Convenient cooking, dangerous eating
September 16, 2018
College students are some of the biggest microwaves users across the board. Unfortunately for many students their, microwaves may be taking the away nutritious value from their food.
The way the microwave oven works is very beneficial because it heats up food quickly but the way the oven maintains this can cause many problems.
Gage Gowan, a freshman communication major, said, “I bought the microwave for college, thinking it’s a quicker and an easier way to eat my food before and after classes. But now I’m second guessing using an oven for cooking my food.”
The microwave radiation deforms molecules in the food and even destroys some of them to quickly heat up the food. The radiation waves even create new compounds in the food that is proven to be very harmful when consumed according to
Microwaves can also have a big effect on the nutritious values of the food it heats up. Microwaves ovens can strip the food of any nutrients it may have. According to Medical Daily, the nutritious meal one may put in the microwave will leave the microwave oven as a “dead food” meaning it has lost all the nutrients it had.
The nutritional value is taken away because of the electrical waves that bounce around while the food is being heated according to the study.
Some college students use microwaves not knowing the harmful effects it may have on their food and themselves. When presented with research like the one by Medical Daily, some students may second guess themselves, while others will still use the microwave oven for its convenience.
Students like Mia Harper, a freshmen pre-pharmacy major, explain that she was “still going to use the microwave since it is her only way to cook food in her dorm room and that it is too easy not to. No one has died from it yet, so I’m not very worried.”
Medical Daily also suggest that microwaves affect the body’s blood cells. The radiation from the microwaves can cause an increase and decrease in white and red blood cells and can even affect the user’s blood and heart rate, resulting in serious issues.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn’t have a warning against eating food cooked or heated in a microwave oven. They do, however have a caution of avoiding super-heated water because of risks of burns or injuries associated with the water.
Bob Schiffmann • Sep 17, 2018 at 1:13 pm
What you have written about microwave ovens is absolute nonsense. I’m a microwave scientist who has been working with microwave ovens & microwave energy since 1961. What you don’t understand is that microwave energy is weaker than ordinary light by millions of times, hence it can’t do to molecules any of the things that you claim. Since this is a university newsletter I suggest you go talk to someone in the Department of Physics who can set you right concerning damaging molecules. As to the nutritional effects, there is a great body of scientific literature which shows that cooking with microwaves is one of the most nutritious ways you can cook; it doesn’t damage vitamins or minerals, and, since it requires very little water, these aren’t leached out of the food as happened with other cooking methods. You owe your readers a complete rewrite – if you want help I’ll give it to you.