What does the Harvard medical school answer?
Are microwave ovens unhealthy for your health?
Almost every family has a microwave oven. The convenience they offer is undeniable. But despite the widespread use of microwave ovens and their excellent safety record, some people still believe that cooking food in a microwave somehow alters its nutrients and makes it less healthy.
How does a microwave oven work?
Understanding how microwave ovens work can help clarify the answer to these common questions. Microwave ovens cook food with waves of energy that are similar to radio waves, but less intense. These waves are highly selective, primarily affecting water, causing its molecules to 'vibrate' and therefore rapidly increase in temperature (thermal energy).
Are microwaves safe to cook your food?
Some nutrients are destroyed when exposed to heat, whether it's cooking/heating in a microwave, pot, or regular oven.
As for vegetables, boiling them in water alters some of the nutrients, with the main "victim" being vitamin C. But not only that. For example, boiled broccoli loses its glucosinolate, a compound that gives it its distinctive aroma and anti-cancer properties.
So the cooking method that preserves the nutrients best is the one that cooks quickly, heats the food for the shortest amount of time and uses as little water as possible. The microwave meets all three of these criteria. By microwaving with a small amount of water, we are essentially heating the food from the inside out, which preserves the vitamins and minerals better than almost any other cooking method. After all, it seems that microwave ovens can actually 'keep' food healthy.
Nutribase
Nikos Cafetzopoulos
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