The first time I ever heard that using a microwave was “bad for you” was a few years ago, in a little health food shop.
I was explaining to the store clerk how I make a certain recipe, and when I got to the part about using the microwave, she turned white as a ghost and literally screamed: “DO NOT use the microwave! It is the devil! It can kill you!”
While this didn’t cause me to stop using a microwave, it did open my eyes to the possibility that microwaves might not be as safe as I’d thought.
So are microwaves harmful?
Some studies say they are. However, some studies say coffee is bad, some studies say soy is bad, some studies say using cell phones causes cancer. Then there are other “some studies” that say all of this isn’t true.
People use microwaves every day—people like my great grandmother who lived to be over 100. (Then again, my grandma only used microwaves for a very short period of her life, as they obviously hadn’t yet been invented when she was a young girl.)
What to believe?
One could drive oneself crazy trying to figure it all out! And that’s not healthy either.
So until there is conclusive evidence that microwaves are dangerous, I’m going to look out for my mental health/sanity first and keep using mine.
What are your thoughts on the safety of microwaves?
Debate me, debate each other, debate yourself if you wish… just keep it respectful.
I think microwaves can be useful because they cook things so rapidly and I’ve heard (read?) that this can be better in terms of nutrients. I don’t have a study on hand to back me up though! On the other hand, whenever I use the microwave I try not to stand in front of it or even near it. This is due to my stepmom telling me the radiation coming out of the microwave would cause brain tumors. Way to scare a kid! Though I have no idea if this is accurate, I’ve never stood in front of the microwave since!
-Katie
I totally use my microwave.. I try to use the stove, though, if at all possible (ex: soup tastes better, to me, heated through on the oven than in the micro). I try not to stand like super close or like stick my head in it or anything! lol
Microwaves creep me out bottom line. I grew up with one, had one in my first place, and got a new one for my wedding- and I got rid of them all.. Well I donated them… let someone else use that crap!
I use my microwave a bit (and use the one at work a LOT) but prefer cooking in the oven or on the stove, purely because I think it tastes better.
However…. I must say I just don’t think about whether its bad or not, I mean EVERYTHING seems to be bad for you – one minute its good, the next its bad, then good again…. blah blah blah… you can’t believe anything anymore (I’m a bit jaded!!). I still take my vitamins in the morning even though they are supposed to bad for me now, I drink too much coffee, tea, red wine and eat too much chocolate – oh wait – they are going through “good” phases at the moment? sure that will change tomorrow.
Want to hear a classic – a (dippy) friend of mine was told that you shouldn’t heat milk in the microwave because it doubled the fat content and she therefore point blankly refused to use a microwave at all because she was convinced it was true and that it might apply to other foods I tried to tell her that it wasn’t true but she was convinced and in any event it wasn’t worth the risk!!
While I don’t necessarily think that microwaves are the greatest things to be using everyday, I suspect that they are totally spectacular compared to all the wireless signals everyone uses these days (I’m pretty sure that in 30 years we’ll all have brain cancer). Still, I don’t have a microwave. Mostly, because sticking a pot on the stove to heat stuff up really isn’t a big hassle for me. And, it’s fun to say that I don’t have one. (I’m weird like that) 🙂 -Eve
I think microwaves are good in moderation – it’s that the cliché? Haha 😀
I don’t much like using microwaves, whether or not they kill more nutrients than stove top cooking, or are good/bad for you. I don’t like the way things microwaved taste, or the texture. I must prefer my conventional oven or convection/toaster over 🙂 Unless I’m absolutely in a time crunch and am wanting something super quick (like Amy’s frozen indian dinners …mmmm!!) after coming home from a long day at school I will use the microwave, but that’s once in a blue moon. I don’t even use it to heat water – I use my kettle. I guess my long ramble in sum is I’m a stove-top/oven girl.
VeggieGirl is right though, moderation is key – don’t use the microwave for everything.
I love my microwave, could not live without it…and use it multiple times every day…. BUT…i also have one of those little microwave monitor things that are about as big as a small box of matches… Sits on the counter in front of the microwave at all times and at should register a little blink.. if anything naughty is escaping. I often will pick it up and run it around the seal while something is cooking, just to pass the cook time, and to keep peace of mind… Would never be without that little tester..
Microwaves aren’t bad in my opinion, but then again, I’m no scientist. However, I believe that ANYTHING can be bad for you if you believe it is. Like your examples: coffee, soy, using cell phones…it’s all the same. If you focus on the negative parts of life, that’s what you’re gonna get. If you expect to get sick from using the microwave, chances are, you will. I just try to let all that stuff go and use my intuition. If I feel like making my oatmeal in the microwave or heating up a veggie burger in there, I’m going to. I really believe it’s the stressing about crap that gets people sick, not the actual so-called bad thing.
When I was younger I never thought about how microwaves could possibly be dangerous. Then, about two years ago, another person whose lifestyle I thought of as very healthy told me he didn’t use microwaves because they “stole” all vitamins and stuff from the food. I immediately stopped using the microwave.
Some time ago, I started using it again – for the melted banana trick – but other than that rarely use it.
For those of you who think it was dangerous for your health (I did, too): There’s a doctor in my family and he regularly uses the microwave …
The Ginger Boys are hotter than any microwave for sure 😉 !