Why I Waive the Microwave...

I was recently asked why I don't have a microwave in my home. There are various reasons why. After doing research and reading multiple articles, I decided it wasn't worth it to me to have one and that I could do without. So here are some of the things I have learned and I am including articles and their sources below, taken from multiple websites and articles:


In an article taken from the Global Healing Center at:

 http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/microwave-ovens-the-proven-dangers.html

it says:


"In Robert O. Becker's book, The Body Electric, he described Russian research on the health effects of microwave radiation, which they called "microwave sickness." On page 314, Becker states:

"It's [Microwave sickness] first signs are low blood pressure and slow pulse. The later and most common manifestations are chronic excitation of the sympathetic nervous system [stress syndrome] and high blood pressure.

This phase also often includes headache, dizziness, eye pain, sleeplessness, irritability, anxiety, stomach pain, nervous tension, inability to concentrate, hair loss, plus an increased incidence of appendicitis, cataracts, reproductive problems, and cancer. The chronic symptoms are eventually succeeded by crisis of adrenal exhaustion and ischemic heart disease [the blockage of coronary arteries and heart attacks]."

There are a lot of people I love in my life who suffer from these above ailments, the headaches, the high blood pressure, anxiety and all of the others. And yes, all of those people have and use a microwave and/or grew up with one in their home. I continued reading and the article goes on to quote Dr. Lita Lee from:

Lee, Lita, "Microwaves and Microwave Ovens," 14 May 2001. http://www.litalee.com/IDY055/FILES/Microwaves%20And%20Microwave%20Ovens.pdf

"According to Dr. Lee, changes are observed in the blood chemistries and the rates of certain diseases among consumers of microwaved foods. The symptoms above can easily be caused by the observations shown below. The following is a sample of these changes:

a. Lymphatic disorders were observed, leading to decreased ability to prevent certain types of cancers.

b. An increased rate of cancer cell formation was observed in the blood.

c. Increased rates of stomach and intestinal cancers were observed.

d. Higher rates of digestive disorders and a gradual breakdown of the systems of elimination were observed.


So not only a lot of disruptions in the cells, digestive tract and lymphatic systems, but also the allowance of cancer cell increase! Here is another part of the article commenting on the actual formation of carcinogens in food that are microwaved:

"The following is a summary of the Russian investigations published by the Atlantis Raising Educational Center in Portland, Oregon. Carcinogens were formed in virtually all foods tested. No test food was subjected to more microwaving than necessary to accomplish the purpose, i.e., cooking, thawing, or heating to insure sanitary ingestion. Here's a summary of some of the results:

a. Microwaving prepared meats sufficiently to insure sanitary ingestion caused formation of d-Nitrosodienthanolamines, a well-known carcinogen.

b. Microwaving milk and cereal grains converted some of their amino acids into carcinogens.

c. Thawing frozen fruits converted their glucoside and galactoside containing fractions into carcinogenic substances.

d. Extremely short exposure of raw, cooked or frozen vegetables converted their plant alkaloids into carcinogens.

e. Carcinogenic free radicals were formed in microwaved plants, especially root vegetables. Decrease in nutritional value.

Russian researchers also reported a marked acceleration of structural degradation leading to a decreased food value of 60 to 90% in all foods tested. Among the changes observed were:

a. Deceased bio-availability of vitamin B complex, vitamin C, vitamin E, essential minerals and lipotropics factors in all food tested.

b. Various kinds of damaged to many plant substances, such as alkaloids, glucosides, galactosides and nitrilosides.

c. The degradation of nucleo-proteins in meats."


The article also includes the studies done by Dr. Hans Ulrich Hertel in The Swiss clinical Study on the effects of microwaves. The full article is included here on the Global Healing Center website:


http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/microwave-ovens-the-proven-dangers.htmland


From this article I gained a deeper understanding of:


  • The Cancer-Causing Effects - and creation of free radicals and other carcinogenic molecules in the cells of our bodies and how it affects every system.
  • The Decrease in the Value of the Food itself - knowing that the minerals, enzymes, and essential vitamins were being destroyed and mutated into something not only un-nutritious but actually damaging and harmful
  • The Biological Effects - Just even the exposure to the microwaves has such an adverse affect on the brain and nervous system without having ingesting the food.



From The Christian Law Institute and Fellowship Assembly , they give Ten Reasons to throw out our microwaves...

 

'"Ten Reasons to Throw out your Microwave Oven

From the conclusions of the Swiss, Russian and German scientific clinical studies, we can no longer ignore the microwave oven sitting in our kitchens. Based on this research, we will conclude this article with the following:

1. Continually eating food processed from a microwave oven causes long term - permanent - brain damage by "shorting out" electrical impulses in the brain [de-polarizing or de-magnetizing the brain tissue].

2. The human body cannot metabolize [break down] the unknown by-products created in microwaved food.

3. Male and female hormone production is shut down and/or altered by continually eating microwaved foods.

4. The effects of microwaved food by-products are residual [long term, permanent] within the human body.

5. Minerals, vitamins, and nutrients of all microwaved food is reduced or altered so that the human body gets little or no benefit, or the human body absorbs altered compounds that cannot be broken down.

6. The minerals in vegetables are altered into cancerous free radicals when cooked in microwave ovens.

7. Microwaved foods cause stomach and intestinal cancerous growths [tumors]. This may explain the rapidly increased rate of colon cancer in America.

8. The prolonged eating of microwaved foods causes cancerous cells to increase in human blood.

9. Continual ingestion of microwaved food causes immune system deficiencies through lymph gland and blood serum alterations.

10. Eating microwaved food causes loss of memory, concentration, emotional instability, and a decrease of intelligence.

Have you tossed out your microwave oven yet?

The use of artificial microwave transmissions for subliminal psychological control, a.k.a. "brainwashing", has also been proven. We're attempting to obtain copies of the 1970's Russian research documents and results written by Drs. Luria and Perov specifying their clinical experiments in this area.

Written by Anthony Wayne and Lawrence Newell

International common Law Copyright 2000

by The Christian Law Institute & Fellowship Assembly" '




As if this wasn't enough for me. I did some more reading. So this is why my Dad told us to never stand in front of the microwave while it was warming our food! It wasn't until I got older that I realized I had been ingesting exactly what I was backing away from! I used to even warm up my water for hot chocolate and tea and cook my eggs like this back in the day.

From the sources listed below, I found the following article:


  1. Kopp, William, "Microwave Madness," Omega News, 13 Apr 2006.
    http://omega.twoday.net/stories/1825144/

  2. Lee, Lita, "Microwaves and Microwave Ovens," 14 May 2001. http://www.litalee.com/IDY055/FILES/Microwaves%20And%20Microwave%20Ovens.pdf

Raloff, Janet, "Microwaving can lower breast milk benefits," Science News, 25 Apr 1992.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_n17_v141/ai_12100730

Vellejo, F, et al, "Phenolic compound contents in edible parts of broccoli inflorescences after domestic cooking," Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Vol. 83, no. 14, pp. 1511-1516. Nov 2003.

Watanabe, Fumio, "Effects of Microwave Heating on the Loss of Vitamin B 12 in Food," J. Agric. Food Chem., 46 (1), 206 -210, 1998.
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/jafcau/1998/46/i01/abs/jf970670x.html

  1. Does Plastic in Microwave Pose Health Problems? Wall Street Journal, 12 Oct 1998. http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Microwave-Health-Problems.htm

  2. Does Plastic in Microwave Pose Health Problems? Wall Street Journal, 12 Oct 1998. http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Microwave-Health-Problems.htm



"The Dangers of Microwave Ovens Everyone Needs to Know

Posted August 2, 2007. There have been 0 comments

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Do you stand in front of your microwave while it's heating food?

Or do you turn it on and run for cover, worried about the potential microwave dangers?

Microwaves, a common appliance found in just about every household, may be convenient, but they harm your health.


know that your microwave might be a health hazard? Microwaves' quick cooking radiation robs your food of nutrients and causes toxic chemicals to leach out of plastic containers.

Microwaves: Killer Convenience

Microwave ovens, originally sold as "Radaranges," use technology that passes electromagnetic waves through food, exciting the molecules and causing them to move and heat up as they respond to the microwave radiation.

Most people don't think twice about heating up leftovers, defrosting meat, or popping popcorn in the microwave. Many new mothers even heat up breast milk or formula in the microwave.

But are we paying for this convenience with our health?

Studies on the effects of microwaves have been quite controversial as microwave technology has evolved over the years. In 1976 Russia even banned the use of microwaves!1

Here in the US, microwaves are ubiquitous, but recent research shows that microwaves significantly decrease the nutritional value of food.

Microwaves have been shown to affect foods in these ways:2

  • Reduce levels of vitamin B 12
    Vitamin B 12 is essential for red blood cell formation, preventing anemia, and a healthy nervous system.

  • Decrease flavonoids by 97%!
    Flavonoids have anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-microbial properties.

  • Break down bacteria-digesting enzymes in breast milk
    Babies rely on enzymes from breast milk to establish a healthy inner ecosystem that digests food, absorbs nutrients and protects against pathogens.

  • Lower levels of sinapic acid derivatives
    Sinapic acids scavenge for and neutralize free radicals, cancer-causing agents in your body.

  • Decrease antibody levels in breast milk
    Antibodies in mother's milk protect babies from infections.

Microwaving foods may preserve more vitamins than boiling, for example, but that does not make it a safe and nutritious cooking choice.

Microwaving can significantly alter levels of vitamins and nutrients that you need for a healthy body."


In short, using a microwave is detrimental to the health and vitality of the human body. As I thought about why I use a microwave, a lot of it was about time and convenience and doing things as quickly as possible. Was I really that busy? Was my life THAT fast-paced? After all, people have been eating cooked foods as well as raw foods for thousands of years and have survived and THRIVED without a microwave. Why couldn't I? So we got rid of our microwave and purchased a small convention oven for warming things up versus using the energy from the whole oven. It took some adjusting and a little more time to prepare meals, but it has been so worth it and here are some of the benefits I have experienced:


  • Feel good food prep ! -I feel so good about the food that I prepare for myself and those around me, knowing that it is fresh and cleanly prepared and that the enzymes, nutrients and vitamins are in tact and nourishing. 
  • The satisfaction and peace of mind knowing that even the exposure to microwaves is not something I need to worry about in my own home as far as a microwave is concerned and I know how my food is being prepared and where it's coming from.
  • Enjoyment! I have been able to enjoy the experience of creating beautiful meals, simply, and experimenting with spices, herbs and the cornucopia of fresh vegetables and cooked dishes, and enjoying this experience with others in the kitchen. Some of my favorite memories as a child were all of us chopping, dicing, stirring together in the kitchen all while singing some random songs and laughing together.
  • The opportunity to SLOW DOWN and take the time to be conscious of how and WHY I am eating in the first place, to be grateful and appreciate the food for what it is doing for me and for what it is...A GIFT. 
Whatever the adjustments are that you find yourself making in getting rid of your microwave, the long-term benefits will be well worth it. Sometimes the first step in improving our health is the elimination of what is poisoning or damaging or toxic to us and moving on from there. One step at a time. Just do your best and get creative! Have your friends join you in preparing nice meals together sans microwave!

So here's to you and your fresh food too!

(For recipes and ideas on preparing your favorite foods and dishes without a microwave, see the recipe section!)


Love,

Shannon