Microwave Cooking Harmful

Microwaved Food

by Raymond Francis

More than 90% of homes in the US have a microwave oven. Builders routinely install these ovens in new homes and hardly a restaurant is without one. They are fast, convenient, economical, and ideally suited to the fast pace of modern lifestyles. There is only one problem with microwave ovens—they are extremely hazardous to your health. It is hard to conceive of any reasonable person who would eat microwaved foods if they understood the hazards. Obviously, very few people truly comprehend these hazards. And no one is rushing to educate them! Let's have a look at some of the problems with this technology:

Microwaves, very short waves of electromagnetic energy, are just part of Mother Nature's energy spectrum. This spectrum includes visible, infrared, and ultraviolet light along with radio waves, x-rays, and so forth. Microwaves are generated by the sun along with visible light and the other invisible parts of the spectrum. However, there is a big difference between what the sun generates and what is generated in a microwave oven. This difference is the result of the alternating current used to generate the oven microwaves.

Here is how microwaves cook food: All electromagnetic waves change from positive to negative with each cycle of the wave. Alternating current simply makes these cycles happen faster. Water molecules have a positive and a negative end. Because of this, when exposed to microwave energy, which is changing from positive to negative, the water molecules rotate. This is similar to making a pin rotate on a surface by using a magnet. Microwaves, generated by the alternating current in an oven, cause the water molecules in the food to rotate billions of times per second. This results in an enormous amount of friction among these molecules, thus causing the food to get hot.

It has been generally assumed that microwaved foods are safe to eat. In fact, the only concern of our regulators has been about the leakage of microwaves from the oven. Surprisingly, regulators have never questioned whether the microwaved foods themselves are safe.

In 1991, an early clue that microwaved food is not safe came to public attention in the form of a lawsuit. The family of one Norma Levitt sued for wrongful death. It seems Norma went to the hospital for hip replacement surgery. The operation was a success, but the patient died. Norma died after being given a blood transfusion where the blood had been warmed in a microwave oven. This was our first big clue to the fact that heating things in a microwave does something fundamental and harmful to the chemistry of what is being heated. If microwaving, only long enough to warm the blood to body temperature, could make the blood toxic enough to kill, then what happens when we microwave food for a longer period at higher temperatures?

A lot more goes on in a microwave oven than just making things hot. The enormous amount of energy going into the food molecules is sufficient to break protein molecules apart and cause them to react in ways that they would not otherwise do. As a result, a lot of strange new molecules are created and this is the problem. The molecular structure of the food is changed, thus producing molecules that the body does not recognize. These strange new molecules are unnatural to the body and can be carcinogenic and toxic. This explains why significant biochemical changes have been measured in those eating microwaved food.

Swiss Experiments

Experiments performed in Switzerland by Dr. Hans Hertel along with Dr. Bernard Blanc of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology found that microwaving damaged the nutritional quality of food. They also measured pathological changes in the blood of volunteers who ate the microwaved food. Hertel and Blanc's findings are both profound and shocking. These researchers found a decrease in the hemoglobin content of the blood. This means that the blood will carry less oxygen and that the body's tissues may not be getting all the oxygen they need. White cell count and cholesterol both increased. An increase in white cells indicates stress on the body. White cells go up in response to acute infections, toxins, and cell damage. Lymphocytes decreased. Lymphocytes are a particular kind of white cell that is important to antibody production. None of these happenings are good for you. An immune system in crisis and oxygen starved tissues may not be what you had in mind when you put the food in the oven. And as if that wasn't bad enough, they also found that serum from the blood of the volunteers who ate the microwaved food caused an increase in the luminescence of light-emitting bacteria. It appears that energy from the microwaving was stored in the molecular bonds of the food. This caused changes in the energy pattern of the blood, thus stimulating these bacteria to emit light when exposed to the blood serum. This finding raises the question of whether it is even safe to drink microwaved water. There may be residual energy stored in the atomic bonds of the water atoms. What all this is telling us is that microwaved food contains both molecules and energies that are not normal to the food. Introducing abnormal molecules and energies into the body is not conducive to good health. Let's see what other studies tell us this can mean...

Studies in the Soviet Union

A significant amount of research into the hazards of microwaves was performed in the former Soviet Union. These studies were conducted at the Institute of Radio Technology at Kinsk. They led to the discovery of serious health problems associated with exposure to microwaves and the consumption of microwaved food. As a consequence, the Soviet Union outlawed microwave ovens in 1976 and set very strict limits on microwave exposure. The Soviets issued an international warning on both the environmental and biological health hazards of microwave ovens and other microwave devices. Some of the Soviet findings were published in this country by the Atlantis Rising Educational Center in Portland, Oregon.

The Soviets found that microwaving food caused the production of well-known carcinogens, regardless of the type of food. Meats, dairy, grains, fruits, and vegetables all formed known cancer-causing chemicals. In addition, these researchers observed disorders in the digestive systems, malfunctions in the lymphatic systems, and an increase of cancerous cells in the blood of those who ate microwaved foods. They found a statistically high correlation between those who ate microwaved foods and cancer of the stomach and intestines and a gradual breakdown of the function of the digestive system.

The Soviets also found decreases in the nutritional quality of all the foods researched. The nutritional quality of microwaved food decreased by 60 to 90%. These included decreased bioavailability of minerals, B vitamins, vitamins C and E, and lipotropic factors. Even the nutritional value of proteins was decreased.

Hormonal abnormalities were also observed, especially in the production and balancing of male and female hormones. A destabilization in the electrical potential of cell membranes was observed. Maintaining a normal electrical potential in cell membranes is critical to cellular health and to cell-to-cell communication. Continual eating of microwaved food caused permanent brain damage resulting in memory loss, inability to concentrate, emotional upsets, and a decrease in intelligence.

Dr. Lita Lee

Dr. Lita Lee, author of Health Effects of Microwave Radiation—Microwave Ovens, has been a guest on my radio show. She wrote in her book that every microwave oven leaks radiation, and that foods cooked in them develop toxic and carcinogenic by-products. Dr. Lee observed disease patterns among consumers of microwaved foods that included lymphatic disorders, which often lead to the increased probability of certain types of cancers, including increased rates of stomach and intestinal cancers, and higher rates of digestive disorders.

Conclusion

There are three things to remember here. One is that microwaving food creates new chemical compounds that are toxic and even carcinogenic. The second is that the nutritional value of the food is significantly reduced. The third is the silent, but measurable effects in your body when you eat microwaved food. Such foods appear to promote cancer, hormonal imbalances, lymphatic disorders, digestive disorders, blood and immune abnormalities, emotional problems, permanent brain damage and even heart disease.

Given all the above, it is difficult to conceive of anyone who would want to continue to eat microwaved food. To be sure of avoiding all microwaved foods, one has to ask in restaurants if any of the food you are ordering will be heated in a microwave. If so, don't order it. Based on the data I have seen to date, I recommend that you unplug your microwave and never use it again.

Raymond Francis is an M.I.T.-trained scientist, a registered nutrition consultant, author of Never Be Sick Again and Never Be Fat Again, host of the Beyond Health Show, Chairman of the The Project to End Disease and an internationally recognized leader in the field of optimal health maintenance.

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Copyright 2000, Raymond Francis