Is it bad to eat microwaved food often?

The sodium content alone was enough to make me stop eating it so often.

@Blackberry ; huh? How does microwaving food add sodium?

If it is microwaved bacon or Big Macs, the answer is yes.
If it is microwaved veggies, without butter and salt, the answer is no.

@Blackberry Yeah I looked at Stouffer’s sodium content and I almost gagged. I’ve had it once in 5 months.

@JilltheTooth Food that is made for the microwave uses sodium in order to help the taste and for preservatives. So the banquet and On-Cor meals are loaded with it.

Oh, OK. I don’t use food that is made for the microwave. I just use food.

According to this article:
Microwave cooking changes the molecular structure of food. In test subjects who ate microwaved food, the following changes in blood chemistry were observed:

Decrease in hemoglobin values
Decrease in HDL Cholesterol (the good kind)
Decrease in lymphocytes and leukocytes (white blood cells, the ones that kill germs)
Increase in luminous power by luminous bacteria exposed to blood of volunteers (in essence, radioactive energy was passed on from the microwaved food to the blood cells of those who ate the food)

In other words, the implications are that a person who eats microwaved food for an extended period could become anemic due to destruction of hemoglobin, have an increase in heart disease from the decrease in good cholesteral and the ratio between good and bad cholesterol, and could become subject to a host of contagious diseases due to immune system compromise.

The article also indicates that the nutritional value of food is drastically decreased when heated in a microwave.

I only briefly glanced over this article, but it looks like it also has some good information

@Blackberry and @cletrans2col Unless I’m missing something, the question is about the effects of eating food that has been cooked in the microwave, not about the effects of eating food that was specifically designed for the microwave.

I would have said no, it is just another method of cooking. Then I read @Bobbinhood’s post. I don’t use mine for much more than heating a few vegies or occasionally defrosting or warming things up again though. It can be harmful if you cook food in certain plastic containers though. I can’t remember which plastics are the dodgy ones though.

Wow, that’s depressing, @bobbinhood , I don’t use it for much actual cooking, but the reheating thing is big in my house. Hmmmmmmm.

Microwave ovens bump the water, sugar and fat molecules in the food with non-ionizing microwave radiation. Heating food over the stove does the same thing, but the heat has to be conducted through a frying pan first, before the frying pan starts bumping the same molecules. No difference.
What is implied in the question, probably in fun, is sort of like what bothered the Luddites.

I have never heard any concern about it. I know what you cook food in or reheat it in is very important. Do not use any tupperware to reheat to high temp. even if it says “safe for reheating” Use glassware as much as possible.

Oh yeah, my mistake.

You shouldn’t have any ill effects from eating microwaved food, but be aware of the risks of microwaving the containers that hold the food. Avoid microwaving plastic and never microwave styrofoam. Try to use glass as much as possible.

There was a similar question a while back and it was the first time I ever heard anything about microwaving being unhealthy. An article similar to the one linked above was used as proof. If you google the subject there is much said about how it alters the molecules etc. I don’t know, to me it seems as if living in this world today, eating the food grown in depleted soil bolstered with artificial nutrients, drinking water full of chlorine, it’s all killing us slowly and yet we are living longer. Bottom line, I don’t use it that much so I am not going to worry that much.

@bobbinhood

Neither of your links are scientific sources, and they are not credible.

Microwaves do not cook with ionizing radiation, and they do not cause any harmful changes to food. Certain plastics should not be used in the microwave because they may melt and contaminate food, but microwave cooking in and of itself is perfectly safe. As usual, Skeptoid provides the real story about microwaves.

@crisw That’s fair. I was in a hurry and didn’t check my sources as closely as I usually do. I apologize. Is Skeptoid a credible source?

some people claim that cooking any food destroys much of it’s food value. Personally, I cook all my meals in the microwave, but I use all glass containers, no plastic.

Some of the staple microwaved meals that I live on, all without any butter or oil.

Eggs beaten with a little water and a few T. salsa
Eggs beaten with a little water and a few T. low-fat cottage cheese and some tarragon or dill
Cooked Yukon Gold potatoes dressed with some salsa
Corn zapped in the husk with a dribble of water and eaten w/o salt or butter.
Reheated steel-cut oatmeal and some dried fruit

Edited by me. I see @crisw beat me too it.

@bobbinhood

Yes, Skeptoid is a credible source. Note the scientific references from reputable journals at the end of the post. These are always a good sign.

I personally would say the only accredited sources are those references at the end. I would never take as fact anything other than an article from a peer reviewed, scholastic journal.

However, bobbinhoods article looks like it was made by a pre-teen for a class project.

Crisw does look a bit more credible, but I’d want to read the actual articles from the journals!

@Schroedes13

I really hope that you get around to asking a question on evolution one of these days- I am really very curious what peer-reviewed, scholastic articles support your views!

@crisw I’m in China for the summer, but I’m actually looking forward to getting home and reading an intro to anthropology text!