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My wife has been trying to throw out my microwave for 2 years. She got "one of those E-mails" stating that microwaves kill all nutrition from food, cause cancer, etc.
You can make ANYTHING sound truthful, so I don't fully buy their research. I just searched for "urban legends" "hoax busters" etc. on microwaves, and didn't come up with much.
I also searched this MC site, not a lot of discussion on microwaves. I thought about it after seeing a recent post by Joanna under the topic of Vegetables:
Harvest Table wrote:whatever I make for an evening meal will also be my breakfast and lunch the next day so I prepare extra portions. Thank goodness for microwaves, but I like cold leftovers also.
Personally, I agree with her - I use a microwave. If I had to heat EVERYTHING on a gas stove, I think I would eat less healthy food because there are only so many hours in a day. You folks are more health conscious than the average person - and I believe you all tend to be more "grounded" and realistic than some health groups. Does anyone have a comment on microwave ovens?
Hi Bob. I have been using Microwaves for as long I could remember and have found no prpblem with them. I cook from the stove as well as use the Microwave. But Tex and some of the others will be along to comment
Love Oma
May I be more compassionate and loving than yeterday*and be able to spot the idiots in advance
and doing a search for microwave cooking, or ovens. He has his own ideas about it and IMHO some reasonable alternatives. It is easy to condemn a way of cooking or reheating with no information on alternatives so it is nice to find at least one place that gives some alternate ideas
Yes, I have a microwave oven but find that I rarely if ever use it. Maybe once a month if I forget to set some meat out to defrost the night before and then only microwave it for a minute or so only to insure that it will be defrosted by dinner time.
I reheat most everything in a frying pan or pot with a little water or stock. The microwave seems to turn a tender pre cooked , succulent piece of meat into shoe leather no matter how I try to do it. It may be that I just don’t have the right touch.
It is dificult to know what science is true and what is not.. I just go for what tastes and textures I like the best. For me it does not regularly include the microwave .
Matthew wrote:You might find it interesting to visit Dr. Mercola’s sight.
Yep, studied his site a while back when the wife wanted to toss our microwave out. His site has the same article (written by by Anthony Wayne and Lawrence Newell) that I mentioned in my original post - plus he has alternatives - as you mentioned.
I agree that the microwave can alter the texture of things, and we would prefer to heat things a different way.
Just curious about the claims of "removing most nutrients" or that food from a microwave can actually be harmful. That seems a bit extreme to me.
After my last 6 month flair, my malabsorption was so bad I was looking like a scarecrow (skin & bones). I have been digesting much better the last month & 1/2, and gaining the (needed) weight back. I often microwave meals other than dinner, seems if I was getting "no" nutrition out of it, I would continue to be thin and fatigued...
Bob
Yea, I know all about that scarecrow look. I bottomed out around 125-130. A light wind would have blown me down the street a ways. It might be all the rage for those fashion models but was far from a healthy look for me.
Certainly if you think that your cooking methods or tools are at fault for malabsorbtion then change them. Lord knows I have discovered so many good things to eat and new ways to cook them that what might appear to many as a restricted diet has really been an exercise in opening myself to all the fresh foods and natural meats that had never been a big part of my diet.
Grasping a straws in order to regain any kind of semblance of health lead me to look at everything. With so many claims for so many new kitchen gadgets that only looked like a great advertisement or infomercial I simply went back to the basics. A few good pans, learn how to fry with appropriate oils if any, brazing, and steaming . Learn how to make soup and stocks. Eat fresh and Natural.
It is so easy to be seduced by the claims of some expensive product when in reality, with a few simple tools you can do even better.
Don’t get me wrong. I would have loved to blame the tools ,it would have made it so easy , but just like my work it is so much about keeping it simple and making the very best of the raw materials and tools you have.
You can eat wonderfull nutritious meals that avoid all your intolerances without having to buy expensive gadgets.
I couldn't find anything on Snopes, (the final word on urban legends), about microwaves removing all the nutrition from food, but here are a couple of debunked urban legends concerning microwaves.
I suspect that far more nutrition is lost by overcooking, using convential means, than by microwaving. Boiling vetetables for too long, for example, puts a high percentage of the nutrients in the water, which is then poured down the drain.
People are naturally distrustful of anything that involves irradiation, microwave energy, etc. This goes back to the simple principle that we are by nature most afraid of things that we do not understand, and obviously, most people don't understand the principles involved with rediant energy, therefore they can't visualize, or be comfortable with, the distinctions between safe uses, and adverse effects.
Any and all cooking methods diminish the supply of available nutients. Even time destroys nutrition in many foods, (some veggies lose a lot of nutrients within a day or two following harvest). To get the maximum amount of nutrients from some foods, one has to eat it raw, immediately following harvest.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
tex wrote:...I suspect that far more nutrition is lost by overcooking, using convential means, than by microwaving. ...Any and all cooking methods diminish the supply of available nutients. ...To get the maximum amount of nutrients from some foods, one has to eat it raw, immediately following harvest.
Gotcha. Most of you have done much, much more research on health & digestion related issues than I have. If you aren't "spooked" by microwaves, then I will lock mine to the counter, and tell the wife it ain't going.
As far as raw foods, I am able to start tolerating some salads again since I have been on a remission for almost 2 months - but it seems most people with "D" have issues with raw veggies - so we have to cook. I steam veggies the first time around.
I pretty much live in the cave with Matthew (paleo diet), so most of my cooking is done conventionally. I am not afraid of my microwave, however, and use it at times. I actually like the way veggies taste when cooked in the microwave. There is something I am afraid of - I refuse to microwave anything in plastic containers. My internist even warns his patients about the harmful chemicals that can melt off of certain plastics into food.
Bob, good to hear about your progress.
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Melting a plastic container into the food it contains, and cooking in a plastic container are two seperate issues. I don't consider melting a plastic container into food to be very safe either, (whether using conventional heating sources, or a microwave oven), nor do I consider overheating a teflon-coated cooking utensil to above 650 degrees F, (about 342 degrees C), to be a safe practice, (since it will melt the teflon, and fill the room with troxic gases).
Cooking food contained in plastic containers, however is generally safe, provided that the proper types of containers are used, and common sense rules are followed. IOW, if you mess up and melt the container, don't eat the food in it. LOL.
Debunkiing that myth was the gist of the first link that I cited above, (which I'll repeat here):
Heating many types of materials always involves the risk of driving out certain chemicals, if certain temperature threshoods are exceeded. Here's what Johns Hopkins International's expert says about plastic and cooking, (by various methods):
That said, I will agree with you - if the process gives you the willies, why do it? Life's too short to sweat the small stuff, when it can be easily avoided.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I use my microwave all the time for reheating anything from coffee to mashed potatoes, and I like to steam veggies in it also.
Matthew, I agree about the meat though and when I was eating bread, that NEVER went into the microwave. Not even pizza. Couldn't stand soggy bread of any kind.
Love, Shirley
When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber"
-- Winston Churchill
starfire wrote:... and when I was eating bread, that NEVER went into the microwave. ...Couldn't stand soggy bread of any kind.
Many of us are Gluten Free (2 years for me) - and quite a few are avoiding ALL GRAINS.
With that said - I rely on corn tortillas A LOT as a bread / sandwich substitute. Microwaves will heat a corn tortilla, but the texture isn't right and they crack open too easily. So I started heating them on a cast iron "griddle" thing with some olive oil. Flip them a few times, and they can roll up anything without cracking. Just mentioning that, in case some of you can tolerate corn. Makes it easy to roll up some meat, veggies, rice if you tolerate it, and take the day's food to go.
I wrap corn tortillas in a couple of paper towels when I nuke then, (to help hold the moisture), and they come out steaming hot, and very moist and flexible, (unless, of course, they're too dry to begin with).
The cast iron griddle is much more authentic, of course, but takes a lot longer. I would probably go that route, if I were't so lazy. LOL.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
This conversation reminded me I hadn't taken anything out for dinner yet (something I often forget) so I just threw a chunk of Halibut in the microwave on defrost. Saved by my microwave again!
I use it daily for just a few things like heating water for tea, reheating leftovers and defrosting frozen food. Thats about it.
