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Is Microwaving Food Healthy or Unhealthy? The Surprising Truth from Harvard Medical School #health #wellness
These days, it seems like everywhere we turn there is another article warning us about some new dietary threat to our health. From food coloring to ecoli to arsenic in chicken to GMO’s, there is no shortage of bad news out there. Imagine my smile upon reading some good food news for a change! My friend Linda Avey shared this on Facebook. Linda and I met while researching our shared ancestry (her husband is my very distant cousin). She also happens to be co-founder of an exciting new website called Curious, which explores data-relevant questions people have about their health. You might want to sign up for the beta, it’s a super cool concept! Whenever Linda shares an article, I take notice– because, well, she’s brilliant. This week, she turned my kitchen upside down with news that microwaves are not the enemy… in fact, a microwave may just be the healthiest and best way to cook your veggies!
For years now I’ve heard and read from various sources that microwaving our food is unhealthy and that, despite its undeniable convenience, it has the power to zap all of the nutrients from food. We have a microwave in our kitchen and while I do use it regularly, there’s usually a voice in the back of my head warning me that this might not be the best choice. At one point, I even considered replacing my microwave with a large, costly toaster-style oven in an effort to “clean up my act.” Imagine my surprise after reading Harvard Medical School’s article in favor of microwave cooking. According to their post, the speedy convenience of microwaving also helps to preserve nutrients in our food.
In other words, don’t believe the hype, no matter how believable it might sound!
In a microwave, food is cooked or reheated by waves of energy that are similar to radio waves. These selective waves affect “water and other molecules that are electrically asymmetrical – one end positively charged and the other negatively charged. Microwaves cause these molecules to vibrate and quickly build up thermal (heat) energy.” Some nutrients are going to break down when exposed to heat, no matter where it’s coming from – an oven or a microwave. This is where a microwave’s short cook time can actually be beneficial. Important nutrients like Vitamin C are diminished when foods are heated, but because vegetables spend a much shorter time in the microwave than they might in an oven, the nutrients have a greater chance of being preserved.
Harvard goes a step further and points out that vegetables can actually lose nutrients when cooked in water. For example, broccoli’s flavor and cancer-fighting properties come from glucosinolate, which is lost when broccoli is boiled. Shorter, faster cook times that don’t require much liquid are our best hope for preserving nutritional value, and microwaves offer exactly that. By steaming food from the inside out, more minerals and vitamins are preserved than with alternate cooking methods. So, it appears that microwaves aren’t the enemy! At least, Harvard Medical School seems to think so. And who am I to argue?
Does this mean that I’ll be microwaving all of my vegetables from here on out? Definitely not. I don’t think I could live without roasted carrots and broccoli. But this certainly does give us some food for thought, and it might just ease our collective conscience a bit when reheating leftovers for lunch the next day. Do you use a microwave on a regular basis?
Regarding the roses that died: Heating water concentrates the DiHydrogen Monoxide. Nothing to do with microwaves….:-)….
Just something to note, if you get water and put it in the microwave then try to water your flowers they will last considerably less time, I know my mother tried it with a batch of roses she was given and ones in microwaved water died in a day or two and the others went on for 2 weeks and were fine
I’m from health-concious Switzerland and yes, we have had microwaves there for decades too 🙂 Back in the days we were warned about using them. However, this was recalled many years ago as research developed safer models. We now know that veggies especially, do keep their nutrients better cooked this way. Merci, Tori, for the article.
For all those of you who think the microwave is just for defrosting, reheating, and melting butter, you MUST read Barbara Kafka’s “Microwave Gourmet” (1987)!!!! You have to know what the microwave good for and what it isn’t good for. She says that many time-consuming dishes that she used to make on special occasions have become regular dishes for her since she started using the microwave for them! Here is an excerpt:
“If anything could convince the true cook, or even the ardent eater, that the microwave oven is a tool worth having, it would be that it makes risotto divinely, effortlessly, and relatively rapidly while the cook talks to the guests. From being a once-a-year treat, it can go to being an everyday delight”.
It is the best way to make fish, to ‘steam’ vegetables (what vibrant colors!), and takes all the work out of bechamel sauces–and no lumps–and no pot to clean!
Great for anything you want juicy. Not good for anything you want crispy. I’ve been using it for almost 40 years, and am quite fit and healthy…!
Janet
Wow! Looks like you got some conversation going Tori!
My microwave is in my pantry behind a closed door. I don’t use it often, but when I want it, it’s there.
I close the pantry door when it’s running so when it sends out its evil-microwave-rays, they won’t get me. Haha!
And I am quite sure that Harvard Medical School believe strongly in the more vaccines, the better, right? Point is, don’t believe everything an allopathic institution tells you. They may be supported by the corporations that make microwaves…….always, do your own research. For me, that is one less thing in my tiny kitchen that I don’t worry about. Got rid of mine at least 5 years ago and I don’t miss it.
I’ve been using microwaves since 1980. I grow my own vegetables (organically) and raised my kids on whole foods before anyone called it that. I found out early on that the very best way to prepare fresh veggies was to put them in a covered glass or Corningware dish with about a tablespoon of water and microwave on “high” for two or three minutes (depending on the vegetable and the size of what’s being cooked). Everything comes out brightly-colored, crisp-tender, and delicious.
I bake or roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets and winter squash in a conventional oven, but pretty much anything else is done in the microwave. Dinner guests always ask me how I get my “steamed broccoli” (or asparagus, or beans, or whatever) so perfect.
I also melt chocolate and butter in the microwave, pop home-grown popcorn in it by placing the cob in a brown paper bag and popping with no oil, and re-heat plates of leftovers without everything getting mushy or soggy or otherwise unpalatable.