Microwaves are Dangerous. TRUE or FALSE?

Nothing says American Food faster than a microwave.

Microwaves are a common appliance, but they come with risks. You hear so many rumors about them, such as:

• microwaves make your food radioactive

• microwaves ruin the nutrition of the food

• microwaves are cancer causing

• microwaves can damage your eyes

• microwaves cause anxiety and depression

Are these rumors true? Is it possible to use microwaves safely?

I took an honest deep dive into microwave science. Here is what I found.

(This is kind of a technical read. If you want to skip to my conclusions at the end, click here.)

How Microwave Ovens Work

Microwave ovens are powered by a magnetron.

As electricity flows through a magnetron it resonates like a flute, but instead of producing soundwaves as a flute, they produce electromagnetic waves of electrons spinning in a circular motion at a particular frequency. The waves cause water molecules in food to vibrate, which creates heat.

Effects of Microwaves on Food

Micronutrients

Food that is heated in a microwave oven is similar in nutrient profile to food cooked by other means. Depending on the particular nutrient in question, microwaved food may have slightly more or less of that nutrient than food cooked by other methods, but analyses show that microwaved foods are not consistently higher or lower in overall nutrients than food cooked other ways. Due to the shorter cook time, some nutrients are better preserved through microwaving than traditional methods. Boiling is the worst culprit for decreasing nutrients because they leak into the water.

Proteins

According to the study Insight Into the Incredible Effects of Microwave Heating: Driving Changes in the Structure, Properties and Functions of Macromolecular Nutrients in Novel Food, microwaves can affect proteins both positively and negatively.

In some cases, proteins can be rendered easier to digest and less allergenic. However, peanuts and milk have been shown to become more allergenic after being microwaved.

Starches

Starches are altered by microwave heating in a different way than other forms of cooking because of the intensity of the heat applied by microwave.

According to the study Exploring the Remarkable Effects of Microwave on Starch Modification Treatment: from Structural Evolution to Changed Physiochemical and Digestive Properties, "In granular morphology, starch granules deformed, aggregated, and lost their integrity. Next, most starches were able to maintain the crystalline type, but the relative crystallinity reduced. Microwave treatment tends to increase the degree of double helix and decrease the degree of order in starch granules."

The effect of microwave on starch varies based on the type of starch, but broadly speaking, microwaves increase the digestion resistance of starch, lowering its glycemic index. Therefore, microwaved starches are less likely to spike your blood sugar.

I feel to point out that although food scientists view this fact positively, they seem to base their opinions on a single measurement, glycemic index. Microwaves break down the integrity of the starch particle, altering the organized, ordered structure of starch, resulting in a starch that is harder to digest. These studies are not long term or holistic. They do not reveal the whole body effects that may come from consuming starch that underwent intense, rapid heating. I would like to see studies that look into multi year, whole body effects of consuming this type of altered starch before concluding that altered starch is safe to eat.

Microwaving at lower power for a longer time would decrease this degradation of the starch because it is not being heated as intensely.

Fats

The same study cited in the protein section also said this: "microwave treatment of free fatty acids in food can increase their content and change their composition. Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) proportions decrease, whereas saturated fatty acids (SFA) and trans fatty acids (TFA) proportions increase."

Thus we see that trans fats are created by microwaves. Be aware that vegetable oils can turn into trans fats in traditional cooking methods as well. As with starch, microwaving fat at a lower setting would decrease the amount of transfat created because the intensity of the heat is reduced.

Microplastics

Any time food is heated in plastic, the plastic will leach chemicals such as benzene, toulene, PET, xylene, dioxins, and BPA (estrogen-like) into the food.

According to the study Assessing the Release of Microplastics and Nanoplastics from Plastic Containers and Reusable Food Pouches: Implications for Human Health, 2023, three minutes of microwaving releases 4.22 million microplastics and 2.11 billion nanoplastics from 1 square centimeter of plastic. (Food stored at cold and room temperature in plastic over a long period of time also releases micro and nanoplastics.)

Typically metal pots and pans are used with traditional cooking methods, but plastic seems to be the container of choice with microwaves. After all, you can't use metal in a microwave oven. The "microwave safe" stamp on a plastic container means it won't melt in the microwave, it says nothing about whether the chemicals will leach into your food. In other words, "microwave safe" plastics are going to lead to microplastics in your food and microplastic accumulation in your body. It happens not only with plastic that is in direct contact with the food, but also with plastic that is in the microwave oven near the food, such as cling wrap over a bowl or a dome shaped splatter guard.

PFAS coated materials, such as microwave popcorn bags, are the worst culprits for adding toxicity to food.

Toxic Ingredients

Prepackaged microwaveable meals are often processed food which tend to contain toxic ingredients. This is not the fault of the microwave oven, but of the consumer's food choices.

Most prepared foods contain stuff that you should not be eating such as trans fats, refined starches, emulsifiers, thickeners, stabilizers, preservatives, artificial flavors and colors, etc. If you are in the habit of reading the ingredients of everything you eat, you know that the best way to source food that is truly nourishing and not toxic is to cook from scratch rather than buying prepared foods.

Effects of Microwaves on People Near Them

There is a fear that microwaves are cancer causing because they emit radiation.

Microwaves do indeed cause radiation, but it is not the same length of waves that are associated with the harmful radiation that is produced by nuclear waste. Waves occur along a spectrum of lengths.

Starting at the longest waves and working towards smaller waves, we have:

• radio waves

• microwaves

• infrared waves

• visible light waves (red through violet)

• ultra violet waves

• x-ray waves

• gamma waves

All of the waves between radio waves and visible light waves are NON-ionizing. This means they do not cause cancer. IONIZING waves are those at the small end of the spectrum, ultraviolet to gamma. In that sense, microwaves are no more dangerous than radio waves or light waves.

Some people claim that exposure to high levels of EMFs cause an array of symptoms including anxiety and depression, sleep disturbances, and headaches. Microwave ovens have shields which contain many of their EMFs, but youtuber Dr. Berg did a video where he used an EMF meter near a microwave running on high and found that it gave off high levels of EMFs within 15 feet of the unit. The higher the power the unit is running at, the more EMFs are given off by it. Keeping your distance from a running microwave will minimize your exposure to EMFs caused by it.

Dr. Berg also says that looking into an operating microwave is harmful to the eye's cornea. The waves that escape the shield (which is a small but significant amount) do the same thing to objects outside of the oven as within it. To protect your cornea, it is important to not look into a microwave that is running.

Conclusion and Safety Tips

Microwaves do not significantly decrease the nutritional value of food. They do change the structure of food molecules, notably of proteins, fats and starches. You must decide if that change is something that you are comfortable with, or if you feel that it might have unknown negative effects on your body and you prefer to avoid it.

If you want to use a microwave oven and wish to minimize the risks associated with it, please observe the following:

1. Set the power to low to minimize changes in starch, protein, and fat molecular structures.

2. Heat foods in non-plastic containers to avoid leaching of chemicals and accumulation of microplastics. Especially avoid PFAS lined containers such as microwave popcorn bags. Even plastics that say "microwave safe" will leach microplastics into your food. Do not use plastic wraps or domes even if they are not in contact with the food.

3. Prepare whole foods from scratch; avoid prepackaged microwave meals which almost always contain toxic ingredients.

4. Stay 15 feet away from the unit while it is running to avoid high EMF exposure.

5. Never look into a running microwave to avoid damage to your eyes' corneas.

As you may have guessed, I do not own a microwave. During the summer time, I warm food on my electric range. In the winter, I love to use my soapstone masonry heater to gently warm food. It takes a little more fore thought to start warming food an hour or two ahead instead of minutes before eating, but once you are in the habit, it feels perfectly normal.

My preferred food heating technology... at least during the heating season. Think of it as a stone age microwave.

What is your opinion? Do you think microwaves are a great, convenient way to heat food, or do you not trust one farther than you can throw it?