Do You Microwave Your Food? You're Zapping Away Nutrients and Risking Your Health, don't.By Dr. Joseph Mercola with Rachael Droege Sure, the microwave is convenient; what other device allows you to heat your food up in a matter of seconds? And they're so widely used that you'd be hard-pressed to find a gas station or office building without one. But there's a reason why I haven't had a microwave in my kitchen for over 15 years and--much to the distress of my employees--pulled it out of the office over three years ago. This is something that you likely already intrinsically suspect but don't want to acknowledge due to the convenience factor--microwaves are bad for your food, and they're even worse for you. There are many concerns with microwave ovens, among them:
There have been very few studies done to determine what kinds of changes occur in foods that are microwaved, but rest assured the changes are significant. Consider the 1991 lawsuit involving a woman who had hip surgery and died because the blood used in her blood transfusion was warmed in a microwave. Blood is routinely warmed before transfusions, but not by microwave. The microwave altered the blood and it killed the woman. Microwaves also destruct and deform food molecules. 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 the beneficial antioxidant chemicals it contains. By comparison, steamed broccoli lost 11 percent or fewer of its antioxidants. Besides the loss of nutrients, microwaving forms new compounds (radiolytic compounds) that are unknown to humans and nature. It's not yet known exactly what these compounds do in the human body. It will likely be a difficult thing to sort out, especially when there are previously unknown compounds being introduced to humans from a variety of sources such as new food products (i.e., olestra) and genetically modified foods. Perhaps the most concrete evidence of the dangers of microwaves comes from Dr. Hans Hertel, a Swiss food scientist, who carried out a small but high-quality study on the effects of microwaved food on humans. His conclusions were clear and alarming: microwave cooking significantly altered the food's nutrients enough so that changes occurred in the participants' blood--changes that suggested deterioration. The changes included:
Dr. Hertel and his team published the results in 1992, but a Swiss trade organization, the Swiss Association of Dealers for Electro-apparatuses for Households and Industry, had a gag order issued, which prohibited Dr. Hertel from declaring that microwaves were dangerous to health. The gag order was later removed in 1998, after the Swiss court ruled that the gag order violated the right to freedom of expression. Switzerland was ordered to pay Dr. Hertel compensation as well. So what can you do to avoid microwaves? Well, my first suggestion is to get rid of it in your home so you won't be tempted to use it. If it's not there, then you can't use it! Then, try consuming a lot of your food raw. Ideally, at least one-third of the food in your diet should be raw, since this is the form that will give you the maximum amount of nutrients. A quick and easy way to consume a large amount of raw vegetables, which is generally great for your health, is by vegetable juicing. If you do want to cook some food or heat up leftovers, use your oven or stove. This may seem time-consuming at first, but you'll soon adjust and may actually start to enjoy the natural time it takes to heat up or prepare your food. During this time, you can relax with your family, read, write, listen to music or do anything that will help you to slow down and prepare for the meal you're about to enjoy. You may notice that taking more time to prepare your food will transcend to other aspects of your life as well, and you'll enjoy a slower, more relaxed lifestyle than the majority of those around you. A recent study carried out testing blood samples from people eating microwave food indicate decrease haemoglobin and good cholesterol values (HDL). The bad cholesterols escalate (LDL). Lymphocytes (blood cells) a major short term decrease which of course attacks the immune system, degenerating it further. It also depends on the power output of the microwave. Dr Hertels conclusion, it's astonishing. Alternating current patterns, molecular and cells hit by this hard electro magnetic radiation are forced to reverse polarity 1 to 100 billions a second. There are no atoms, molecules or cells of any organic system able to withstand such a violent, destructive power (and we have this in our kitchen). Polar to oxygen of water molecules reacts most sensitively, this is how microwave cooking heat generated/friction form. This violence in water molecules tears the structures of molecules apart. Molecules are forcefully deformed impairing the quality. The cooking begins within cells and molecules where water is present destroying the oxygen content and alters the gene in food cells. It is completely broken down and neutralizes the electric potential of the food. The denaturing of the food is such that it causes anaemic tendencies to the point where anaemic drugs are now one of the best sellers. Breast milk can be refrigerated safely for a few days or frozen for up to a month; however, studies have shown that heating the milk well above body temperature 37 degrees can break down not only its antibodies to infectious agents, but also its lysozymes or bacteria-digesting enzymes. So, when paediatrician John A Kerner, Jr., witnessed neonatal nurses routinely thawing or reheating breast milk with the microwave oven in their lounge, he became concerned. In the April 1992 issue of Paediatrics (Part 1) he and his Stanford University co-workers reported finding that unheated breast milk that was microwaved lost lysozyme activity, antibodies and fostered the growth of more potentially pathogenic bacteria. Milk heated at a high setting (72 degree to 98 degree) lost 96% of its immunoglobulin-A antibodies, agents that fend off invading microbes. What really surprised him was finding some loss of anti-infective properties in the milk microwaved at low setting and to a mean of just 33.5 degrees. Adverse changes at such low temperatures suggest microwaving itself may in fact cause some injury to the milk above and beyond the heating.
X-RAYS THE MAJOR CAUSE OF CANCER AND HEART DISEASE (THE THREE MONKIES)
WILHELM ROENTGEN – HUMAN BONESDiscovered in 1895 by Wilhelm Roentgen. The ability to see human bones became a marvel but like most man created things, has turned out to be a disaster yet it is still commonly used. It became clear in 1896, a year after its discovery, that it could cause serious medical problems, burns that would not heal that required amputation and at that point the development of fatal cancers. SMOKING MIRRORSSmoking mirrors have never failed to fascinate man and when told by qualified doctors, the public line up to get treated for a malay of problems such as ringworm, acne, ovary radiation for depression and a host of other quackery carried out by the highly qualified who were radiating people to the point to where their hair fell out but were told that all was well. Even the 1903 Nobel prize winner, Madame Curie, died of leukaemia after playing around with this wonderful medium. Today it is prescribed for heart troubles, impotencies, ulcers, depression, arthritis, cancer, high blood pressure, blindness, tuberculosis and other ailments, even radiated toothpaste and skin creams and chocolate for rejuvenation as recent as 1952 became the in thing. X-RAYS INHERENT GENETIC DAMAGEYet in 1927, Herman James Muller demonstrated X-rays caused inherent genetic damage and received a Nobel Prize for his efforts. This didn't stop the money making machine and even today, it still rolls. The secrecy surrounding the nuclear reactors which were promised by politicians to produce electricity too cheap to monitor in 1946 have similar effect as military through the years that have been subjected to this radiation have died prematurely. In fact, the government, during Vietnam administration, had a policy of not paying compensation and it was only in 1988 that court actions enforced pay outs. GOVERNMENTS WASTEThe usual suspects are involved around these dangerous yet highly profitable ventures where governments waste millions on crack pot schemes and all feed at the trough. In 1970, it became apparent that breast cancer can be caused with as low doses of 1.6 rem and by 1977 from certain plutonium facilities people were dying from radioactive doses of 3 rem, the reason being this was accumulated over many years and stored in cells. BLIND EYE = IT'S ABOUT MONEYGovernments safety standards were 5 rem per annum yet governments have closed a blind eye to date. By 1956 Alice Stewart showed a single x-ray dose to the foetus could double the likelihood of childhood leukaemia. Oakridge studies found that children receiving 2 – 3 rems was excessive and even doses as low as ,015 rems for chest x-rays were proving to be between 130 – 200 times higher needed to produce adequate x-rays, not to mention that most people don't need x-rays that are given them. Dr John Gofman has probably done the most extensive study, his latest book Medical Radiation is one of the most important publications of 700 pages proving cancer and heart disease. He is a PHd in Nuclear and Physical Chemistry and a Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology. CHEMICALS AND DRUGS DAMAGE THE DNA (ALL OF THEM)The bottom line is radiation causes genetic mutations, (damages the DNA) like most chemicals and drugs. Calculations done by Gofman in 1993 indicate that 54% in women and 74% in men were attributed to x-rays. In other words plus minus 60% comes from x-rays. Add other nasties such as smoking or diet, inherited genetic mutations, chemicals, parasites and the numbers get even worse. Gofman calculates 53% of deaths in the USA of heart disease is not unlikely. According to John Gofman, M.D., Ph.D., professor emeritus of molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley, and formerly of the Atomic Energy Commission, "about three-quarters of the current annual incidence of breast cancer in the United States is being caused by earlier ionizing radiation, primarily from medical sources [x-ray, mammography, CT scans, etc.]." Preventing Breast Cancer by John Gofman PERILS OF POPCORNJOPLIN (Missouri): A trial is set to open tomorrow in the first of a series of claims brought by workers with a rare lung disease that they say was caused by artificial butter vapours at a microwave popcorn plant. Eight plant workers have bronchiolitis obliterans, also known as popcorn packers' lung, a severe and irreversible disease that makes it difficult to breath. Four others are awaiting lung transplants. An additional 22 former workers claim they have lung problems – Sapa-AP. |