REVIVE YOURSELF SHOP
By now, you probably know that what you eat has a profound impact on your health. The mantra, “You are what you eat” is really true.
But you need to consider not only WHAT you buy, but how you cook it. And, if you are using a microwave, you may want to think again.
Why the no microwave policy?
When it comes to microwave ovens, the price for convenience is to compromise your health.
Smart food preparation starts with high quality foods and food preparation, and that means saying goodbye to your microwave oven as nuking your food is a TERRIBLE idea if you are interested in your health.
The Nazis are credited with inventing the first microwave-cooking device to provide mobile food support to their troops during their invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II. These first microwave ovens were experimental. After the war, the US War Department was assigned the task of researching the safety of microwave ovens. But, it was the Russians who really took the bull by the horns.
After the war, the Russians had retrieved some of these microwave ovens and conducted thorough research on their biological effects.
Alarmed by what they learned, Russia determined in 1976 that microwaves were dangerous to their people. In that year, Russia banned the devices to protect their citizenry, later lifting the ban during Perestroika.
It’s a ban, had they cared about their peoples health, that they would have kept in place.
Research shows that your microwave oven will threaten your health by violently ripping the molecules in your food apart, rendering some nutrients inert at best, and carcinogenic at worst.
Microwaves heat food by causing water molecules in it to resonate at a very high frequencies and eventually turn to steam which heats your food.
While this can rapidly heat your food, what most people fail to realise is that it also causes a change in your food’s chemical structure.
There are numerous issues that have emerged since microwave ovens were first introduced to consumers more than 40 years ago, besides depleting your food’s nutritional value, which will be addressed a bit later.
Dr Mercola, owner of the largest natural health website in the world writes, “The first thing you probably noticed when you began microwaving food was how uneven the heating is.
“Hot spots” in microwaved food can be hot enough to cause burns-or build up to a “steam explosion.”
This has resulted in admonitions to new mothers about NOT using the microwave to heat up baby bottles, since babies have been burned by super-heated formula that went undetected.
This has resulted in admonitions to new mothers about NOT using the microwave to heat up baby bottles, since babies have been burned by super-heated formula that went undetected.
Another problem with microwave ovens is that carcinogenic toxins can leach out of your plastic and paper containers/covers, and into your food.
The January/February 1990 issue of Nutrition Action News letter reported the leakage of numerous toxic chemicals from the packaging of common microwavable foods, including pizzas, chips and popcorn.
Chemicals included polyethylene terpthalate (PET), benzene, toluene, and xylene.
Microwaving fatty foods in plastic containers leads to the release of dioxins (known carcinogens) and other toxins into your food.
One of the worst contaminants is BPA, or bisphenol A, an estrogen-like compound used widely in plastic products. In fact, dishes made specifically for the microwave often contain BPA, but many other plastic products contain it as well.
Microwaving distorts and deforms the molecules of whatever food or other substance you subject to it.
An example of this is blood products.
Blood is normally warmed before being transfused into a person. Now we know that microwaving blood products damages the blood components.
In fact, one woman died after receiving a transfusion of microwaved blood in 1991 , which resulted in a well-publicised lawsuit.”
Crazy right?
I know.
You would expect that a product that sits in more than 90 percent of kitchens, as well as practically every office break room in the country, that it would have been thoroughly investigated for safety?
The handful of studies that have been done generally agree, for the most part, that microwaving food damages its nutritional value.
Put simply, your microwave turns your beautiful, organic veggies, for which you’ve paid such a premium in money or labour, into “dead” food that can cause disease!
Heating food, in and of itself, can result in some nutrient loss, but using microwaves to heat food introduces the additional problem of the “microwave effect,” a phenomenon that will be discussed in detail later.
The majority of studies on microwaves and nutrition were conducted prior to 2000, I suspect because the focus of radiation research of late has shifted toward a more ominous threat: environmental radiation from electromagnetic devices, such as cell phones and computers, which has mushroomed into a gigantic cloud of electro smog worldwide over the past decade.
Nevertheless, some excellent scientific data has been gathered regarding the detrimental effects of microwaves on the nutrients in your food:
•A study published in the November 2003 issue of The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture found that broccoli “zapped” in the microwave with a little water lost up to 97 percent of its beneficial antioxidants. By comparison, steamed broccoli lost 11 percent or fewer of its antioxidants. There were also reductions in phenolic compounds and glucosinolates, but mineral levels remained intact.
•A 1999 Scandinavian study of the cooking of asparagus spears found that microwaving caused a reduction in vitamin C.
•In a study of garlic, as little as 60 seconds of microwave heating was enough to inactivate its allinase, garlic’s principle active ingredient against cancer.
•A Japanese study by Watanabe showed that just 6 minutes of microwave heating turned 30-40 percent of the B12 in milk into an inert (dead) form.
This study has been cited by Dr. Andrew Weil as evidence supporting his concerns about the effects of microwaving.
Dr. Weil wrote:
“There may be dangers associated with microwaving food… there is a question as to whether microwaving alters protein chemistry in ways that might be harmful.”
•A recent Australian study showed that microwaves cause a higher degree of “protein unfolding” than conventional heating. Microwaving can destroy the essential disease-fighting agents in breast milk that offer protection for your baby. In 1992, Quan found that microwaved breast milk lost lysozyme activity, antibodies, and fostered the growth of more potentially pathogenic bacteria.
Quan stated that more damage was done to the milk by microwaving than by other methods of heating, concluding: “Microwaving appears to be contraindicated at high-temperatures, and questions regarding its safety exist even at low temperatures.”
•Another study about breast milk/infant formula by Lee in 1989 found vitamin content becomes depleted by microwaving, and certain amino acids are converted into other substances that are biologically inactive.
Some altered amino acids are poisons to the nervous system and kidneys. (Numerous authors mention this study, yet I was unable to find the original article/study, so I cannot personally validate.)
Although many of the above studies are not new, there is certainly ample evidence that microwaving is NOT good for your food.
Microwaves have also been shown to negatively impact your heart.
A study examining the effects 2.4 GHz radiation (which is the frequency of radiation emitted by Wifi routers and microwave ovens) on the heart was just completed.
The study found “unequivocal evidence” that microwave frequency radiation affects the heart at non-thermal levels that are well below federal safety guidelines, according to Dr. Magda Havas of Trent University.
Dr. Havas says:
“This is the first study that documents immediate and dramatic changes in both heart rate and heart rate variability caused by an approved device that generates microwaves at levels well below (0.3 percent) federal guidelines in both Canada and the United States.”
No longer can skeptics claim that microwaves produce no immediate biological effects at ordinary household levels!
If you are experiencing rapid or irregular heartbeat, pain or pressure in your chest, it could be the result of EMF’s.
There is also evidence that this same frequency of radiation causes blood sugar to spike in susceptible individuals and may actually be the cause of one type of diabetes.
Microwave radiation leakage is also a problem.
You may have heard that there is some danger of microwaves escaping from your microwave while it’s operating. This was more of a risk with earlier models than with recent ones, which undergo more rigorous testing.
The FDA has been regulating microwave ovens since 1971 through its electronic product radiation control program, which is mandated by the Electronic Product Radiation Control provisions of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.
The FDA limits the amount of microwaves that can leak from an oven throughout its lifetime to 5 milliwatts (mW) per square centimetre at approximately 2 inches from the oven surface.
Theoretically, there are very small amounts of radiation leakage through the viewing glass, but the FDA reports these levels are “insignificant” and “well below the level known to harm people.”
You would think, with all these tests and regulations, that you’d be safe.
However, according to Powerwatch, a non-profit independent organisation with a central role in the microwave radiation debate:
“Even when the microwave oven is working correctly, the microwave levels within the kitchen are likely to be significantly higher than those from any nearby cellular phone base-stations. Remember, also that microwaves will travel through walls if the microwave oven is against an inside wall.”
Powerwatch also states that we don’t really know if the current regulations about leakage are truly safe and recommends ovens be checked at least annually, since microwave emissions can change with normal use.
You might also consider purchasing a £20 testing device that allows you to check the radiation in your home.
Microwave Sickness
When your tissues are directly exposed to microwaves, the same violent deformations occur and can cause “microwave sickness.” People who have been exposed to high levels of microwave radiation experience a variety of symptoms, including:
* Insomnia, night sweats, and various sleep disturbances
* Headaches and dizziness
* Swollen lymph nodes and a weakened immune system
* Impaired cognition
* Depression and irritability
* Nausea and appetite loss
* Vision and eye problems
* Frequent urination and extreme thirst
There is a good amount of data emerging that people are suffering, to various degrees, these kinds of symptoms from living next to cell phone towers and other high-frequency radiation emitting antennas, which emit microwaves around the clock. According to Professor Franz Adelkofer, a leading scientist in the area of biological effects of EMF fields:
“There is real evidence that hyperfrequency electromagnetic fields can have geno-toxic effects. And this damaged DNA is always the cause of cancer. We’ve found these damaging effects on the genes at levels well below the safety limits. That’s why we think it’s urgent to base our safety limits on the biological effects, not the thermic ones. They should be based on biology, not on physics.”
Over all, I think there is enough evidence here to make you think twice about using your microwave again.
I personally haven’t used one in over 12 years, and I will NEVER be using one again.
Health & Happiness
Ryan
P.S. If you have been struggling with your own health issues and would like to see if or how we could help you then click the link here, fill out the form and Ryan or one of the team will be in touch as soon as possible
P.S. If you have been struggling with your own health issues and would like to see if or how we could help you then click the link here, fill out the form and Ryan or one of the team will be in touch as soon as possible
