Here’s the rub: while your frozen meal may consist of Lean Cuisine-type products with healthy ingredients and low calories, the way you cook your food directly affects the amount of nutrients your body consumes. This common household appliance can significantly zap the nutritional value of your food and your health, leaving you susceptible to developing health complications due to continuous microwave use, and begging the question: is convenience worth sacrificing your health?

Microwaves Zap Food Nutrition

Heating your food in the microwave can strip away its original nutrients. What may have started as a nutritious plate of food has now evolved into “dead food” due to the dielectric heating of microwaves. “They bounce around the inside of your [microwave] oven and are absorbed by the food you put in it,” writes Dr. Joseph M. Mercola, licensed physician and surgeon. The water molecules rotate rapidly in the microwave and in the food in high frequencies which creates molecular friction and heats up your food. This causes the molecular structure in your food to change, and as a result diminishes the nutrient content in the food.

Microwaves Destroy Breast Milk And Vitamin B-12

The health benefits of vitamin B-12 are instantly negated once heated in a microwave. In a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, researchers decided to examine the effects of microwave heating on the loss of vitamin B-12 in foods like raw beef, pork, and milk. The results of the study show there was a 30 to 40 percent loss of the vitamin when the foods received microwave exposure. The shift of vitamin B-12 to an inactive form of the vitamin was found in foods during the microwave heating process.

The powerful bacteria-fighting agents in breast milk are also destroyed by microwave heating. Findings published in the journal Pediatrics examined the common practice of using a microwave to heat frozen human milk for convenience in intensive care nurseries. Researchers tested 22 freshly frozen human milk samples to test them for lysozyme activity and antibodies by heating the samples for 30 seconds on either a low or high power setting. Breast milk microwaved at high temperatures was found to have greater E coli growth — 18 more times than the control (unmicrowaved) breast milk. Microwaving at low temperatures also dramatically decreased lysozyme activity and also promoted the growth of harmful bacteria for babies.

Microwaves Create Carcinogens In Food

When you head foods that are wrapped in plastic in the microwave, you can create carcinogens in the food. Based on Russian research and German studies, the Russian government issued a warning about the health hazards microwave ovens can have on the human body and the environment. The assembling of microwavable foods are found to contain toxic chemicals such as BPA, polyethylene terpthalate (PET), benzene, toluene, and xylene says Foodbabe.com. The plastic containers used to heat these microwave meals have been found to release the carcinogens along with other harmful toxins into your food which is then absorbed by your body.

Microwaves Can Change the Makeup of Your Blood

In a Swiss clinical study, researchers found that blood changes in individuals who consumed microwaved milk and vegetables. The eight participants in the study ate a series of food prepared in different ways, including food heated in the microwave. The results of the study showed red blood cells decreased while white cell levels increased, along with cholesterol levels. The non-ionizing radiation of the microwave can affect changes in your blood and your heart rate.

Microwaves Can Change Your Heart Rate

Microwaves can produce effects on your body instantly due to the 2.4 GHz radiation — the frequency of radiation emitted by microwave ovens. A study conducted by Dr. Magda Havas of Trent University found the levels of radiation emitted by a microwave affect both heart rate and heart rate variability. These levels are within federal safety guidelines but tend to cause immediate and dramatic changes in heart rate. If you experience irregular heart beat or any chest pain and regularly eat microwaved food, it might be best to discontinue use.

Nowadays, many people, especially those who are leading a ‘fast’ lifestyle, cannot imagine reheating meals any other way than by using the microwave. Probably more or less the same number of people claim that dishes prepared in this way are unsavory and unhealthy, and that microwaves themselves are a source of harmful radiation. We will not be writing about the taste of dishes, because that is a matter of preference, but will instead focus on how microwaves work and how they heat dishes.

As the name of the device suggests, microwaves heat meals using electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength of about 12 cm[6]. The radiation is absorbed by the water molecules in each dish. They start to oscillate (rotational oscillation) absorbing the energy of the absorbed microwaves. However, these vibrations are strongly suppressed by other substances (chemicals) surrounding the water molecules contained in the meal that is being heated. As a result of this mechanical interaction (resembling the behavior of a mixer in a dough bowl), the previously absorbed energy is transferred back to the meal, with which the microwave radiation does not interact directly, causing it to heat up. Also, the warming of the container is a secondary effect, as microwave containers do not absorb radiation of such frequencies.

Microwave radiation creates a standing wave inside the oven, magnetron waves emanate from the opposite side of the oven. This means that some places in the dish will be heated significantly (where the arrows of the standing wave, i.e. the peak of the wave, are), while others in the places of wave nodes (with zero amplitude intensity) will remain cold. To avoid such uneven heating of dishes, they are placed on rotating stands or an additional rotating reflector is used and changes the distribution of intensity within the oven.

The phenomenon of microwave interactions with food (water) was accidentally discovered by the American Percy Spencer[7] while he was working on the construction of radar equipment. When experimenting with a magnetron, which is the source of microwaves also in the home appliance, he felt that the chocolate bar in his trousers started melting. On the other hand, an egg exposed to microwaves exploded. These troublesome events made it possible for him to launch the first microwave oven in 1947. Its dimensions differed significantly from today’s models, as its weighed in at 338 kg and was 1.65 m high. The first devices were water-cooled which meant that their use was restricted to bars and restaurants only.

There are a lot of opinions about the harmfulness of food that is prepared using microwave ovens as well as their negative impact on people nearby. However, research[8] has shown that no chemical changes (changes in molecular structure) occurred as a result of the microwaves passing through the food. Also, microwaves do not have a significant impact on the health and well-being of their users. A microwave oven forms a so-called Faraday’s cage[9] whose metal construction blocks all electromagnetic waves from flowing outside of the device. The properties of the cage are not negated even if a glass (plastic) door is used through which we can observe the dishes inside. This is because the door is covered with a metal mesh that is considerably smaller than the microwave wavelength, which prevents the waves from being emitted outside of the oven. On the other hand, opening the door automatically turns the device off. It is interesting that the Soviet Union introduced a ban on the use of microwave ovens in 1976, due to the risk of cancer that was discovered by Soviet scientists. This was also partly due to much stricter standards than those that had been adopted in Western Europe.

Before using a microwave oven for the first time, it is advisable to read the operating instructions and safe handling rules carefully, focusing on the information concerning the containers that may be used and directions on how to cook or defrost food.

Some people say that if the reports of the harmfulness of microwaves were true, then considerable evidence would support that claim. They say that the black PR of the microwave stems from mindless repetition of claims that were not fully tested[10]. Microwaves are electromagnetic waves — much the same as radio waves, light, infrared, ultraviolet and X-rays. But unlike the last two, microwaves do not damage the structure of chemical compounds. Isolated portions of the electromagnetic wave (called photons), in the case of microwaves, are unable to change the structure of any molecule in a living organism because they carry too little energy.

Yes, if you expose your body to an enormous stream of photons that correspond to a high intensity wave, you can expect a significant increase in the temperature of your body. For example, the proteins may break down but exactly the same factor, high temperature, leads to their congealing in the pan! Microwaves are just as dangerous as the light emitted from a bulb. If we touch it, we will be burned, but we are safe when we keep our distance. So, if the microwave is not damaged, then it will not emit hazardous microwaves. And the probability of a breakdown of a microwave oven is no different than that of, for example, washing machines breaking down and receiving electric shocks during washing.

Some research suggests that electromagnetic radiation (every microwave has a radioactive source comparable to an airborne radar) has a carcinogenic effect[11] (can cause cancer) and is mutagenic, it changes the DNA structure of humans. In theory, radiation is emitted only on the inside of the device. In practice, however, oven doors often leak. Therefore, the people waiting for dinner to warm up or operating the device all day, are at a higher risk of exposure.