There are probably worse ways to ruin the nutritional value of food and, indirectly, your health. But a Green Med Info article warned that there is no faster way to destroy the nutrients in your food than to pop it into a microwave oven.

The days of cooking fresh, whole foods on the stove or in the oven seem to be long past. Now, you just pop prepared food into the microwave oven and wait for a few minutes at most.

But microwaving doesn’t just heat the food. It also alters the flavor and the texture, turning food rubbery and tasteless and without scent.

Still, people put up with these drawbacks because it was convenient, fast, and simple. They were also told that microwave heating does not damage the nutrients in food, so they could still get the nourishment they needed.

However, new research suggested that microwaved foods are not as healthy as they were advertised to be. These studies showed that microwave energy damaged the important nutrients in food, making the meals much less nourishing than believed. (Related: The hidden health dangers of microwave popcorn.)

Microwaved food can lose almost all of their nutrients

A University of Texas (UT) review from 2008 showed that the minerals found in fresh produce could get depleted by as much as 40 percent once they are exposed to microwave energy. Proteins were affected in much the same way.

Even earlier in 1999, Scandinavian researchers analyzed asparagus spears before and after cooking them inside a microwave oven. They reported that the microwave heating process reduced the amount of vitamins present in the vegetables.

Then there was a 2001 experiment by researchers from Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), that demonstrated that exposing garlic to just one minute of microwave energy disabled all of the allinase inside it. Without this powerful bioactive compound, the superfood would be unable to restrain the spread of cancer.

And in 2003, a CEBAS?CSIC study put broccoli in a microwave oven, zapped it, and measured the amount of antioxidants that remained. They also steamed a separate bunch of the vegetable and subjected them to the same tests. The Spanish researchers found that the microwaved broccoli lost almost all of their antioxidants. It also lost a lot of its phenolic compounds and glucosinolates, which are plant compounds that bring other health benefits. In comparison, the steamed broccoli retained up to 89 percent of their antioxidants.

Stop using microwave ovens and switch back to traditional cooking

Based on the findings of these and other studies, it could be surmised that you should avoid using microwave ovens to cook food. Not only are you losing out on important nutrients, but you could also be ingesting toxic substances.

If you put fatty foods in a plastic container and heat them inside a microwave, they will release various toxins that can contaminate food. Dioxins, for example, can cause cancer in living organisms. Other toxins found in plastic containers include benzene, polyethylene terpthalate, toluene, and xylene. These fossil fuel-derived chemicals are toxic to humans. Furthermore, microwave treatment can also form radiolytic compounds. Born from the bombardment of microwave energy, these mysterious artificial compounds cannot possibly heal people.

Instead of consuming nutrient-deprived and potentially toxic microwave dinners, you would be much better off cooking food the old-fashioned way. Eat plant products that are fresh, uncooked, or slightly heated.

Meat products can be prepared through baking, sauteing, and steaming. You could also try cooking them slowly as a soup or a stew. However, dairy products are best when consumed raw and unheated.

Nutrients.news can tell you how about the best fresh foods that can make up for the nutrition-lacking microwaved foods.

Sources include:

GreenMedInfo.com

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov