Harmful effects of microwaves — are you concerned?
Don't freak out on me, I'm not going to suggest you totally avoid the microwave…yet. I only want you to start thinking about it more. That's how it started for me. For example, as you're popping something in there, start saying to yourself, “I wonder how else I could warm up my…(fill in the blank)?” If you're stumped, feel free to comment and ASK ME! I'm all about convenience in my life, so if I can limit how much I use a microwave, you can too. It's really not that big a deal. I'll tell you about ways I've gotten around using the microwave as much as we used to and how I still have plenty of convenience built into my life, but first you probably wonder why we don't use it as much anymore…
1. Possible harmful effect of microwaves: decreased nutrition.
I'm not going to tell you that there are proven harmful effects of microwaves, but here are a few studies that suggest it may not be wise to use one, or at least try to use it less…
- In intensive care nurseries it has become common practice to use microwave thawing of frozen human milk for more rapid accessibility. Twenty-two freshly frozen human milk samples were tested for nutrient activity. The samples were heated by microwave for 30 seconds at a low- or high-power setting and then reanalyzed. Results: Microwaving appears to be contraindicated at high temperatures, and questions regarding its safety exist even at low temperatures. Source.
- Another study showed that asparagus lost more vitamin C from microwaving than other types of cooking. Source.
- Here they found that broccoli lost a significantly higher amount of nutrients from microwaving than other cooking methods. (Steaming retains the most nutrients!) Source.
- More info here.
I'm also not going to tell you that “it changes the whole molecular make-up of the food”, because whenever a food is cooked it is changed and less nutritious, no matter how it is heated up, but as you see above, one of the harmful effects of microwaves is how it depletes more nutrients than other types of cooking. (Also, everyone should incorporate some raw foods into your diet for more nutrition, and remember, the more gently food is heated, the better. Do keep in mind, however, that some vegetables, such as spinach, kale, chard, plus cruciferous vegetables, such as cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, and a few others, should be cooked for optimal nutrition — more about that here.)
2. More possible harmful effect of microwaves: radiation.
How many of you Moms out there would step away from the microwave when you were pregnant to avoid any possible harm to your baby while it was on from possible radiation? Well, if it is a concern for babies in the womb, don't you think it's a concern for all of us?
Read this from Chris Kresser who says that as long as you step back while it's on, it's really not that different from other cooking methods, except for how it doesn't cook food very nicely.
“The FDA requires that microwaves emit no more than 5 mW/cm2 of radiation at a distance of 2 inches from the microwave. They also point out that microwave radiation dissipates rapidly as you move away from the source, so a measurement taken 20 inches from the microwave would be about 1/100 of the measurement taken at 2 inches. This is good news, because it means that to avoid radiation from your microwave, all you have to do is step away from it while your food is heating.”
But do our kids (or us for that matter) always remember to step back?
He says that “most” microwaves don't leak radiation and “real microwave emissions seem to stay below the federally mandated maximum“.
I'm just not sure that reassures me enough.
He also says this though, “If you’re going to be concerned about exposure to microwave radiation, you’d probably be better off getting rid of your cellphone than your microwave oven. (But that’s a topic for a another day.)”
Hmmm, what do you think?
3. That's not all…
Besides the possible harmful effects of microwaves mentioned in the studies above and the concerns about decreased nutrition and radiation, there are more reasons why we limit how much we use our microwave these days…
- The microwave always heats things up unevenly anyway, with one part over-heated and hard, and another part still cold.
- I hope by now everyone knows to never use plastic in the microwave…right? That goes for ANY time you have heat by plastic, don't do it! (More about that here: Slowly getting away from plastics.) But did you know there are also some concerns about toxins from paper used in a microwave, too? Ughhh
- Have you ever done a taste-test with microwave popcorn and oh, I don't know… MY popcorn? No comparison if I do say so! Microwave popcorn just tastes like all the fake butter and dangerous chemical preservatives that it's chock full of.
Don't worry, even though we try to avoid the harmful effects of microwaves, here are some ways that I still have plenty of convenience built into my life:
- I used to use our Toaster Oven a LOT — there are 5 different ways to heat (toast, broil, defrost, convection bake & bake), and the “convection bake” feature works great for warming stuff up. You pop it in, go do one thing, come back and it's done. However, once we remodeled our kitchen we replaced our toaster oven because it took up a lot of counter space, and I do still miss it sometimes, but now we have a microwave oven that has a convection oven in it. I use that almost daily for warming up leftovers, for melting butter, and for an extra oven — it fits a whole cookie sheet!
- Another gadget I love is my hot water dispenser. This saves a lot of time. I use it in a variety of ways: to melt a few chocolate chips I put them into a glass bowl, set that bowl in some hot water, and in 5 minutes they're melted. To thaw some blueberries for pancakes, I just run hot water over them and drain – done. Same thing for frozen peas, and then babies and toddlers will scoop them up, believe it or not. Works great for tea, obviously, or mostly to make my morning pour-over coffee.
- Here's a very helpful post from my friend, Wardeh, on how to heat up foods without a microwave.
So these days it's not that we never use the microwave, but we use it much less than we used to.
Turning the oven on or getting a saucepan out to warm up leftovers with a little water or milk in the bottom really doesn't kill you, even though I used to think it surely would.
Give it a try! 🙂
More you might like:
Have you seen our home remodeling posts?
- Here's our new kitchen, including a video
- Bathrooms and my home office
- Our daughter's room and another bathroom
- Deck remodel pics
- Living room remodel
- Another great post on this topic: Living Without a Microwave
- My favorite kitchen gadgets
Carol says
Kel, I melt 2T coconut oil on20% power ever day for my smoothie as I’m getting ready to walk out the door to work, usually running late. Suggestions?
KitchenKop says
Hi Carol,
I’m always running late too (ugh!), so I just combine things. Try this: plop the coconut oil in a little pan and turn on the stove. Go put your shoes on or maybe brush your teeth, come back and it’ll be melted and ready! It’s easy and fast and then you don’t have to wonder if the microwave stole some of the awesome nutrients from your coconut oil. 🙂
Kel
KitchenKop says
What a fun comment!!
Yeah, ours is still here, too. I’m sick of the toaster oven being on the counter big time and I think that SOON we’re getting the one that goes over the stove that is still a microwave (for the RARE times I use it), but it has a toaster and convection oven built in!! I’ll get that section of countertop back where our toaster oven has sat for years! 🙂
dani says
Okay, so I was puttering around your blog (what a wonderful way to spend my coffee break), and landed here. Ah, serendipity!
So, my transition to no-micro is kind of a funny one. I was swiftly becoming a fervent follower of the real-food religion due to health crisis, and POOF! Our space-saver microwave quit heating food. I’ll never forget the day hubby called and said it’s not heating his coffee, and I was practically screaming at him (thinking that microwaves were probably leaking all over my house–and him!) to STOP RUNNING IT, THEN!!! He just kept on trying, bless his heart. Anyway, I was probably not even two weeks later that I read on one of my “now-I-follow-these-blogs-cuz-I’m-a-real-foodie-too” blogs (probably GNOWFGLINS), and I stumbled onto some of the warnings against microwave cooking. We have considered replacing the microwave, because like another commenter, we aren’t planning on keeping the house too long and it will help it sell, eventually. Still, we haven’t replaced it yet. Life without a microwave isn’t so bad; we don’t have a toaster oven, but we do have something similar to a Nu-Wave Oven, which is great for small batches of fries, reheating casseroles, etc. Bonus there: it doesn’t heat the whole house (and I’m sure it uses significantly less electricity) in the summertime.
However, in the meantime? The dead microwave has become a cabinet: the best place EVER to store my cast iron cookware–nice and close to the stove, out of the way, and the pans don’t get “rested” on my white countertops (E-GADS! Who puts white countertops in a kitchen?).
All the rest of the functions still work: clock, timer, vent and stove-top light. God seems to work in mysterious ways sometimes, but this one? Not so mysterious to ME!
Kim says
I know I am off-topic, but am not sure where to ask about this. We are looking for a new gas BBQ. In fact we bought one last night and were planing on picking it up tonight. We chose one with a cast iron grill to avoid having the porcelain painted grill and all those toxins in our food. My husband just called me and said he was thinking and he is pretty sure the entire inside of the BBQ is painted! This cant be safe, right? We can upgrade to the all stainless steel BBQ for a few hundred more…we don’t want to spend the xtra money if it is a non-issue, but I have a feeling that the stainless steel one is the only safe way to go. Any thoughts? And I guess I am wondering too if it is safe to even cook food on a gas BBQ! Thanks in advance!
KitchenKop says
Hmmmm, this is a good question….I don’t know the answer so I’ll do what I always do, I’ll post it and ask my super smart readers!
Kelly
Brent says
It’s not proved yet but the basic thing is the loss of nutrition is more when there would be more heat which is a genuine case while cooking by microwave.But it’s too difficult for us now to completely remove microwave from kitchen.
Here I want to share my own tips — recently I’ve purchased a grain mill so we’ll eat more whole grain instead of refined flour. We’ve started to follow healthy diet tips in our life to maintain a good health.Thanks to you for informing about a new topic.
Monie says
My mom told me something about microwaves a couple years ago, and she got rid of hers and I got rid of mine. The only thing is when I go to a friends house they may use it. I try to avoid anything microwaved because I know the flavor is different, and with all types of cancers coming out now, I don’t want to take any chances.
I have gotten so used to not having one though… I just heat something up in the oven or on the stove. (my ancient toaster oven died) My husband doesn’t complain, he does the same thing.
KitchenKop says
Robin, YES!! Someone JUST told me about these last week and I’m SO excited because I couldn’t find a toaster oven that goes over the stove, and like you mentioned, we don’t want that on the counter for the rest of our lives.
Apparently these combo ovens basically do everything my toaster oven does, except toast (and we’ve got a toaster for that anyway), plus the micro. I rarely use my microwave anymore, as I said in the post, but for the 4 times a year I do use it, it will be nice to still have it there.
Now I want to get our counter replaced so we can get that new oven!
Robin says
Sorry, I know this is an old post, but I was interested in how to go about reheating items without using the microwave, as I’m having a hard time giving it up for the “little things” (like heating up tea that has gone cold, etc.) and really do want to give it up entirely. So, thanks for all the ideas!
Just an idea, though, for anyone wondering what to do with the “over-the-range” space-we recently upgraded our old appliances and decided on a convection microwave. Since we’re planning on selling the house in a couple years (and also have an over-the-range microwave with the vent), we needed to put something there, and this seemed like a good compromise, as you can use it just like a convection oven without the microwave part at all. So for me, this replaces my toaster oven, freeing up that counter space, and essentially gives me a second oven which fits perfectly in that space.
Catherine says
“Nuking” your food does not sound healthy to me either.
Catherine
Kelly says
Hey, what a great idea, to STEAM leftovers to warm them, LOVE IT!
Thanks, Kelly
Bkbabe says
Funny, I’m coming from the opposite end of the m/w use. Growing up with my frugal grandma, she reheated food without incidence by steaming it! She would take a saucepan, fill with water, heat it on the stove and place the food on top the pan in a metal collander – cover. Try it – you’ll see it’s one of the best ways to reheat any food, and not loose moisture or recook it. Not to mention it’s great way to steam fish and veggies.
On the flipside, I do own a m/w and basically only use it for one thing: POPCORN – but NOT m/w popcorn! I use a “Microwave Popcorn popper” (amazon.com) to get air popped corn.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Guess what happened just tonight? Our teen felt bad that he was leaning on the microwave or something and busted the handle. (Add it to the list of broken stuff around here.) I didn’t even care since you can’t see it and I don’t use it anyway! He was glad I wasn’t upset. One more excuse to yank the thing out of here! 🙂
Kelly
Anonymous says
I too have a microwave/vent combo above my stove. It is the most expensive clock/kitchen timer in my house!
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Lara,
Good idea! If it’s inconvenient, no one will use it.
Don’t worry about the extra dishes, that’s what we had kids for, they looooove doing dishes! 🙂
Kelly
The Lazy Organizer says
I would like to give up the microwave too. Maybe I will move it into the pantry so we all forget to use it. We will have a lot more dishes to wash and we have already given up the automatic dishwasher!!
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Great news, Beth! Can’t wait for the day mine is outa here! It just takes up space right now. Good for hiding things from the kids, though. 🙂
Bamboo says
I sold my M/W yesterday! Yeah! If someone would’ve told me a year ago that I would be giving it up I would’ve said, “Huh?” If they would’ve told me that my husband would agree the first time I brought it up I would’ve given a double, “Huh?” 🙂
We have NO counter space so it was on a M/W cart with the toaster oven on top. Now I have the toaster oven (turned sideways) and the breadmaker in its place. It looks kind of cluttered but otherwise I take the breadmaker in/out of our highest cupboard shelf about every other day. I’ll keep tweaking the kitchen arrangements but I’m so glad to have the M/W out.
Now to undo the damage of years of M/W popcorn!
Beth
Julie says
Hi Kelly,
I got my Aroma turbo oven here.
The size is posted in the description at the website. It is very easy to clean, very simple to use and it is about as simple looking an appliance as you have ever seen. It looks like something out of the 50’s to me. It’s about as big around as a large stock pot. Height is about 12 inches or so. Check it out.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
Julie,
Great tip! I hope you check back here because I have 3 questions for you: can I ask about the cost, where you found it, and how big it is?
Thanks,
Kelly
Julie says
I recently purchased an Aroma brand turbo oven. This is a counter top convection oven, one that Dr. Mercola recommends (only I found a cheaper site for purchase.) We are starting to use it daily for the cooking of meat (faster and more tender) faster, better baking of potatoes. Consider this appliance also if you are trying to cut back on microwave usage.
Kelly says
Hello Shauna, Anna, Jessica & Ann Marie. 🙂
Shauna, I have the same problem with my microwave being above my stove. Right now my toaster oven is sitting in an awkward spot until we figure out a better place for it. We had thought we’d just pull out the micro and put a shelf there for the toaster oven, but like you, then we wouldn’t have a vent over the stove. I’d love to hear how others solved this problem! The obvious solution is putting the toaster oven someplace else, but we really don’t have another good spot…
The electric kettle sounds like a great alternative to the insta-hot – cheaper, too.
Kelly
cheeseslave says
I still have the microwave over the range. Since we only bought it last year and we plan to sell this house within the next couple of years (I figure it will help increase the resale value).
I just leave it unplugged. And I use it now for my ferments! I put my kefir and oatmeal in there at night. Or beans or whatever it is I’m soaking.
I am so much like you — I used to use it all the time and I couldn’t imagine living without it. It’s so easy now — I have no problem not using it. It’s totally just a mindset.
Now, like you, I use the toaster oven a lot, and we don’t have an insta-hot water tap but I did buy a Zojirushi hot water dispenser. It probably cost just over $100 and we use it all the time!
Oh, and one other thing — I read a study that said that they stopped heating breast milk in the microwave in NICU units in hospitals — because the premie babies DIED.
This was not because of imbalanced heating. It changed the molecular structure of the milk and the babies could not absorb/assimilate the nutrients. So yeah, it’s BAD!
Love your blog! Keep up the good work.
Ann Marie
Jessica says
I got rid of our microwave (before I thought it might be unhealthy) because it just took up too much counter space. I realized I didn’t need a giant beast on my counter to heat up leftovers when it it just as easy to heat them up on the stove.
Jessica
http://www.practicalnourishment.com
Anna says
I do pretty much the same, Kelly. I haven’t banished the microwave from the kitchen yet, but it’s barely justifying it’s valuable kitchen real estate for the amount of use it’s getting. My husband is the stumbling block; he uses it for 11 seconds to prewarm the half & half for his coffee! I sometimes use it for steaming veggies if have too much going on at the range. I also use it for my son’s whole soaked groats, but I could just as easily use the stove if the microwave wasn’t there. The time to cook is the about the same 8-10 minutes, only the pot to wash is different.
I also use a large-ish toaster oven, electric water kettle, and stove top to reheat things. I can’t think of any instant foods I use anymore so no need for a hot water dispenser.
Stove cooked popcorn with coconut oil beats microwave popcorn hands down everytime! I can’t even stand the smell of packaged microwaved popcorn (like sweaty socks).
Another reason I have cut back drastically on the microwave use is to set a better example for my son of what real food prep requires. I realized that when I used the microwave, it fostered an “impatience” for food on his part. He began to expect food too fast and had a hard time waiting. By heating something with the range or the toaster oven, he has to wait and understand that food isn’t instant (at least he doesn’t have to gather wood and build a fire, eh?).
I think the microwaved water & plant experiment was debunked on Mythbusters or one of the urban legend sites, btw.
Michigan Mom2three says
Thanks for these ideas Kelly! I have been wanting to replace my microwave oven with a toaster oven for a long time. My microwave is my “oven hood” though, so I haven’t yet figured out how to do this. I have been cutting WAY back for some time now. Also, I don’t have an insta-hot-water-tap, but I wanted to mention that I use my electric kettle for the things you mentioned. I have a regular stove top kettle too, but with the electric kettle, I have boiling water (or just hot, whatever I need) in seconds. I picked it up on clearance at Meijer for $9.99 a while back.
I heard recently of a story where someone heated, then cooled water from a microwave to water a plant, and also watered another control plant with tap water. The tap water plant thrived, the microwaved water plant died! Yikes!
Shauna