Are microwaves safe for cooking your food?

Some nutrients break down when they're exposed to heat, whether it is from a microwave or a regular oven.
Vitamin C is perhaps the clearest example.
But because microwave cooking times are shorter, cooking with a microwave does a better job of preserving vitamin C and other nutrients that break down when heated.

 

As far as vegetables go, cooking them in water robs them of some of their nutritional value because the nutrients leach out into the cooking water.
For example, boiled broccoli loses glucosinolate, the sulfur containing compound that may give the vegetable its cancer fighting properties.

Is steaming vegetables even microwave steaming better?
In some respects, yes.
For example, steamed broccoli holds on to more glucosinolate than boiled or fried broccoli.

 

Are microwaves bad for your health?

The cooking method that best retains nutrients is one that cooks quickly, heats food for the shortest amount of time, and uses as little liquid as possible.

Microwaving meets those criteria.
Using the microwave with a small amount of water essentially steams food from the inside out.
That keeps in more vitamins and minerals than almost any other cooking method and shows microwave food can indeed be healthy.
But let's not get too lost in the details.
Vegetables, pretty much any way you prepare them, are good for you, and most of us don't eat enough of them.
And is the microwave oven good or bad?
The microwave is a marvel of engineering, a miracle of convenience and sometimes nutritionally advantageous to boot.

 

Cooking with a microwave oven is highly convenient, as it's simple and incredibly fast.
However, many people believe that microwaves produce harmful radiation and damage healthy nutrients.
Therefore, you may wonder whether it's safe to use these appliances.
This article explains whether microwave ovens affect your food quality and health.

 

What Are Microwave Ovens?

Microwave ovens are kitchen appliances that turn electricity into electromagnetic waves called microwaves.
These waves can stimulate molecules in food, making them vibrate, spin around, and clash with each other  which turns the energy into heat.
This is similar to how your hands heat up when you rub them together.
Microwaves primarily affect water molecules but can also heat up fats and sugars just to a lesser extent than water.
Microwave ovens turn electric energy into electromagnetic waves.
These waves stimulate molecules in your food to heat it up.

Can the Radiation Harm You?

Microwave ovens produce electromagnetic radiation.
You may find this concerning due to radiation's negative connotations.
However, this is not the type of radiation associated with atomic bombs and nuclear disasters.
Microwave ovens produce non ionizing radiation, which is similar to the radiation from your cell phone though much stronger.
Keep in mind that light is also electromagnetic radiation, so clearly not all radiation is bad.
Microwave ovens have metal shields and metal screens over the window that prevent the radiation from leaving the oven, so there shouldn't be any risk of harm.
Just to be on the safe side, don't press your face against the window and keep your head at least 1 foot away from the oven.

Radiation decreases rapidly with distance.

 

Effects on Nutrient Content

Every form of cooking reduces the nutrient value of food.
The main contributing factors are temperature, cooking time, and method.
During boiling, water soluble nutrients may leak out of the food.
As far as microwaves go, cooking times are generally short and the temperature low.
Plus, the food is usually not boiled.
For this reason, you would expect microwave ovens to retain more nutrients than methods like frying and boiling.
One study on 20 different vegetables noted that microwaving and baking preserved antioxidants the best, while pressure cooking and boiling did the worst.
However, one study found that just 1 minute of microwaving destroyed some of the cancer fighting compounds in garlic, while this took 45 minutes in a conventional oven.
Another study showed that microwaving destroyed 97% of flavonoid antioxidants in broccoli, while boiling only destroyed 66%.
This study is often cited as evidence that microwaves degrade food.
Yet, water was added to the microwaved broccoli, which is not recommended.
Keep in mind that the type of food or nutrient sometimes matters.
It is not recommended to heat human milk in a microwave because it can damage antibacterial agents in the milk.
With a few exceptions, microwaves tend to preserve nutrients very well.

 

Reduces Formation of Harmful Compounds

Microwaving may reduce the formation of harmful compounds in certain foods.
One advantage of microwaving is that the food doesn't heat up nearly as much as it does with other cooking methods, such as frying.
Usually, the temperature doesn’t surpass 212°F the boiling point of water.
Bacon is one food believed to form harmful compounds called nitrosamines when cooked.
These compounds are created when nitrites in foods are heated excessively.
Another study showed that microwaving chicken formed far fewer harmful compounds than frying.