Microwave Ovens and Human Health 

Almost all households have a microwave oven as a means of cooking and for warming meals in a practical, fast, and easy way. It has been stated by Harvard Health that the use of a microwave oven with a small amount of water is similar to steaming foods and can maintain vitamins and minerals more when compared to the other cooking methods. If indeed the microwave is such a practical and harmless appliance, and if it does not affect human health adversely, then why did the Soviet Union ban the use of microwaves in 1976?

Microwave Oven
Microwave Oven

As quoted in Health Science, processing foods continually when using a microwave oven may be harmful to human health due to the long term damage done to the brain. It is stated that its use will make it so the body cannot metabolize against the unknown by-products generated by processed foods which then affects hormone production for men and women. This causes the processed food to be less nutritious, and it triggers the growth of cancer cells.

According to Health Science, studies that have been done are as follows:

  1. Microwave ovens are not safe for warming baby’s milk.

In 1989, Young Families, the Minnesota Extension Service of the University of Minnesota, announced the following:

“Although microwaves heat food quickly, they are not recommended for heating a baby’s bottle. The bottle may seem cool to the touch, but the liquid inside may become extremely hot and could burn the baby’s mouth and throat. Also, the build-up of steam in a closed container, such as a baby bottle, could cause it to explode. Heating the bottle in a microwave can cause slight changes in the milk. In infant formulas, there may be a loss of some vitamins. In expressed breast milk, some protective properties may be destroyed. Warming a bottle by holding it under tap water, or by setting it in a bowl of warm water, then testing it on your wrist before feeding may take a few minutes longer, but it is much safer.”

  1. Microwaved blood kills patient.

In 1991, a hip surgery patient in Oklahoma, Mrs. Norma Levitt, died after a blood transfusion. The nurse warmed the blood with a microwave oven. It’s very clear that this practice of microwave radiation “heating” does something to the elements it heats. It’s also obvious that people who cook food in a microwave oven are also consuming these “unknowns.”

  1. Scientific proofs.

In Comparative Study of Food Prepared Conventionally and in the Microwave Oven, published by Raum & Zelt in 1992, at 3(2): 43, it states:

Eight volunteers ate various combinations of the same foods cooked different ways. All foods that were processed through the microwave ovens caused changes in the blood of the volunteers. Haemoglobin levels decreased and over all white cell levels and cholesterol levels increased. Lymphocytes decreased. Luminescent (light-emitting) bacteria were employed to detect energetic changes in the blood. Significant increases were found in the luminescence of these bacteria when exposed to blood serum obtained after the consumption of microwaved food.

  1. The Swiss Clinical Study.

Dr Hertel conducted clinical trials on the effects of nutritional microwaved foods on the blood and physiology of the human body. The conclusion is, cooking with microwave will alter food nutrition and the changes seen in the participants’ blood that causes worsening in the human system. Hertel did the scientific study along with Dr. Bernard H. Blanc of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the University Institute for Biochemistry.

So is the Microwave oven safe?

FDA and WHO stated that a microwave oven is safe to use with regard to the following matters:

  1. The microwave has no leakage. Users should ensure that the door closes properly, that there is no damage, and that it is sealed.
  2. Users must comply with the rules of the correct use from the manufacturers.
  3. When heating water, a microwave oven will not produce bubbles in the container wall but the water is very hot and may suddenly boil and it will burn the mouth.
  4. Microwave energy does not pass through well in thicker pieces of food, and may generate uneven cooking. This can create a health risk if parts of the food are not microwaved appropriately to kill possibly hazardous micro-organisms.

Finally, although there are pros and cons in using a microwave oven, WHO stated that there is a misconception:

It is important to realize that food cooked in a microwave oven does not become “radioactive.” Nor does any microwave energy remain in the cavity or the food after the microwave oven is switched off. In this respect, microwaves act just like light; when the light bulb is turned off, no light remains.

 

 

References:

About Microwave.,FDA

Microwave Cooking and Nutrition, Health Harvard.

Microwaves Info, WHO

 

 

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