Harm of microwaves: truth or myth?

Many people today prefer a microwave oven, not realizing that it can be dangerous. In the media sources you can hear that the microwave, on which the device is based, is harmful. First of all, the harm of a microwave can be estimated by its effect on health. Are there confirmed studies on this topic? Of course, only their results are often contradictory and point to diametrically opposite things. Let us try to figure out whether it is possible to heat food in devices of this type, and whether there are unpleasant consequences from the use of such food.

Harmful or not

The question of whether a microwave is harmful can be answered in different ways, depending on the position a person takes. The fact is that the same phenomena (the effect of microwaves on the body) have an individual effect on each organism. It is enough for one examinee to heat food in the microwave for a week in order for him to have problems with digestion. The second can eat such food for several years, and the question of harm will not be so acute.

Such a lack of clear separation gives rise to the eternal question: is it possible to use a microwave? Is the food cooked in it harmful to humans? In fairness it should be noted that the food from the microwave itself is not the most healthy foodand the point here is not the effect of ultrashort waves, but the very principle of cooking. Microwave ovens are used mainly for the preparation of “fast food”, which refers to conventionally unhealthy foods (for example, popcorn, hot dogs, quick defrost products).

If you neglect the right nutrition, then you can quite quickly earn problems with the gastrointestinal tract and peristalsis, and it will not be at all in the "detrimental effect" of radiation emanating from a microwave oven.

Unhealthy food cooked in the microwave oven, can lead to weight gainthat can also be attributed to the harmful effects, but the point here is in the wrong diet, and not in the direct and obviously negative effects of microwaves.It is quite difficult to draw a line where the harm from the device begins and the person’s failure to observe the elementary rules of food hygiene.

Some researchers believe that heating food in the microwave is not at all harmful, another thing is the full cycle of cooking a dish in a microwave oven. Of the recent sensational revelations, many may remember the experiment, staged by one schoolgirl, who for seven days watered the plant with water heated in a microwave. The result was impressive: the plant died. However, this proves little, because tens of millions of people prepare food every day in these devices and do not have any obvious health problems. That is why the question whether a microwave oven is harmful to health still remains open.

Negative microwave effect

Since no single classification of impact has been formed yet, we will try to do it ourselves. The data obtained from several sources (including it is known that the studies were conducted in hospitals, clinics, in the home and working conditions with different load and degree of involvement), allow us to draw several preliminary conclusions. so, The harm to a microwave for human health is as follows:

1. Brain. Ambiguous studies by Russian and Swiss doctors have shown that radiation from a microwave causes irreversible changes in the cerebral cortex. The impulses sent by neurons become shorter and undergo depolarization.
2. Digestive system. Cooked in the microwave product is incorrectly identified by the gastrointestinal system (gastrointestinal tract). Simply put, our body is not able to recognize such food, and does not include it as food. Such dissonance leads to improper absorption of food and the earliest desire of the body to remove it, without extracting useful and nutrients. In other words, even eating a rich meal from a microwave, you can leave the body hungry, because it simply will not know how to act properly.
3. Hormonal system. Here everything is no better than the previous paragraph. First, the frequent use of foods exposed to microwaves has a negative effect on the production of male and female hormones.According to scientists, this is due to the fact that the human body has not yet learned how to properly respond to the products that are obtained as a result of microwave processing. By consuming such food, a person, thereby, knocks down the settings of his own organism, making it difficult for the digestive organs to work, and in some cases even making it impossible.
4. Irreversibility. Alas, but all the above effects have properties to accumulate like a snowball. The fact that these consequences are irreversible is simply doubly unpleasant (simply because a method has not been developed to resist them).
5. Difficulty in learning vitamins, minerals and other substances useful to the human body. In this case, the microwave is not less dangerous for health. The process of heating in the apparatus changes the properties of vitamins and minerals so that the human body simply cannot assimilate them properly. The danger also lies in the fact that, once in the body, such “altered” minerals and vitamins are not only not absorbed, but are not excreted, lingering inside, creating deposits in the vessels and joints.
6. This hypothesis is so far from the field of theory, but it also has the right to publicity.The fact is that carcinogens (in particular, free radicals) enter the human body after heat treatment of food in the microwave. In particular, if you warm up the vegetables, then some of the minerals contained in them will turn in carcinogens.
7. Gastrointestinal Cancer Risk. The harm of microwaves is also in the fact that the products prepared in them indirectly and directly can contribute to the development of oncological diseases. As a confirmation of this hypothesis, the researchers give a vivid example: the outbreak of cancer in America, which occurred just at the time of the spread of microwaves.
8. Another disappointing outlook from the long-term use of the device - repeatedly increasing blood cancer risk. According to numerous clinical studies, food from a microwave oven greatly increases the chance of this deadly disease.
9. Impact on immunity. Bad news for our immunity. It is regrettable, but it has been clinically proven that eating foods that have been heat-treated in the microwave affects the lymph nodes and lymph glands.Hence the slowing of the lymph flow throughout the body, and, as a consequence, the accelerated aging of the whole body. In addition, blood coagulability is significantly reduced, which leads to slow healing of wounds.
10. Negative impact on concentration and attention (memory, thinking, images). Surprisingly, the food from the microwave even negatively affects our way of thinking, which once again confirms the correctness of the statement “we are what we eat”. Swiss scientists removed the experiment, as a result of which it became clear that the experimental, eating microwave food for a long time, showed themselves much worse intellectually. It was more difficult for them to concentrate on work, they could not concentrate their attention for a long time and demonstrated a general decline in cognitive activity.

As can be understood from the above list, the debate about whether the benefits or harm lie behind the use of microwaves, go so far and have a lot of supporters on both sides. Perhaps the effect of microwave on health is detrimental, only the degree of this harm is leveled from strong to insignificant.

Myth or Reality

There is still no clear answer to the question whether food from the microwave is harmful. Why, if there is so much evidence of obvious harm to the human body, are these devices still quietly standing on the shelves of all major home appliance retail stores? After all, no one in their right mind would sell equipment that causes irreparable damage to human health, and in the most extreme case, kills him.

Most likely, everything is not so bad, the truth will be somewhere in the middle. Indeed, in addition to obvious shortcomings, there are microwaves many advantages. This includes their speed, versatility and reliability due to the simplicity of the design. The consumer definitely liked this product, and he is not going to give it up so easily, despite the numerous warnings of various initiative groups.

Is it harmful to heat food in the microwave? Or is its effect on the human body somewhat exaggerated? In the end, manufacturers of this type of home appliances have all the necessary types of certification, which is very difficult to obtain.By the way, technological innovations, which in one way or another negatively affect consumer health, do not find a way to the mass market, or, once in the stores, just as quickly disappear from the shelves if there are any complaints. So, it’s hardly worth talking about any deliberate harm due to the collusion of manufacturers; many different organizations deal with these issues.

When wondering whether harm to microwaves is a myth or reality, one should remain impartial and be aware that any technological device, one way or another, affects the human body.

It’s just that in one case such an effect may become obvious in the very near future, and in the second case it’s not possible to manifest itself for many years and even decades, after which it will be difficult to say what exactly caused and catalyzed such changes.

Most likely, the harm and benefits of a microwave oven will be about the same, differing from one user to another, because the individual characteristics of the organism have not been canceled. Often the use of the microwave leads to the so-called “food licentiousness”,when a person begins to neglect healthy and wholesome food, rich in all necessary substances. This is precisely the harm, but it is not caused by the device itself.

Of course, if you eat only food from the microwave, you can face certain problems, but the same statement applies to any type of home appliances, moderation should be observed everywhere, it will help to maintain health for many years.

Conclusion

It should be remembered that, despite the available data on the harm of the microwave to human health, there are facts that refute a number of criticisms. Research teams are testing to dispel the myth that a microwave is only a harm. This is done first of all in order to avoid mass panic and set priorities without unnecessary emotions. Of course, the device is not devoid of constructive cons, making it a controversial use. This is not an "absolute good", however, you should not write it off ahead of time, because microwaves have firmly entered our life and make it more comfortable and convenient.