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Who wouldn’t like microwave ovens? They are fast, simple, and cooking with them is extremely convenient for everyone.
Microwave ovens have been used for over 30 years and have literally changed society’s view on the way meals are prepared and reheated.
Here is the million-euro question: Are microwave ovens a safe and healthy way to cook?
The answer is: “No”.
There are much better options that ensure nutrients in foods are not degraded and also that various harmful substances are not formed in them.
What are microwaves?
Microwaves are a form of non‑ionizing electromagnetic radiation.
Ionizing radiation is the kind that alters the electromagnetic structure of atoms — it ionizes them. Or, in layman’s terms, it rips electrons from them, thereby changing how they interact with other atoms.
X‑ray radiation is used in nuclear medicine in CT scans, mammography, and ordinary X‑rays.
By contrast, microwaves do not change atoms, but they increase the vibration frequency of molecules (compounds of multiple atoms), which can lead to changes in the properties and structure of those molecules.
There are widespread beliefs that such heating is dangerous to your health.
5 diseases caused by microwave ovens
Here are the five most common health complications caused by microwave ovens and the consumption of food cooked in them:
1. Insomnia. Microwave ovens themselves and their radiation disrupt and damage the brain.
2. Nutritional deficiency. We all know that food from a microwave loses flavor. Many nutrients are also destroyed in it, which can lead to various deficiencies of important nutrients in the human body.
3. Fatigue. Microwave ovens and food prepared in them can cause fatigue, but also obesity (the effect of empty calories, when beneficial nutrients have been destroyed as in the previous point).
4. Cancer. Structural changes in molecules lead to the formation of many carcinogenic substances in food.
5. Heart attack and cholesterol. Microwaves destroy many antioxidants in foods, resulting in cholesterol accumulating in the arteries, and eventually this can end in a heart attack or stroke.
