Microwave yes or no? ?

wi_denisha
wi_denisha Posts: 17 Member
edited November 20 in Food and Nutrition
I was on a program where I was brainwashed and one of the things that they said is to get rid of my microwave which I did and put it in the garage. I haven't had microwave food in 4 months. I was taught or told rather that the microwave takes all the nutrients out of your food and is very bad for you.
My question is do you use the microwave or not and how do you feel about microwaving your food nutrition wise does it take the nutrition out of the food or not??
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Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    i use a microwave for porridge, peas, sweetcorn or probably once or twice a week... and the odd microwave meal, once a month maybe.

    the only feelings i have for or against it is that its convenient for cooking those things i have mentioned above....
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    I microwave stuff at least once a day - either warming up my lunch (because cold steak sucks); making vegetables for dinner (so much easier to nuke a potato for 5min, then cook in the oven for 45)...no harm to me yet
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,031 Member
    I use the microwave pretty daily. Especially when I have to reheat some food I cooked earlier in the day.

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  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    It's true that certain foods lose nutritional value when cooked (and others gain nutritional value) but the microwave is typically not worse - and often better - than other cooking methods.

    Whether you like the flavor and texture of microwaved food is another issue entirely of course.
  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
    I use my microwave loads.
    Once you realize that it can kind of focus the rays in the middle of the plate, and you remember to spread things out (even making a well in the middle if you like) to get them to heat evenly, then it's literally one of the most useful things in the world.
  • RachelElser
    RachelElser Posts: 1,049 Member
    the microwave doesn't affect nutrition like that. It affects textures and flavors, sure, but not the nutrition. I use it often.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    I only use the microwave for heating things (tea, frozen vegetables, leftovers, etc.) I don't use it for cooking. Not because it destroys all the nutrients, but because I don't like what it does to the texture of most foods. Any method of cooking/heat destroys some nutrients, but it makes some more available, and it does nothing to others.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    edited August 2017
    wi_denisha wrote: »
    My question is do you use the microwave or not and how do you feel about microwaving your food nutrition wise does it take the nutrition out of the food or not??

    I have not had a microwave for maybe 8 years now after a lifetime of using them.
    Two microwaves broke in a short amount of time. I decided I didn't need to dump money into another one to clutter up my kitchen to heat up water or leftovers. Food tastes better reheated on the stove or oven. I don't really miss using one. I'm not afraid of them.
    I don't think microwaves destroy nutrients more than other forms of cooking.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Noel_57 wrote: »
    Cool - if microwaves take all nutrients out of food, that would include calories. I'm stocking up on pepperoni Hot Pockets. :#

    Calories are not nutrients.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    I love my microwave. Not just for the time saving aspect of it, but also for the fact that it uses a lot less electricity than the stove or oven and doesn't heat up the kitchen in the summer.

    Having said that, there are a few foods I will not re-heat in the microwave because it changes the texture - pizza is a good example of this. It kinda gets rubbery and the crust isn't crust-y. :)

    And I agree that it doesn't make any sense that microwaving food would reduce its levels of nutrients over 'conventional' methods.

    @wi_denisha - curious as to where this brainwashing took place.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    Noel_57 wrote: »
    Cool - if microwaves take all nutrients out of food, that would include calories. I'm stocking up on pepperoni Hot Pockets. :#

    Calories are not nutrients.

    Without macronutrients there are no calories. You're onto something there, Noel.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    I feel like this was a big thing in the 1980's before being wholly debunked. Around the same time we had one of those little plastic cards that you passed over the door seams on the microwave to make sure it wasn't leaking radiation at you.

    I use the microwave often. As others have said there are some things they work great for and other things they destroy the texture of. Even if the removing nutrition thing were true, it would only matter if you were nuking a lot of your food.

    This was just published last week, which I guess means you are not alone in asking this:
    https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/microwave-cooking-and-nutrition
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    I love my microwave. Not just for the time saving aspect of it, but also for the fact that it uses a lot less electricity than the stove or oven and doesn't heat up the kitchen in the summer.

    Having said that, there are a few foods I will not re-heat in the microwave because it changes the texture - pizza is a good example of this. It kinda gets rubbery and the crust isn't crust-y. :)

    And I agree that it doesn't make any sense that microwaving food would reduce its levels of nutrients over 'conventional' methods.

    @wi_denisha - curious as to where this brainwashing took place.

    Mercola is anti microwave
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    finny11122 wrote: »
    I love cooking and turning a bunch of ingredients into something amazing . Only proper cooking techniques can get those great results . You want top quality food , you got to put in the time and effort .
    Cutting open a preservative laden ready meal and dumping it into a microwave is not exactly healthy eating .


    How about reheating your leftovers? I cook a lot too, but I usually take leftovers to work for lunch...or I'll steam some broccoli for my veg side, etc...

    I don't think the OP is talking about ready meals...I think she's talking about the microwave in general destroying the nutrients in food, which is total nonsense...
  • magster4isu
    magster4isu Posts: 632 Member
    Microwaves are only bad for nutrition, taste, texture, etc if you don't know how to use them properly.
  • finny11122
    finny11122 Posts: 8,436 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    finny11122 wrote: »
    I love cooking and turning a bunch of ingredients into something amazing . Only proper cooking techniques can get those great results . You want top quality food , you got to put in the time and effort .
    Cutting open a preservative laden ready meal and dumping it into a microwave is not exactly healthy eating .


    How about reheating your leftovers? I cook a lot too, but I usually take leftovers to work for lunch...or I'll steam some broccoli for my veg side, etc...

    I don't think the OP is talking about ready meals...I think she's talking about the microwave in general destroying the nutrients in food, which is total nonsense...

    I have used a microwave to heat up leftovers . Maybe they are safe or maybe not . I don't know .
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    I can honestly say that I don't 'cook' a lot of foods in the microwave. I do use it to steam fresh veggies, but most of our meals are traditionally prepared on the stove, bbq or in the oven.

    I do, however, use the microwave all the time to re-heat leftovers, warm up a cup of coffee, soften ice cream that's rock hard and impossible to scoop, melt butter or to make popcorn. I also found a microwave device that makes *the best* poached eggs - perfectly done in about a minute, and another that cooks bacon to perfection. <3
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