Microwave Cooking - Health Risks

The Hidden Hazards of Microwave Cooking

by Anthony Wayne and Lawrence Newell

Is it possible that millions of people are ignorantly sacrificing their health in exchange for the convenience of microwave ovens? Why did the Soviet Union ban the use of microwave ovens in 1976? Who invented microwave ovens, and why? The answers to these questions may shock you into throwing your microwave oven in the trash.
Over 90% of American homes have microwave ovens used for meal preparation. Because microwave ovens are so convenient and energy efficient, as compared to conventional ovens, very few homes or restaurants are without them. In general, people believe that whatever a microwave oven does to foods cooked in it doesn't have any negative effect on either the food or them. Of course, if microwave ovens were really harmful, our government would never allow them on the market, would they? Would they?

Who invented microwave ovens?

The Nazis, for use in their mobile support operations, originally developed microwave "radiomissor" cooking ovens to be used for the invasion of Russia. By being able to utilize electronic equipment for preparation of meals on a mass scale, the logistical problem of cooking fuels would have been eliminated, as well as the convenience of producing edible products in a greatly reduced time-factor.
After the war, the Allies discovered medical research done by the Germans on microwave ovens. These documents, along with some working microwave ovens, were transferred to the United States War Department and classified for reference and "further scientific investigation." The Russians had also retrieved some microwave ovens and now have thorough research on their biological effects. As a result, their use was outlawed in the Soviet Union. The Soviets issued an international warning on the health hazards, both biological and environmental, of microwave ovens and similar frequency electronic devices.
Other Eastern European scientists also reported the harmful effects of microwave radiation and set up strict environmental limits for their usage. The United States has not accepted the European reports of harmful effects, even though the EPA estimates that radio frequency and microwave radiation sources in America are increasing at 15% per year.

 

In most cases, the foods used for research analysis were exposed to microwave propagation at an energy potential of 100 kilowatts/cm3/second, to the point considered acceptable for sanitary, normal ingestion. The effects noted by both German and Russian researchers is presented in three categories:

• Category I, Cancer-Causing Effects

• Category II, Nutritive Destruction of Foods

• Category III, Biological Effects of Exposure

 

Ten Reasons not to Use Your Microwave Oven

Based on Swiss, Russian and German clinical studies

1. Continually eating food processed from a microwave oven causes long term, permanent, brain damage by "shorting out" electrical impulses in the brain [de-polarizing or de-magnetizing the brain tissue].

2. The human body cannot metabolize [break down] the unknown by-products created in micro-waved food.

3. Male and female hormone production is shut down and/or altered by continually eating micro-waved foods.

4. The effects of micro-waved food by-products are residual [long term, permanent] within the human body.

5. Minerals, vitamins, and nutrients of all micro-waved food is reduced or altered so that the human body gets little or no benefit, or the human body absorbs altered compounds that cannot be broken down.

6. The minerals in vegetables are altered into cancerous free radicals when cooked in a microwave oven.

7. Micro-waved foods cause stomach and intestinal cancerous growths [tumors]. This has been a primary contributor to the rapidly increased rate of colon cancer in the United States.

8. The prolonged eating of micro-waved foods causes cancerous cells to increase in human blood.

9. Continual ingestion of micro-waved food causes immune system deficiencies through lymph gland and blood serum alterations.

10. Eating micro-waved food causes loss of memory, concentration, emotional instability, and a decrease of intelligence.

Safety tips for using microwave ovens

I personally showed much interest in microwave oven in my own kitchen and am finding that it had been difficult to get people to give up their microwave ovens. Some of the generation who grew up with microwave ovens apparently don't know any other way to heat food (really!).

• If you choose to use a microwave oven, Consumer Reports magazine suggests you stay as far as possible from the oven while it is in operation.

• Make sure the oven door closes properly. make sure no soil or food residues accumulate around the door seal.

• When cooking in a microwave, use heat-resistant glass, not plastic. The Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) of the USDA warns against using foam trays, plastic wraps, and cold-storage containers such as margarine tubs, whipped-topping bowls and cottage cheese cartons. According to the FSIS flyer "A Microwave Handbook," these containers "are not heat stable at high temperatures. They can melt or warp from the food's heat, possible causing chemicals to migrate into the food."