Monday, January 08, 2007

Monday Musings--Microwaves are they safe?

While looking up some health information this year I came across an article on Microwave safety. I had always heard that Microwaves were safe unless the radiation was leaking from a faulty seal. Almost all sites that report Microwave safety, are reporting just that. They do not report what microwaves do to the food that is cooked or warmed in them. An experiment you can try at home if you are skeptical is this. Plant two pots with seeds and water one with microwaved, cooled water and the other with tap water. The seeds in the microwave watered plant will not sprout. You can also water an existing plant with Microwaved water and it will die.

More supporting evidence:

A nurse microwaved a pint of blood to warm it before giving it to a patient who had hip surgery and the patient died.

Russian research at the Institute of Radio Technology at Klinsk, Byelorussia showed that microwaved foods lead to a higher percentage of cancer causing substances in the bloodstream and microwaved foods lower the body's ability to utilize Vit B complex, C, E, essential minerals and Lipotropics

Kinesiologist David Bridgeman states “99.9 percent of people I test for allergies show an allergy to microwaved food”

Russian research reported by the Journal of Natural Sciences in 1998 found that people who ate microwaved foods have statically higher incidence of stomach and intestinal cancers

A Spanish study published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture in 2003 states that microwaved broccoli lost 87m to 97 percent of three cancer protecting antioxidants

Japanese research reported in Science News in 1998 stated that microwaving destroys at least half of the B 12 in dairy and meat


Stanford researchers reported in the Journal of Pediatrics that re heating human breast milk in the microwave, even at low settings ,can destroy lypozome, a compound that fights bacterial infections.

In 1976 Russia banned the use of microwaves due to the results of studies, however after Perestroika the ban was lifted.

Microwaved plastic wrap has 10,000,000 times the FDA limits of carcinogens.

Standing in front of a microwave is also damaging to your health. Cells explode in the microwave so imagine how many are getting damaged if you stand in front of the microwave for 5 to 10 minutes.

You ask why you have not heard any of this? Most of the time if an item is popular or profitable, it is treated with the adage. “What they don't know wont hurt them” For example, Swiss scientist Dr. Hertel and researcher Blanc did research on the effects of microwave cooking and found changes in the blood that are similar to the blood of patients who have cancer. When they tried to publish their finding a “gag order” was issued. Blanc recanted. Hertel demanded a jury trial and finally in 1998 the gag order was lifted.

If their findings were not valid, why were they not just proven wrong? Do your own research, just type in “Micowaves are they safe?” into a search engine and see what comes up.

Now for how to survive without one.

We obtained a George Foreman grill, even though we are vegetarian, because it cooks both sides of a vegetarian burger at the same time. We also grill vegetables, rewarm pizza, cook vegetarian bacon and sausage substitutes.

An idea for keeping food warm if your spouse is late coming home is to cover the plate with a saucepan lid and place the plate on the sauce pan with simmering water in it. (make sure the plate can withstand the heat) This will keep it warm without drying it out. We have also learned to eat as soon as the food is done. Crock pots are great for warming food without it sticking and rice cookers come with a timer so the rice can be done exactly when you need it to be. I found it to be slightly more work at first, but fell into a routine quickly, and I have not regretted the choice to get rid of the microwave.

Coming tomorrow: Tuesdays Child and What to do if your Teen is not acting so terrific.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh great. Now I'm thinking about getting rid of my microwave (it is built it so I will just have to use self control and not use it). I really like that you list at the bottom of your post what you are going to post next. Something to look forward to!

Brought to you by Her Majesty Magenta said...

I would use a microwave for heating up rice packets to use as warm packs etc, but my children would use it for food so I had to totally remove it. Just stay out of the kitchen while it is working....