There is a common belief among health-conscious people that microwaving your food destroys the nutrients. I’ll admit that I have been one of those people for years. However, after doing some research, I have concluded that microwaves or not that bad.
Microwaves do indeed use radiation to heat food. The radiation causes the water molecules inside the food to vibrate. This is what makes the food hot.
Vitamin c has a lot of water in it so it is one nutrient that is particularly susceptible to being damaged by microwaves. But when researchers studied other nutrients and proteins that had been microwaved, they found that the microwave did about as much damage as conventional heating methods.
To preserve nutrients, researchers have concluded that the shorter amount of time the food is exposed to heat the better. Boiling vegetables is a particularly damaging process because the vegetables are soaked in hot water for a long period of time and many of the nutrients can Leach out. Baking food for long periods of time can also damage the nutrients.
But microwaves heat food very quickly. while the radiation is damaging, the food is not exposed to the radiation for very long. Therefore, many of the nutrients in proteins are in good shape.
To get the most nutrients from your food, it’s best to not heat it. The process of cooking our food damages it. If you do need to cook your food, try to cook it quickly. Also, be sure not to overcook it. Overcooked food has been extensively damaged and much of the original nutrition is gone.
In conclusion, microwaves are not as bad as many people have to leave. Because they heat food quickly, they can be an effective way to warm food without damaging it too much.
