Page 22 - September2024
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Beyond the Beep -
The Hidden Costs of Microwave Cooking
Microwave ovens have become (Villota & Hawkes, 1986). Vitamins
a household staple due to their that are sensitive to heat and water,
convenience and speed. However, such as vitamin C and some B vitamins,
the drawbacks of using microwave are particularly susceptible to almost
cooking, particularly in terms of health complete degradation in a microwave.
and nutritional impacts, necessitate
a reconsideration of more traditional The use of plastic containers in
cooking methods like steaming, boiling, microwaves raises other significant
and oven cooking. health concerns. Heating plastic causes
the leaching of harmful chemicals like
Microwaves cook food using bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates
electromagnetic radiation, which rapidly into food. These chemicals are known
agitates water molecules, causing them endocrine disruptors and have been
to vibrate and heat up. This process can linked to multiple health issues,
be incredibly fast and convenient, but including hormonal imbalances and
it also has consequences for the food reproductive problems. A study from
being cooked. The intense and uneven Harvard Public Health indicated
heating often alters the molecular that BPA could seep into food from
structure of food, potentially breaking containers that are microwaved,
down nutrients, such as vitamins and suggesting a risk of BPA exposure
proteins, and altering texture of the food. (Harvard School of Public Health, 2012).
Remember rubbery meats and soggy
vegetables? Not only unappealing but Microwaving has been linked to
also harder to digest. higher acrylamide formation in foods.
Microwave heating at high power levels
A study in the Journal of Food Science can cause greater acrylamide formation
reported that microwaving broccoli leads compared to conventional heat
to a 97% loss of beneficial antioxidants, treatment. Acrylamide is a carcinogen
compared to only 11% and 66% when that forms during high-temperature
steaming or boiling, respectively cooking processes including frying and
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