The great microwave oven debate

THE GREAT MICROWAVE OVEN DEBATE

Welcome to the great debate about the safety of using microwave ovens.

In our first post, we previewed an article about the dangers of microwave ovens.  Colin Bowness, a tennis buddy of mine, immediately telephoned me to say that my allegation that microwave ovens are dangerous was "complete rubbish."  I responded that I would publish his rebuttal, and he immediately mailed me a letter, which will follow my article.

THE DANGERS OF MICROWAVE OVENS

I hate to tell you this, but MICROWAVE OVENS MAY PRESENT SIGNIFICANT DANGERS TO YOUR HEALTH.

The problem is that the microwaves emitted by microwave ovens bombard the water molecules within and around food at the speed and intensity of 1 to 100 billion times per second.  This creates incendiary heat that either destroys or transforms the molecules of food into strange radiolytic compounds which are not found in nature and can be carcinogenic.  (Globalhealingcenter.com).

Microwaves are a potent combination of electrical and magnetic waves of energy resulting in two types: IONIZED AND NON IONIZED.

IONIZED microwaves are used in nuclear power plants and for X rays.  Although the diagnostic and treatment benefits of X-rays are greater than the dangers, excessive exposure has been found to alter the body's DNA and cause cancer.

It's best to limit X-rays to:  only if strongly recommended by your physician.

(WebMD.com)

NON IONIZED microwaves are used in microwave ovens and do not appear to alter DNA, but can cause severe burning.   The FDA has instituted strong regulations about preventing leakage and warns humans, especially pregnant women and children with their thinner skins, to avoid standing close to an operating microwave oven.  Microwaves can penetrate walls, so adjoining rooms are susceptible.  Eyes are especially vulnerable to microwave damage and the development of cataracts. (fda.gov/radiation).

Microwave oven cooking was developed by the Nazis during World War II as a quick and efficient way of preparing hot food for the troops scheduled to invade Russia during their freezing Winter.

Following Germany's defeat, both the United States and the Soviet Union took some ovens home to evaluate. 

Testing by Russian scientists revealed that exposure to microwaves was highly dangerous; and that microwave cooking either destroyed or transformed into carcinogens 60 per cent to 90 percent of the nutrients in nearly all the foods tested.

The scientists concluded that microwave ovens were highly hazardous to the health of Russia's citizens and MICROWAVE OVENS WERE BANNED IN THE SOVIET UNION.

Russia issued an international warning about the biological and environmental dangers of microwave ovens.  The U.S. ignored its Cold War adversary and capitalized upon the speed and convenience of microwave cooking by creating a gigantic and prosperous microwave oven and food industry with over 90 per cent of U.S.homes currently possessing one or more microwave ovens.

Although the manufacturers and other proponents of microwave ovens claim that microwaving food is totally safe and does not adversely affect the nutrients in food, they fail to present any empirical research to validate their statements.

In fact, there is a glaring lack of significant scientific proof that microwave cooking is either safe or harmful.  Although the FDA has cautioned the public about leakage and potential burns, it has not recognized that microwave oven cooking might alter the nutrients of food.

However, there has been numerous studies and reports about the dangers of microwave cooking beginning with the previously mentioned Russian research and their national ban of microwave ovens.

One of the earliest, and perhaps the most revealing, study was conducted by a Swiss food scientist, Dr. Hans Hertel, who sequestered himself with a small group for eight weeks in a hotel environment and conducted frequent blood tests as they consumed both microwaved and conventionally cooked food.

After eating microwaved food, the blood tests of all participants consistently showed degenerative changes in blood chemistry as if the body was under attack from invading toxins.  There was an abrupt decrease in white blood cells, which provide immunity by destroying toxins; and a reduction in red blood cells, which transport oxygen throughout the body.  There were also adverse changes in cholesterol levels and an obvious decrease in hemoglobin suggestive of anemia. (GlobalHealing.com)

When Dr. Hertel began to publically report his findings, the influential Swiss Trade Organization, the Swiss Association of Dealers for Electroapparatuses for Households, influenced the Court to issue a Gag Order with fines and imprisonment if he voiced or published his findings.  The Gag Order prevailed for six years.

There has been numerous additional reports of adverse indications of microwave oven dangers including:

• Pediatricians warn mothers not to heat breast milk or formula in microwave ovens because of the danger of scalding heat and the destruction of nutrients. (Pediatrics, vol.89#4 April 92).
• Dr Lita Lee of Hawaii reported that microwaving baby formulas changed certain amino acids into toxins dangerous to the nervous system and kidneys. ("Lancet" Dec. 9, 1989)
• Hospitals never heat blood in microwave ovens following the death of a woman who received a blood transfusion of microwaved blood in Oklahoma in 1991. (GlobalHealingCenter.com).
• A study (reported in "The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, November 2003) showed that broccoli "zapped" in a microwave oven with a little water lost up to 97 per cent of its healthful antioxidants. (Mercola.com).

I recollect the many times I have re-heated a cup of coffee in a microwave oven, and although I appreciated the renewed warmth, the taste was always changed and not as good.  I now realize that the life essential properties of water by itself could possibly be destroyed or changed by a violent encounter with microwaves,which reverses water molecules' polarity at rate of 1 to 100 billion times per second.   

This realization is supported with the following photos of the results of a high school science fair experiment:  Identical plants were watered with filtered water, but one plant received water that had been boiled on a conventional stove, while the other plant was watered with water boiled in a microwave oven.
(wwwglobalhealing/ca/the-danger-of-microwave)

Because of a lack of solid empirical evidence, the jury is still out about the safety of cooking and eating microwaved food.  However, I tend to believe that "smoke" suggests the existence of some "fire", and my research revealed a lot of smoke about the dangers of microwave cooking.  

As an elderly individual obsessed with living healthfully for as long as possible, my decision is to stay clear of the microwave oven.  





If my conclusions are disturbing because microwave cooking is just so damned quick and convenient, and you really don't want to give it up, I invite you to read the following letter from Colin Bowness of Weston, MA.

Dear Ray

          I thought your blogspot was great until I got to section#4 with your diatribe against microwave ovens.  I don't know where you got this information from, but I think it has to be someone trying to discredit the greatest advance in cooking method of the twentieth century.

        As a physicist, let me explain the mechanism of microwave heating.  Water is a polar molecule meaning that it will align itself with any external electric field.  At microwave frequencies this means the molecule is constantly moving to align with the rapidly changing field in the microwave oven.  In doing so it bumps into surrounding molecules causing the evolution of heat.  Conventional heating causes all molecules to move around faster while microwave heating mainly acts on water molecules (and other polar materials such as some fats to a lesser degree). 

       I cannot imagine who came up with the myth that hydrolytic compounds can be produced in a microwave oven since they are only produced when there is enough energy to break the water molecule apart.  This can be done but it requires the power of a machine such as a high energy linear accelerator and certainly does not happen in an oven. 

       Regarding the nutritional effects of microwave heating let me quote Wikipedia:  "Several studies have shown that if properly used, microwave cooking does not affect the nutrient content of foods to a larger extent than conventional heating, and that there is a tendency towards greater retention of many micro nutrients with microwaving, probably due the reduced preparation time.  Lassen, Anne; Ovesen, Lars (1 January 1995). "Nutritional effects of microwave cooking".  Nutrition & Food Science. 

        Over a billion microwave ovens are in use worldwide, with over 100 million in the U.S. where they are in over 90% of households (and in almost all dorm rooms!).   Numerous studies on both humans and animals have shown no connection whatsoever between microwave radiation and cancer.

        I have been involved with microwave engineering since the late 1940's and a user of microwave ovens since their induction.  We owned a prototype of the first home unit, the Raytheon RadarRange, developed by the division of Raytheon where I worked after coming over from England to develop microwave devices for use in their radar systems.  At that time, the 1960s, my wife was often warned by well meaning lady friends, of the radiation danger that microwave ovens posed, however she knew I would never give her anything that posed the slightest danger.  Since then microwave cooking/heating has replaced most stovetop and oven use in our house (and we own five microwave ovens between two houses!).  Not only are they incredibly reliable but have become so inexpensive that it's often cheaper to buy a new oven than repair an old one.  Just this past week my wife and I were laughing about our meal because the soup, the entrée and the dessert had all been defrosted/heated by microwaves while a conventional oven was only used to heat the serving plates.

        If the microwave oven had been developed before the conventional oven, it is interesting to speculate whether building codes would have allowed the installation of an oven with a metal cabinet that reaches temperatures capable of igniting wood and inflicting serious burns.

        The microwave oven is by far the best way to reheat or to defrost food apart from its being the most efficient way to heat liquids or cook using electricity.  Its safety has been proved beyond doubt and it is safer than the use of either gas or conventional electrical heating.  In a recent US survey 75% rated the microwave very difficult/nearly impossible to do without.  The only item rated higher in this survey was the automobile!

        Ray, if you don't have one, get a microwave oven--Merrilee will be forever grateful!

        Enjoyed the tennis and it was great to see you both again, stay well 

                                                              (signed)  Colin


Obviously, absolute proof is lacking one way or the other-- there needs to be more empirical studies--so you will just have to make up your own mind...
   

Stay Tuned for our next post about "CELL PHONE DANGERS."

In the end, only three things matter:  how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.

Buddha