Dear OPRAH, NO MICROWAVE COOKING PLEASE!

I am saddened by Oprah's promotion of microwave exposure on food. I just hope she makes an effort to stop telling people that microwaving food is just fine and dandy.

And please don't use a microwave to get the last spoonful of almond butter from the bottom of the jar! The fat in almond butter is specifically damaged by microwaves.

Read More...

Microwave Cooking, Microwave Convenience Food: Risk to Your Health

Microwave Plastics May Not Be As Safe As You Think

Bottom Line/Personal,February 1, 2009

Q: I read in Bottom Line that it is not safe to microwave plastic. Should I remove the plastic package from frozen meals and vegetables before microwaving?

A: For maximum safety, yes -- take the food out of the plastic before you microwave it. Even when plastics are labeled "microwave-safe," very small amounts of chemicals, such as Bisphenol-A (BPA), can leach out of them into food. Heat accelerates the process -- which means plastics heated in a microwave or washed in a dishwasher are more likely to transfer BPA to foods. More than 90% of people tested have very low but measurable amounts of BPA in their bodies. The effects of such low levels on humans are unknown -- but lab animals exposed to BPA have neurological and developmental damage.

Some plastics are considered safer than others, such as those with the number 1, 2 or 5 in the recycling symbol on the container -- but even these can transfer tiny amounts of chemicals to foods.

Source: Patricia Hunt, PhD, reproductive biologist and geneticist and Meyer Distinguished Professor in the School of Molecular BioSciences, Washington State University, Pullman.

UPDATE 30 Jan, 2010  The dangers of microwaves

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2007/11/microwave-your-way-to-poor-health.html

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/03/more-on-microwaves-update.html
From Post, Dec 18, 2009

Recently reported in Breaking News on Supplements & Nutrition there seems to be a trend in ethnic and natural foods for conveience over health benefit.

Convenience and healthy eating trends are driving demand for microwave packaging in the US, which is forecast to climb seven per cent annually to $2.4bn in 2013, according to a report from US analysts, the Freedonia Group.

Read Complete Article: Health and convenience boosting microwave packaging, report

What I believe is important is to first understand more about the impact a microwave cooking and your health.

William Kopp who has written extensively on the impact of microwaving food and how this can effect health notes that

* Microwaved meats contain d-nitrosodiethanolamine, a well-known carcinogen.

* Cancer-causing agents are created in the protein-hydrolysate compounds in milk and grains.

* The molecular composition of proteins and natural sugars is unnaturally altered.

* Even brief exposures of raw, cooked or frozen vegetables to microwaves enhance the production of alkaloids (such as caffeine, morphine and strychnine) that are harmful to the human body. (MY NOTE/ x-ref: "Steamers")

* The availability of vitamin complexes A, B, C and E, and essential minerals is vastly reduced.

* The microwaves in the food bind with atmospheric radioactivity, creating additional harmful radiation.

People who consistently rely on microwaved food can suffer from:

1.) hormone imbalance

2.) damage to the electrical functioning of the nervous system

3.) a disruption in the cellular membrane electrical potentials

4.) significant loss of vital energy

5.) a higher-than-normal percentage of cancerous cells in their blood serum

6.) Researchers have even detected significant levels of disruption in alpha, delta, and theta brain waves. "Because of the disarranged brain waves," Kopp points out,

7.) "negative psychological effects also result. These include loss of memory and the ability to concentrate, suppressed emotional threshold, deceleration of intellective processes and interrupt[ed] sleep episodes."

Kopp concludes that in the short term, "microwave oven radiation disrupts the electrical field of the body, which in turn affects functioning on biological, chemical and physiological levels. Being within just a three foot range of a microwave oven will expose you to these dangers."

(MY NOTE/ N.B.: Applies also to cell phone, wi-fi et al)

Other health impact may include elevated cholesterol, obesity, increased whie blood cell count, decreased numbers of red blood cells, and creation of foreign compounds.
 
While you may think you need these convenience foods, studies showed that the difference in prepared meals v. microwave meals is about 5 minutes.
 
Isn't your health worth an extra five minutes?

Microwave your way to poor health

COOKING, MICROWAVE OVEN COOKING - Broccoli, Vitamin C, Glucosinolates, Phenolic Compounds, Minerals, Vitamins, Water

Reference: "Effects of microwave cooking conditions on bioactive compounds present in broccoli inflorescences," Lopez-Berenguer C, Carvajal M, et al, J Agric Food Chem, 2007; 55(24): 10001-7. (Address: Food Science and Technology Department and Plant Nutrition Department, CEBAS-CSIC, P.O. Box 164, Espinardo, Murcia, Spain. E-mail: cgviguera@cebas.csic.es ).

Summary: In this study, researchers set out to determine the effects of various approaches to microwave cooking (with differences in time cooked, power used, and use of water) on various health-promoting compounds found in broccoli (namely, glucosinolates, phenolic compounds, minerals, and vitamin C). Results found that after all microwave cooking conditions, levels of all the health-promoting compounds studied decreased, with the exception of mineral levels, which remained stable under all cooking conditions. The greatest reduction was found in levels of vitamin C, which was determined to be due to degradation and leaching. Reductions in phenolic compounds and glucosinolates were found to be primarily due to leaching into water. The authors conclude, "In general, the longest microwave cooking time and the higher volume of cooking water should be avoided to minimize losses of nutrients."

Given the prevalence of microwave cooking in industrialized societies around the world, these results have broad implications for public health. Additional research is warranted.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The US Navy, as we reported in the late 1990s held much of this same information until it was released not long ago from classified data.

After the World War II, the Russians also experimented with microwave ovens. From 1940 their research was carried out at the Institute of Radio Technology at Klinsk, Byelorussia. According to US researcher William Kopp, who gathered much of the results of Russian and German research - and was apparently prosecuted for doing so (J. Nat. Sci, 1998; 1:42-3) - the following effects were observed by Russian forensic teams:

1. Heating prepared meats in a microwave sufficiently for human consumption created:
* d-Nitrosodiethanolamine (a well-known cancer-causing agent)
* Destabilization of active protein biomolecular compounds
* Creation of a binding effect to radioactivity in the atmosphere
* Creation of cancer-causing agents within protein-hydrosylate compounds in milk and cereal grains;
2. Microwave emissions also caused alteration in the catabolic (breakdown) behavior of glucoside - and galactoside - elements within frozen fruits when thawed in this way;
3. Microwaves altered catabolic behavior of plant-alkaloids when raw, cooked or frozen vegetables were exposed for even very short periods;
4. Cancer-causing free radicals were formed within certain trace-mineral molecular formations in plant substances, especially in raw root vegetables;
5. Ingestion of micro-waved foods caused a higher percentage of cancerous cells in blood;
6. Due to chemical alterations within food substances, malfunctions occurred in the lymphatic system, causing degeneration of the immune system=s capacity to protect itself against cancerous growth;
7. The unstable catabolism of micro-waved foods altered their elemental food substances, leading to disorders in the digestive system;
8. Those ingesting micro-waved foods showed a statistically higher incidence of stomach and intestinal cancers, plus a general degeneration of peripheral cellular tissues with a gradual breakdown of digestive and excretory system function;
9. Microwave exposure caused significant decreases in the nutritional value of all foods studied, particularly:
* A decrease in the bioavailability of B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, essential minerals and lipotrophics
* Destruction of the nutritional value of nucleoproteins in meats
* Lowering of the metabolic activity of alkaloids, glucosides, galactosides and nitrilosides (all basic plant substances in fruits and vegetables)
* Marked acceleration of structural disintegration in all foods.

As a result microwave ovens were banned in Russia in 1976; the ban was lifted after Perestroika.

Microwaves leak

In the book, Health Effects of Microwave Radiation Microwave Ovens by Dr. Lita Lee, she states that every microwave oven leaks electromagnetic radiation, harms food, and converts substances cooked in it to dangerous toxic and carcinogenic products.

There has been contradictory research linked to EMFs (electromagnetic fields) produced by appliances like microwave ovens.

Dr. David Carpenter, Dean at the US School of Public Health, State University of New York believes it is likely that up to 30% of all childhood cancers come from exposure to EMFs. In fact, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns 'There is reason for concern' and advises prudent avoidance.

EMFs can be measured with an instrument called a Gauss meter. In fact, here is what one reader has to say when he used a Gauss meter to test microwaves: Measuring with a Gauss meter, every microwave I tested leaked, and was detectable up to six feet away.

So just to be on the safe side, it is best to stand back from your microwave when its running, by six (6) feet.Better not to be in the same room when one is running, or best to avoid microwave cooking all together!