Would you stop using your microwave?

[Bunny82]

We don't have a microwave. I like it that way.

[Samantha's pet]

Microwaving doesn't typically deplete nutrients in most foods more so than the stove. Many nutrients are broken down by cooking in general but typically the faster heating times of the microwave preserves much more nutrients than the stove. It all depends on which foods. Some foods are actually recommended for microwave cooking over any other method to preserve nutrients. There are actually charts that will list the best cooking methods for preserving nutrients in different types of food.

As a rule I NEVER microwave anything in plastic or Styrofoam. I have switched all Chloe's dishes to Corelle when I realized how bad melamine was, which is what all those hard, kid dishes are made of.

[Renee750il]

Originally Posted by SevenSins

I think that the pure, unadulterated joy of watching Peeps puff up to astronomical proportion before exploding into pastel-palleted clouds of sugary napalm balances out the inherent fear of jiggling my biophotons.

Post of the Week

[Doberluv]

Originally Posted by Dekka

I don't trust studies that are funded by lobbists to show what they want to show. This is well known to be an issue. Also it is very common for articles to reference papers and get the take home message completely wrong I have often looked up these sorts of references and found that the paper in question actually refutes the article!

So while it would be interesting to go through the actual studies, based on these articles I really wouldn't be changing anything. These articles have enough obviously misleading information it makes me distrustful of the rest. Which is sad if they have validity.

I was being sarcastic.

[Psyfalcon]

The study was not without its shortcomings. It involved only eight participants, of which Hertel was one. As compelling as his findings were, his methodology did not stand up to the scientific rigors of the field.

In spite of Hertel's methodological shortcomings, his findings do raise concerns about what this form of radiation is doing to your food and should be taken as a launching point to larger, more robust studies in the future.

So we know he was spouting garbage, but he was scared of the same thing, so we should still listen to him!

[Doberluv]

Well, I've looked around a bit more online and can't find any real evidence one way or the other. Heating vegetables takes away some of their nutrients no matter what the heat source, it seems. The less heat the better and no scorching. But if you eat them raw, some of it may go undigested anyhow, right? So then, you may not get all those nutrients either. The more chewing, the better I suppose.

So, I guess I'll continue doing what I have been doing. I often cook up some vegetables, either carefully sauteing them or steaming them. If there are left overs for another meal, I'll stick them on a plate and microwave them just enough to heat them up a little bit. I've even put them on the grill, wrapped up in foil. That's probably not so good...very hot. But on the other hand, they may be shielded by the foil and I put them on the top rack which is not so close to the heat. But then there's the aluminum to worry about. Maybe that's not too safe either. Ya just can't win. Oh and then let's not forget about the soil in which they grew. Maybe that doesn't have enough nutrients in it and then it doesn't matter what you do.

[Taqroy]

Originally Posted by PWCorgi

We don't have one. The only time I miss having one is when I have leftovers, the microwave is the easiest way to reheat them.

No....microwave? *headtilt* But how do you eat Hot Pockets?

[Fran101]

Eh as it is, I don't keep any processed or ready made food around, but I do have a lot of left overs I use the microwave for so no, I probably wouldn't stop using it..

lol If I was interested in preserving nutrients, I wouldn't be cooking the stuff up in the first place.
Everything I cook (aka: vegetables) I cook because I make the DECISION that I value taste over nutrition. Harsh but true fact lol

[smkie]

Quit using the dryer for the most part when I found out that it saved me practically a dog food's bag worth of electricity. Just isn't that hard to hang stuff up. I only throw it in for a quick cool tumble to soften the stiffness. Smells wonderful too. I have lived without a microwave, and I didn't like it. I use it a lot, my Mom used it a lot for the babysitting kids stuff and they all grew up to be just fine and to have children that are growing up fine too so I am not worried about micro "waves" in my food.

[Dekka]

Then there is the point how much nutrients does it loose. Ie just eat an extra broccoli floret and come out ahead

I would like to see studies on digestible nutrients lost as that is the significant issue. Not how many are on the plate, but how many we can use.

I have to say nutrition studies typically are some of the worst I have seen, for bias and for poor methodology.