovers from last night that you’re itching to devour. You pop them in a microwave, close the door, and set the cooking time. Now, here’s where the magic happens!
Inside a microwave oven, there’s a device called a magnetron. It’s the real MVP here. The magnetron generates electromagnetic waves, specifically microwaves. These microwaves are a type of radiation that’s not harmful (no need to panic!).
When you hit that start button, the magnetron starts doing its thing. It releases these microwaves into the oven. They bounce around the cavity and get absorbed by the food.
Now, here’s the nifty part: the microwaves are absorbed mainly by water molecules in the food. These water molecules get all excited, jiggling and vibrating like crazy. And all that movement generates heat. That’s how your food gets cooked!
The microwaves penetrate the food and cook it from the inside out. This is why microwave cooking is generally faster than other methods. It’s like having a mini heat generator right in your kitchen!
But wait, there’s more! Microwaves also have another superpower: they don’t heat the air inside the oven. That’s why your microwave-safe plate and your food come out piping hot, while the plate itself remains cool to the touch.
Is It Bad To Eat Microwaved Food Everyday?
While there have been claims and studies suggesting potential negative effects of microwaving food, it’s important to evaluate the overall body of scientific evidence and consider the context of these studies.
First of all, we have to mention that the World Health Organization (WHO) and various other food safety agencies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), consider microwaves to be a safe cooking method when used correctly.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that we should blindly trust these so-called “authorities”, but I am adding it here for the sake of this article.
Microwaves heat food by generating electromagnetic waves that primarily affect water molecules, causing them to vibrate and generate heat.
This process does not inherently make the food unsafe or harmful. However, some people are concerned about the possibility of nutritional loss in microwaved meals.
Microwave heating, like any other cooking method, can cause nutritional deterioration, especially if the meal is overdone or reheated for an extended period of time.
Exposure to heat, air, and light can lead to nutrient breakdown. To minimize nutrient loss, it’s advisable to cook food for the shortest time necessary and use minimal amounts of water when reheating.
Microwave Health Risks
Microwave Ovens and Pacemakers
It is quite disconcerting that microwave ovens, along with electric shavers, auto ignition systems, and other electronic products, were once feared to cause interference with certain electronic cardiac pacemakers.
Despite the lack of specific warnings mandated by the FDA for microwave ovens, it appears that this issue has conveniently been swept under the rug. Manufacturers claim that modern pacemakers are designed to withstand such electrical interference, but it is hard to trust their assurances completely.
People with pacemakers are advised to consult their physicians, but it remains alarming that such potential risks were not thoroughly addressed in the first place.
Microwave Ovens And Electromagnetic radiation
In an investigation conducted in Saudi Arabia, a field measurement survey was carried out on 106 microwave ovens used in households and restaurants in Riyadh city.
Shockingly, one oven was found to exceed the specified limit of 5 mW cm-2 for electromagnetic radiation leakage.
Even more concerning, fifteen other ovens were found to leak 1 mW cm-2 or more. The remaining ovens were just slightly below that threshold.
Despite these alarming findings, the researchers, perhaps rather conveniently, concluded that user exposure to RF radiation from microwave ovens is unlikely to have a detrimental effect on health.
They based their conclusion on the fast decay of radiated power density with distance from the oven and previous studies. It is difficult to trust their assertion, considering the potential risks identified in their own investigation.
Microwave Ovens And Heart Health
Microwave ovens not only nuke our food and destroy any nutritional value that it has, but it is also having a seriously negative effect on your heart.
Typical microwave frequency radiation from the microwave in an average American kitchen puts off more than enough radiation to affect your heart rate and heart rate variability.
Just 2.4 GHz can cause immediate and drastic changes to your heart. The shocking part is that 2.4Ghz is the average frequency given out by your WiFi router and microwave ovens.
Dr. Magda Havas of Trent University studied the effects of microwaving your food for some time now, and according to her, people exposed to radiation for just three minutes at 2.4Ghz can experience severe reactions in heart changes and altered heart rate variations – including an alarm response to stress.
This is also called electrohypersensitivity (EHS), or rapid aging syndrome. It has been studied for multiple decades, and this response includes heart palpitations, clumping of red blood cells, and fluctuations of the parasympathetic nervous system typical of a fight or flight response.
Many people over the years have claimed that microwave ovens do not produce any immediate biological effects because the ordinary household level is so far below the federal guidelines.
However, in the modern day world, there are more sources of environmental radiation like electromagnetic devices, WiFi routers, laptops, and cell phones.
“This is the first study that documents immediate and dramatic changes in both heart rate and heart rate variability caused by an approved device that generates microwaves at levels well below (0.3 percent) federal guidelines in both Canada and the United States.”
Who invented microwave ovens?
Just like chemotherapy, the Nazi’s invented microwave ovens during world war II. They created a device to provide mobile food support for their troops when they invaded the Soviet Union. Russia later banned the ovens when they figured out how dangerous they were, but of course not the United States.
Dr. Hans Ulrich Hertel was one of the first food scientists to study the effects of microwaves on the blood and physiology of human beings.
He and his biochemistry expert partners concluded that microwaves resulted in negative health effects. They reported that they can cause higher cholesterol levels, decreased numbers of red blood cells, decreased hemoglobin levels and decreased numbers of leukocytes.
Bottom Line
So, is it bad to eat microwaved food every day? While there is no definitive answer, it’s important to be mindful of the potential health risks associated with microwaving food.
If you do choose to microwave your food, consider using microwave-safe containers and avoiding plastic containers, which can leach harmful chemicals into your food.
Additionally, consider using lower power settings and longer cooking times to reduce the potential loss of nutrients and the creation of harmful compounds.
Ultimately, the extra fifteen minutes in the oven might be the better idea in order to avoid major health complications. You’re not just nuking your food, you’re nuking your blood, brain, and disturbing your heart rate.
Doesn’t sound as convenient anymore, does it?
Read Also
ℹ️ FoodNourish is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission without any surcharge to you.
