Do I lose all my nutrients by microwaving?

adriayellow11
adriayellow11 Posts: 140
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Hi friends! I eat a lot of homecooked leftovers. My fiance makes delicous, healthy food for dinner and since I get home so late I usually have an appetizer portion and then a dinner portion for my lunch the following day. Of course I always microwave these portions. Does this defeat the purpose or change the food drastically? Any suggestions?

Replies

  • reese66
    reese66 Posts: 2,920 Member
    I'ge heard you lose nutrients in broccoli from microwaving it, but not sure...
  • Grokette
    Grokette Posts: 3,330 Member
    Well, the initial cooking process destroys some of the nutrients in the food and then microwaving destroys more of the nutrients.

    I am **trying** to incorporate a lot more raw foods (particularly fruits and vegetables) into my eating plan so that I gain the benefits of eating them in the first place.
  • anovasjo
    anovasjo Posts: 382 Member
    Short answer: No. It is an urban legend that microwaving changes the chemical composition of food.

    Long answer: Microwaves work by emitting an electromagnetic wave at 2.5 GHz, making the water molecules in food vibrate, which causes friction, which makes heat. Molecules that are bigger and less polar than water are unaffected (like proteins, fats, etc). This does not change the chemical composition of anything, it simply agitates the water molecules a bit.

    I don't personally own a microwave because I prefer stovetop cooking, but it's a personal choice.

    Eat your fiance's delicious food!!!
  • anovasjo
    anovasjo Posts: 382 Member
    sorry, double post!

    read this!
    http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4080
  • motherhippo
    motherhippo Posts: 33 Member
    Here is another article about the studies done on cooking veggies. <http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art52758.asp&gt;
  • porcelain_doll
    porcelain_doll Posts: 1,005 Member
    I also have wondered this, esp. since my friend was told by her doctor not to heat up her breast milk in the microwave. If she can't heat that up because it affects something in the milk negatively, how is food any different?
  • Red13
    Red13 Posts: 287 Member
    I think it depends on the specific food... since microwaving doesn't take as long to heat a food as would boiling, it's can be better than other forms of cooking. also, cooking certain foods releases more nutrients (ex: tomatoes have more antioxidants after cooked than raw)
  • angel_fire_1986
    angel_fire_1986 Posts: 34 Member
    Cooking veggies will cut the nutrients down no matter how you cook it. But I have also been told to stay away from microwaves because it actually uses radiation to cook the food. As for the breatsmilk commented by another person, its the radiation too, but mostly because the microwave heats the milk unevenly and there is a concern for buring the mouth of the infant. Also, if you overheat, you can curdle the milk. (Shaking the bottle too much will do that too) Although, my doctor told me that using a microwave will also destroy some of the nutrients in the breatsmilk as well. So, I would assume so, but try taking a vitamin, that might help :)
  • Grokette
    Grokette Posts: 3,330 Member
    Short answer: No. It is an urban legend that microwaving changes the chemical composition of food.

    Long answer: Microwaves work by emitting an electromagnetic wave at 2.5 GHz, making the water molecules in food vibrate, which causes friction, which makes heat. Molecules that are bigger and less polar than water are unaffected (like proteins, fats, etc). This does not change the chemical composition of anything, it simply agitates the water molecules a bit.

    I don't personally own a microwave because I prefer stovetop cooking, but it's a personal choice.

    Eat your fiance's delicious food!!!

    It doesn't matter which manner a fruit or vegetable is cooked. Once it has heat applied to it nutrients are lost and broken down.

    In my studies in school we learned that the cooking process destroys up to 2/3 of the nutrients in the vegetables and fruits.
  • abyt42
    abyt42 Posts: 1,358 Member
    I also have wondered this, esp. since my friend was told by her doctor not to heat up her breast milk in the microwave. If she can't heat that up because it affects something in the milk negatively, how is food any different?

    This is to make sure the milk heats evenly and doesn't have the hot patches that microwaved items can get. A safety concern.
  • kidtechnical
    kidtechnical Posts: 146
    I also have wondered this, esp. since my friend was told by her doctor not to heat up her breast milk in the microwave. If she can't heat that up because it affects something in the milk negatively, how is food any different?

    There are two reasons for this.

    1. No milk that is being fed to a baby should be heated in a microwave because it doesn't heat evenly and even after shaking there will be hot spots. Heating milk in this way is an avoidable cause of scalds in babies.

    2. Breastmilk contains very long chain fatty acids that are quite fragile and easily broken & it's thought that microwaving breaks down the long chains. Similarly, when reheating breast milk it's recommended that you swirl the milk to mix the heat up, rather than shake it up like, as vigorous shaking will break the long chain molecules down.
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