I have an article here I read once may clear things up
Microwave ovens, their safety, and their effect on the nutritional value of food is yet another subject that yields wildly conflicting information. I personally want to believe that the microwaves coursing through foods placed in that little lighted box will be as nutritious and safe as anything that I could cook on the stove or in the oven — and in a fraction of the time. After all, the 90 percent of Americans who own microwave ovens are using them often to streamline meal preparation — whether that means boiling water for instant soup, heating up leftovers, thawing frozen foods, or something much more sophisticated like microwaving an entire meal. So I’m certainly not alone in my desire to want confirmation that this cooking method is safe and even supports optimal nutrition.
There are numerous alternative Web sites on the Internet that condemn the microwave oven as a dubious technical achievement and raise red flags about various health issues surrounding it. The concerns they deal with can range from having some validity to being factually groundless. For instance, many of the Web sites I reviewed blamed microwave cooking for reducing the nutritional content of foods. This may bear some truth. But, they also leap to the conclusion on scanty evidence that prolonged and cumulative ingestion of microwaved foods can cause cancer. As you review these Web sites, you’ll find that much of the information (or disinformation) tends to be repeated from Web site to Web site — frequently without adequate documentation. I tend to wonder if there isn’t a lot of copycatting among Web sites that might be perpetuating an unsubstantiated claim and leading to an urban legend.
The opponents of microwave use — who put their speculation on a Web site — are undermining their case when they use weak or unsubstantiated claims as the basis for decision making. I realize that many well-intentioned individuals who feel it is their mission to warn others may have no devious intentions. Yet, they do a disservice to the rest of us by passing along groundless material disguised as fact.
There! I’m glad I got that out of my system.
Nonetheless, the research over the health implications of using a microwave oven are mixed and involve three areas of concern: (1) Does microwaving food cause molecular changes in the food making it less nutritious or even unhealthy to eat? (2) Does the plastic packaging of food to be microwaved pose a health problem? (3) Is radiation leakage a concern?
Let’s take the last one first. It’s a nonfood issue; it relates to the amount of radiation that leaks out while the microwave is operating. Buck Levin, Ph.D., R.D., who’s a specialist in environmental nutrition, respected researcher, educator, and author of Environmental Nutrition: Understanding the Link Between Environment, Food Quality and Disease, says that he has reviewed articles in the Journal of Microwave Power and Earthletter that have shown that microwave leakage can damage human tissue and alter body concentrations of certain nutrients (vitamin C and glutathione, the body’s primary antioxidant).
While Dr. Levin hasn’t seen "research studies in indexed journals" (a gold standard for conventional researchers) that "demonstrate these effects," he says he has no reason to doubt the possibilities. In light of this, he suggests that keeping a distance of five-to-ten feet away from an operating microwave oven can lower your exposure to the radiation that is emitted. While newer microwaves have tighter seals around their chambers, the Food and Drug Administration still permits a leakage rate above what opponents say is safe (one milliwatt per square centimeter versus one-half of a milliwatt per square centimeter).
Dr. Levin also weighs in on the issue of the packaging of microwave food. In this instance, he points out, there is no dispute that most plastics, including film food wrap and Styrofoam containers, have been shown to migrate from the packaging into microwaved foods. The health consequences of this action have not been quantified. Nonetheless, the easy way to avoid any potential migration of the plastic chemicals into the food is to simply change over to ceramic or glass containers.
So here we are, shifting all our microwaveable foods to nonplastic cookware and standing five-to-ten feet away from the microwave while it runs. So far so good. Now we address the most pressing question: are microwaved foods acceptable in a healthful diet?
John McDougall, M.D., practices nutritional medicine. He’s been on the "alternative" healthcare scene for more than twenty years and is one of the leading crusaders in bringing attention to the effects of nutrition on disease. He’s authored several national bestselling lifestyle books as well as vegetarian cookbooks, which he writes with his wife, Mary. They forgo animal products (including dairy) in favor of vegetables, whole grains, and beans. And, they are avid users of the microwave oven, encouraging its use to streamline the often cumbersome process of preparing a whole-foods diet. Dr. McDougall’s zeal for microwaving is based on examining the research. He says he’s found that microwaving "doesn’t do anything worse to the food than conventional cooking." He confidently adds, "I like to make sure all of the things I fight are worth fighting against. And as far as I’m concerned microwaves is not where the enemy is at."
The editor of Microwave News agrees. Louis Slesin, Ph.D., oversees the New York-based magazine that covers the health effects of products emitting nonionizing electromagnetic radiation. This includes power lines, cell phones, and microwave ovens. While Dr. Slesin is more concerned with the direct effects of exposure to radiation rather than the effects of radiation on food, he says he pursued a study from the University of Vienna that indicated microwaving milk for babies caused the production of toxic substances but couldn’t verify it. "I spent a tremendous amount of time trying to dig through that and get confirmation and basically got nowhere. So you have to be very careful. There’s a lot of stuff in the literature [about microwaving] that really just doesn’t bear out."
One interesting study was published in the medical journal Pediatrics in April 1992 and conducted by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine. It demonstrated that microwaving human breast milk — even at low settings — can break down antibodies that fight disease. This, of course, could compromise infants’ immune systems making them vulnerable to disease. The authors wrote: "Microwaving appears to be contraindicated at high temperatures, and questions regarding its safety exist even at low temperatures."
Why isn’t there more research from which we could draw conclusions for all of us and not just infants? Microwave News‘ Dr. Slesin suggests that it’s not in the best interest of business: "Clearly most of the money for this kind of work would come from the food industry and it’s not exactly clear that they are going to be eager to do this kind of work. Very few people who don’t have a stake in the outcome have done the work."
Andrew Weil, M.D., who is touted on the cover of his book, Ask Dr. Weil, as "America’s most trusted expert" on health, also adds a sobering note to the realities of uninhibited microwaving. "Microwave ovens," he says in his book "are generally safe.... But they can alter the chemistry of protein foods cooked in them for long periods of time." His recommendation is to use microwaves for defrosting and quick heating, rather than long cooking of main dishes.
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