Safety of using microwave?

sxt

Hey,

I've been using the microwave a couple of times a days for years now.Most recently i have been buying ready made mashed potatoes and carrots and putting it into the microwave uncovered.That got be thinking to how safe microwaving food was.Just been looking up the net about this,there is alot of conflciting views on it,allthough alot of it is very negative.For instance,i never knew that the Russians banned their use since 1976!

I know that any form of cooking takes away the nutritional value of food,but is that the only bad thing about using a microwave

Does anybody have any views on this?

olaola

I would say the nutritional value of 'ready made' veg should be more of a concern than microwaves.

Freshness is key, and don't cook the bejaesus out of it.

Supercell

I think that any food reheated is probably nutritionally poorer than freshly prepared.
If anything, reheating it fast might be better than slowly in a conventional oven.
I've no idea to be honest, but personally prefer microwave for reheating as it reheats right through rather than burning in through conventional methods.

That said , if your query is based on the tech, I'm no nuclear physicist but am pretty sure there's no residual microwave radiation left behind compared to normal heating, so the issue really becomes one of how the food is reheated.

rubadub

this site is worrying!

http://www.relfe.com/microwave.html

I only glanced at the page but saw no reference to length of time of cooking, so it smells of BS to me, or at least scare tactics.

ivanthehunter

well i think it true... think i'll cut out the use of microwaves..

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

ApeXaviour

sxt wrote: »

I know that any form of cooking takes away the nutritional value of food,but is that the only bad thing about using a microwave

Does anybody have any views on this?

Microwaves are just light waves, but with a longer wavelength (lower energy). They are slightly longer again than Infra-Red waves, which when you turn on the radiator, is what warms you up.
The type of microwaves used in ovens are tuned to "see" water and find most other things transparent. Much the same way as if you left a pane of glass and black cardboard box out in the sun for an hour. The sunlight would "see" the black box and heat it up.

Microwaves heat fast, and inhomogeneously, so if you are just trying to warm something, you may end up boiling parts of it and hardly heating other parts. This is why it's microwaves have turntables. So, it probably isn't the best way to heat baby's milk for instance (no more than you would boil/bake/fry baby's milk), since you probably would denature some enzymes. Leaving it under a warm tap, or in a gradually heating pot of water is clearly better.

rubadub wrote:

this site is worrying!

http://www.relfe.com/microwave.html

The violent change that microwaving causes to the food molecules forms new life forms called radiolytic compounds. These are mutations that are unknown in the natural world. Ordinary cooking also causes the formation of some radiolytic compounds (which is no doubt one reason why it is better to eat plenty of raw food), but microwaving cooking causes a much greater number. This then causes deterioration in your blood and immune system.

Wow... clearly ill-informed scaremongering.
And lol, a radiolytic compound is not a "life form". Radiolysis is a process by which molecules break apart, this is what happens when you cook food. You give energy, you break chemical bonds, proteins denature and hey-presto, your food is cooked. The only statement I would agree with there is that it is often better to eat most foods raw. Though the process by which you cook the food pales in comparison to how much you cook it, which again is nothing when compared to what you are eating...

ivanthehunter wrote:

well i think it true... think i'll cut out the use of microwaves..

You'll forgive me if I call you a dolt. Frying, especially high temperature and in vegetable oil one whole lot more invasive a way to cook. Microwaves barely heat above 100C, but you can fry nearly up to 300C. The latter will cause a lot more free radicals (carcinogenic) and hydrogenation (resulting in trans fatty acids). If you must fry, do it at a low temperature with cheap olive oil or butter are far superior since they are resistant to hydrogenation.

But anyway, if you really care about your health, stop worrying about your microwave and cut out something actually bad, like sugar.