Microwave = Cancer ?!

Ahhhh microwaves ... How many times have you heard an advocate of anti-new-technology natural products decry the dangers of radioactive waves emanating from those little white boxes?

Arguments against microwaves generally correspond to one of the following three:

1. Microwaves make your food toxic and / or destroy the nutrients it contains.
2. The radiation escaping from the microwave causes health problems regardless of what it does for your food.
3. Microwave = Cancer!

Claim 1: Cooking in the microwave destroys your food

According to this claim, cooking in the microwave is the worst in the world, far more harmful than any other cooking method, so bad it will make your food nutritionally useless and even toxic.

To understand why these arguments do not hold water, we must look at how a microwave oven works:

A generator inside the oven emits radio waves at a specific frequency (called a microwave), which cooks the food by vibrating the water molecules inside. The friction of the vibration warms food, in the same way that rubbing your hands warms them.

When it comes to nutritional value, it is true that the microwave destroys some nutrients in food, but like any other cooking method! Any type of cooking will destroy certain nutrients in the food, especially vitamin C, which is very sensitive to heat. This study explains it very well: “ Cooking in the microwave, if properly used, does not further alter the nutrient content of foods compared to other more conventional types of cooking ”.

If you avoid microwaves because they “reduce the nutrient content” of your food, you should also avoid: ovens, stoves and all other cooking methods… In fact, microwaves can even help. retain nutrients in vegetables because they allow short cooking times with little or no water. It is therefore pure superstition to believe that microwaves make your food toxic or destroy the nutritional value of your food.

Statement 2: Microwave Radiation is Dangerous

We hear "radiation", and the term is scary. Some people instantly think of nuclear radiation, associate the microwave with an atomic bomb, and place the kitchen in an irradiated area. However, there are all types of radiation. In this document you can see the different types of radiation and their effects on humans. And here are the different types of radiation we face every day:

Eh yes ! Light is electromagnetic radiation, just like that of the microwave. However, we are less afraid to turn on the light than the microwave.

It is ionizing radiation (that of nuclear explosions) which is dangerous for health. But as you can see in the diagram, microwaves (editor's note: "microwaves" in English) are well in the non-ionizing zone, with many other sources of radiation around you, such as power lines, TVs, mobile phones and other light bulbs, neon lights and so on.

So don't be afraid of the word “radiation”: it all depends on the type of radiation. And radiation from microwaves, such as from mobile phones, WiFi or radios, is not carcinogenic.

If you are still worried, know that you are protected from this same radiation by a kind of "safety net" called a Faraday cage, which prevents most of the microwave radiation from escaping. The amount of radiation that passes through is tiny compared to the radiation from the rest of your home. In the event that you could manage to use your microwave with the door open (normally not possible), standing in front of you would be “cooked” with the food. It would be dangerous and could cause serious burns, but nothing worse than putting your hand on a fire or in a 200 degree oven. Any source of extreme heat is potentially dangerous for us, that does not mean that it is dangerous to cook our food with it.

Basically: almost all radiation / radiation inside a microwave stays inside of it, and it's not even a type of radiation dangerous to health anyway.

Statement 3: Microwave = Cancer

The "evidence" that radiation from microwave ovens or microwaved foods causes cancer is so unconvincing that few studies have been done on the subject ... The following two studies found no effect on mammary tumors (breast cancer) in mice, even at doses of radiation much higher than anyone can receive through a microwave oven. There is also no evidence that microwave cooking makes food carcinogenic, or that microwave radiation itself is harmful to humans exposed to it: Research 1 / Research 2

In fact, there is even some evidence that cooking in the microwave can help prevent carcinogenic changes in foods. In this study testing various cooking methods, microwaves formed the fewest number of heterocyclic amines (carcinogens that form when food is cooked at high temperatures). And in this study : Putting cured meat in the microwave was the best way to reduce potentially dangerous biogenic amines.

What about other cooking methods?

From the available literature, it seems that cooking methods that use a lot of water or very high temperatures are the ones that most affect the nutrient content of foods. However, since the results depend on the cooking method and the type of vegetables used, it is not possible to recommend one method over another.

You could potentially select a cooking method based on the micronutrients you want to keep, but that's really extreme in practice. We can estimate that steaming is slightly better than boiling food (lots of water + high temperature) but in practice I advise you to vary your cooking methods if possible. Eating enough fruits and vegetables will already be much more important than the cooking method you select!

Conclusion:

Ultimately, the arguments against microwaves are completely unfounded. There is no strong evidence to show that microwave cooking spoils food more than any other cooking method or is harmful to health. You may not like the taste or texture of microwaved foods, but this is subjective. In terms of health: there is no reason to deprive yourself of the ease of use of the microwave.

I'm going to make myself an omelet in the microwave right now!

Related research and references:

1. If you want to learn more about health sciences: Bayesian Bodybuilding Training PT Course / bayesianbodybuilding.com
2. " Questions and Answers about Biological Effects and Potential Hazards of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields " Robert F. Cleveland, Jr. Jerry L. Ulcek. Office of Engineering and Technology Federal Communications Commission Washington, DC 20554. August 1999.