Microwaving Hazards by Lapis Blog entry

Blog: In The Raw
by Lapis

Microwaving Hazards

To nuke or not to nuke, that is the question. This article will attempt to acquaint you with some facts about microwaving food.

Date: 8/7/2005 3:54:37 AM ( 19 y ) ... viewed 1955 times

More Raw Food Articles Here

The Hazards of
Microwaving Your Food
by Don Bennett, DAS

Recent research shows that food cooked in a microwave oven suffers severe molecular damage. When eaten, it causes abnormal changes in human blood, and in the immune system. Not surprisingly, the public has seen very little information on these significant health dangers... Microwave ovens are big business.

I remember when no one I knew had a microwave. And now these same people wonder how they ever got along without one. A better question is: How will you "get along" with one?

Back in May of 1989 the was a radio announcement sponsored by Young Families, the Minnesota Extension Service of the University of Minnesota, that said, "Although microwaves heat food quickly, they are not recommended for heating a baby's bottle... Heating the bottle in a microwave can cause slight changes in the milk. In infant formulas, there may be a loss of some vitamins. In expressed breast milk, some protective properties may be destroyed." The deleterious effects of microwaving food were known over a decade ago.

Microwaves Damage Blood

In early 1991, there was a lawsuit in Oklahoma that revolved around a woman, Norma Levitt, who underwent hip surgery. She didn't survive the operation because she was given a blood transfusion with blood that had been heated (a common practice) by a nurse who used a microwave instead of the usual heating technology. So evidently microwaving does do something to organic matter other than just heating it.

Dr. Hans Hertel is the first scientist to conceive of and carry out a quality study on the effects of microwaved nutrients on the blood and physiology of humans. In the spring of 1992 this small but well-controlled study showed conclusively the degenerative force of microwave ovens on food heated in them. The conclusion was clear: Microwave cooking altered the food's nutrients so that changes took place in the participants' blood. And these were changes that could cause deterioration in a human being's systems. These changes included a decrease in all hemoglobin values and cholesterol values, especially the HDL (good cholesterol) values, and the ratio of HDL to LDL (bad cholesterol). "There is extensive scientific literature concerning the hazardous effects of direct microwave radiation on living systems." Hertel said.

Europe Ahead of the Curve

In August of 1998, the European Court of Human Rights overturned a Swiss Federal Court verdict against Dr. Hertel. He was originally sued because he had said that microwaves cause cancer. In an article published in the Franz Weber Journal, he wrote, "Food prepared in microwave ovens damages health and leads to changes in the blood of consumers, and said changes point to a morbid disturbance which could be the beginning of a cancerous process."

The European court judgment was a severe reprimand of the Swiss court, which had unanimously and without public trial issued judgment in favor of the Swiss Association of Electroapparatuses for Household and Industry and against Dr. Hertel. The European Court, after calling experts from throughout the scientific community, passed judgment that the Swiss court was wrong, and Dr. Hertel was right. The Swiss court then issued a proclamation that all public restaurants that use microwave ovens must inform their customers, with signs, that microwave ovens are used in that establishment. The Swiss Health Department also issued a general health warning against the use of microwave ovens.

Unlike in the U.S., it is public knowledge in may European countries that microwaved food is a health hazard. And the production and sale of microwave ovens in Europe is thankfully grinding to a halt. But in America many people have two microwave ovens - in case one breaks.

The Proof is in the Pudding

Leukocytosis is a rise in white blood cell (leukocyte) count. Leukocytes increase in response to foreign invaders, and are often a sign of pathogenic effects on the living system, such as poisoning and cell damage. In Dr. Hertel's study, the increase of leukocytes with the microwaved food was more pronounced than with all the other variants (foods cooked in a convection oven). The increases were caused entirely by eating microwaved substances.

The waves in a microwave oven are based on the principle of alternating current. Molecules in food hit by this electromagnetic radiation are forced to reverse polarity 1 to 100 billion times a second. There are no atoms, molecules or cells of any organic matter able to withstand such a violent force for any extended period of time.

The oxygen in water molecules reacts most sensitively to the radiation. This is how the heat in a microwave is generated; water molecule friction! In doing so, molecular structures are torn apart, and deformed, becoming impaired in both quality and function.

In addition to frictional heat effects (thermic), there are also athermic effects. Hertel said about these, "Athermic effects are not presently measurable, but they can also deform the structures of molecules, and have qualitative consequences. For example, the weakening of cell membranes by microwaves is used in the field of gene altering technology. Because of the force involved, the cells are actually broken, thereby neutralizing the electrical potentials - the very life of the cells - between the outer and inner sides of the cell membranes. Impaired cells become easy prey for viruses, fungi and other micro-organisms."

New is Not Better

Besides the destruction and deformation of food molecules, there's the formation of new compounds (radiolytic compounds) that are unknown to man, and more importantly, unknown to nature. Their affect on your body can only be one of three things: Bad, Good, or Neutral. Personally, I haven't found anything on this planet that has absolutely no affect on the body one way or the other (neutral), so logic dictates that these radiolytic compounds are either good or bad for us. Which do you think they are?

"If you wanted to introduce a herbal supplement into the American mainstream and make any health claims for it, you would be subjected to exhaustive documentation and costly research. Yet the microwave-oven industry had only to prove that the dangerous microwaves could, indeed, be contained within the oven and not escape into the surrounding area where the radiation could do damage to people. So far, not one thought has been given by the industry to the possibility that the nutrients could be so altered as to be deleterious to health." - Acres, USA

As if all this isn't bad enough, if the food you're microwaving is covered or wrapped in plastic wrap, poisonous toxins are imparted to the food. (For some jaw-dropping research on this issue, click here.)

Don't wait for government or industry to address this issue... Take charge of your health. And if you need more incentive to relegate your microwave oven to just the heating of water for tea, remember: The more uncooked, fresh foods you eat (fruits and veggies), the better your health will be. But if you must heat food, do as little damage to it as possible, so as to do as little damage to you as possible.

For more information on the dangers of microwave cooking, visit these sites: http://www.manbir-online.com/htm3/new.48.htm and http://www.besthealth.com.au/microwaveart.htm