Please stop microwaving your food

lusciousladie07
lusciousladie07 Posts: 16 Member
in Food and Nutrition
If possible... get a toaster oven or use the stove or regular oven. A saucepan with a bit a water will heat up your food just fine. Microwaves make your food no better than the plastic container you nuked them in. Food (especially the vitamins and nutrients contained in them that your body needs) are not meant to be heated up that fast and to the degree that microwaves produce.

The nutrients contained food (especially protein) have a certain structure. That structure is essential as it is used for "recognition" by the body's digestive system of what it is and what the body needs to do with it. When you microwave or nuke your food, you are denaturing or abolishing the structure of MOST of the nutrients and your body no longer recognizes it and considers it waste. It doesn't get used and goes in your mouth and out the other end. For some people..this can cause your body to trigger the hunger response in order to get the nutrients is it craving.. even though you may have already eaten.

This basic principle of this can be found in any anatomy and physiology book or H.S science books.

Try this test at home. Buy two identical 1.00 plants. Place them in the same spot in your home with sufficient light. Feed one plant regular tap water and the other microwaved water. The plant fed with microwaved water will be dead by the end of the week. Imagine what you are doing to your body with microwaved food.

And it may be hard for some to completely eliminate using microwaves due to schedule or other reasons but try slowly cutting back and see if you notice a difference in your overall health.

Ok.. I'm off my soapbox. Hope everyone is doing great and have a great Sunday.
«13456789

Replies

  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    FWIW, I tend to have an aversion to my microwave. I always have. I still have not fully accepted it as a cooking tool. I think of it more for just re-heating. But, not for actual cooking. Even within this past year, I use it less as I reheat in my traditional oven, toaster oven, or on the stove. I have thought of getting rid of the microwave, but I'm scared. Lol. It just seems like I need one. Lol. I didn't know there was any science behind its evil-ness. Hmmmm. Something to think about.

    I can't think of a single thing I have cooked in it. I even heat up canned soup on the stove. I did buy microwaveable frozen brown rice. Had it the other night, it was ok, but not as good as the real thing. I'll probably not buy that anymore.

    I have to admit though, that this sounds a bit like bro-science, or maybe wives tale stuff, or like the poodle in the microwave story. I don't know. I don't feel like killing any of my plants, so I'm not going to test the theory.
  • Duckz1
    Duckz1 Posts: 145 Member
    But..but...but.... how will I heat up my lean cuisines twice a day?? :noway: :smile: At least I don't microwave my vitamins.
  • Irish_eyes75
    Irish_eyes75 Posts: 475
    But..but...but.... how will I heat up my lean cuisines twice a day?? :noway: :smile: At least I don't microwave my vitamins.

    :laugh:
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    The microwaved water and plants thing is a total urban legend.

    Also, please don't microwave straight water. Unless you like boiling water to explode in your face.


    ANY type of heating destroys nutrients. Freezing destroys nutrients.
  • Bakkasan
    Bakkasan Posts: 1,027 Member
    No.
  • musiche
    musiche Posts: 214 Member
    Thank you for the reminder... I have gotten lazy and depend on my microwave too much... Creepy, little, unnatural machines...
  • stargazer008
    stargazer008 Posts: 531
    I occasionally use the microwave. Though I prefer the toaster or a mini oven for heating food since it makes food crispy which I like. The microwave just makes food soggyish (to me) so that's why I don't like it.
  • Acko82
    Acko82 Posts: 5 Member
    Hmmmm, nonsense. What part of the water is the microwaving destroying exactly?
  • Kalynx
    Kalynx Posts: 707 Member
    my Nourishing Traditions cook book says the same thing.....but I'm not ready to unplug mine yet! LOL
  • Fairysoul
    Fairysoul Posts: 1,361 Member
    We tossed our microwave 2 years ago and never looked back!
  • naples89
    naples89 Posts: 33 Member
    Like I understand not everyone can become a biologist, physicist etc but didn't you take biology and chemistry in high school?
  • EricNCSU
    EricNCSU Posts: 699 Member
    Save your watches boys your shoes are ruined.... this is some DEEP bull.....

    Sorry, thanks for playing.. try again.
  • hoppinglark
    hoppinglark Posts: 213 Member
    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/health/17real.html
    oh wait
    that's right, shorter cooking times in microwaves means you
    RETAIN more micronutrients!
    http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1453972&show=abstract
  • ashesannes
    ashesannes Posts: 11
    So if freezing kills nutrients, then why do they say frozen fruits are the best to eat to prevent cancer because they are picked off the vine and sent directly to the freezer? They say the fruits and vegs lose their potency when they are immobile and it's better to freeze because it holds the nutrients longer.
  • Briantime
    Briantime Posts: 175 Member
    I am sure you mean well, and microwaved food can be a drag because of the uneven heating, but it does NOT change the nutrients in your food in any significant way unless your alternative is not to cook your food at all. It's just not true.
  • sirmio
    sirmio Posts: 44 Member
    my Nourishing Traditions cook book says the same thing.....but I'm not ready to unplug mine yet! LOL

    I love that cook book, it makes eating organ meats fun.
    Thank you for the reminder... I have gotten lazy and depend on my microwave too much... Creepy, little, unnatural machines...

    Microwaves, in the electromagnetic sense, are quite natural. However, I think all machines are unnatural by definition of having to be built.
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
    Please tell me the OP is trolling...or I might cry
  • musiche
    musiche Posts: 214 Member
    Lean Cuisine's are packaged in plastic.

    I think we all know by now that plastic is bad. ESPECIALLY when heated up. Plastic's leach into our food and cause tons of problems with our endocrine systems - especially in children. The most prevalent of issues is plastic's mimicking estrogens in our bodies, which is linked to premature puberty and many types of cancers.

    Consider BPA - it was a staple component of plastic containers and water bottles for years, our "food grade plastic" was contaminated. Now, because of it's association with cancer, it is banned. Plastic hasn't even gone through an entire generation of testing and we as human beings do not know the long term effects. What they deem 'safe' is on a temporary, short term basis, and as time goes by, they realize what these unnatural substances are doing to us - perfect example: BPA.

    Pyrex glass ware is great for storing food - and it is hard to break, I've dropped it and it has bounced, weird stuff. It is freezer and microwave (if you're going to) safe. They only drawback is that it's heavier, but we're here to lose weight so lugging an extra pound or two of non-contaminated food is worth it, right? Right.

    Plastic is cheap and easy to produce, it helps people sell products and fils our environment with more permanent refuse than anything else.

    DOWN WITH PLASTIC.
  • jppd47
    jppd47 Posts: 737 Member
    The microwaved water and plants thing is a total urban legend.

    Also, please don't microwave straight water. Unless you like boiling water to explode in your face.


    ANY type of heating destroys nutrients. Freezing destroys nutrients.

    Adding this again. Heat (among other things) is was denatures proteins any A&P, or high school book will tell you that.
    So I supposes we shouldn't make stir fries either, as things are getting heated up so quickly....
  • ouija86
    ouija86 Posts: 138 Member
    I call bs. 90% of all bodybuilders/strongmen/athletes microwave their food, including the best in the world.

    Cooking does inherently degrade food, but the extent to which is highly exaggerated.

    If what nutrients are being destroyed by cooking food twice (essentially what you're talking about) is holding you back, simple solution is eat more.

    Be serious, what you eat is far more important than how you heat it up.
  • musiche
    musiche Posts: 214 Member
    But..but...but.... how will I heat up my lean cuisines twice a day?? :noway: :smile: At least I don't microwave my vitamins.

    I meant to quote you... :/
  • IntoQuestion
    IntoQuestion Posts: 5
    Unless you can explain how accelerating molecules and therefore changing the structure of your food with one tool changes it more than doing it with another tool, I'll call this a myth. The only difference here is how fast is it done and which part is done first. You can overheat your food in the microwave more easily, sure, but then again you overheat the outside of you food on purpose in a frying pan.
  • Damiilla
    Damiilla Posts: 66
    I suppose you think kettles are unnatural as well because it boils water too quickly?

    And of course a plant will die if you pour boiling water on it. =P

    I like my microwave but don't depend on it. Ovens make food taste yummier and crispier than microwaves anyway.
  • MaxlacusNight
    MaxlacusNight Posts: 44 Member
    The microwave works by sending 'micro wave's' through the food that you are heating up. All that these microwaves do is vibrate the water molecules inside the food. When the water molecules vibrate it causes friction or heat, to heat up your food.

    In regards to tap water vs. microwave water: Tap water has been filtered to removed harmful microorganisms and other foul things we don't like to think about. When it comes to us though, it is still full of minerals that are essential to a plants lively hood. When you are microwaving water you are likely breaking down these minerals, which is why the plant dies. Though it has water, it also needs other ingredients to make a healthy plant, just as you need to make a healthy body.

    If you compare this to food. Yes, you are going to break down some of the nutritional value when you use a microwave. But you do the same thing on a frying pan. No matter how you heat it, you are doing the same effects to it. If you really want to be bring in a scientific experiment, you should also be boiling the crap out of water on the stove and feeding it to a third plant. Right now, your scientific evidence is invalid.

    I rest my case.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    I don't think so. Heating in general kills nutrients. I don't think cooking something in the oven is any better than cooking it in the microwave. (well, in terms of nutrition anyway)
  • dunlunicor
    dunlunicor Posts: 189 Member
    Maybe your plant died because you put boiling water on it?
  • musiche
    musiche Posts: 214 Member
    Thank you for the reminder... I have gotten lazy and depend on my microwave too much... Creepy, little, unnatural machines...
    Microwaves, in the electromagnetic sense, are quite natural. However, I think all machines are unnatural by definition of having to be built.

    That... is just plain weird... Saying microwaves are quite natural, lol. It inspires visions of cave men sitting around a fire and one of them having a lightbulb go off and rigging himself up a microwave, as if he feels stupid for not having thought of it before, naturally... :P

    In the 'natural' world, microwaves aren't even a cognizant thought, whereas fire and radiant heat are.

    Microwaves a creepy, I stand by my decision, lol.
  • DoingitWell
    DoingitWell Posts: 560 Member
    Dang.
  • thankyou4thevenom
    thankyou4thevenom Posts: 1,581 Member
    Thank you OP. I needed a laugh. :laugh:
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    Like I understand not everyone can become a biologist, physicist etc but didn't you take biology and chemistry in high school?

    They didn't talk about this aspect at all.

Categories