There are many common misconceptions that surround microwave ovens. Some sources claim that microwaves destroy nutrients in food, while others suggest that food is rendered somehow "dead" or "mutated" by exposure to microwaves. In reality, however, microwaves are safe and effective cooking tools that don't affect your food any more -- and perhaps affect it less -- than a conventional stove.
Microwaves
Microwave ovens work by causing molecules in your food to vibrate. Specifically, the oven emits waves that cause water molecules in the food to rotate. As they do so, the water molecules rub against one another, generating heat. This process is quite similar to stovetop cooking; a stove element gets hot as electrons generate heat while passing through the material of the element. Microwaves do not depend upon nuclear radiation, nor do they make food radioactive.
Microwave Misconceptions
Because microwaves don't depend upon nuclear radiation, they can't "mutate" any of the nutrient molecules in your food. One effect of microwaving is that it changes the shape of proteins in your food, but this happens with any kind of cooking process. Further, your stomach also changes the shape of proteins when you consume food -- acid affects proteins in a manner similar to that in which heat affects them. Microwaving in no way renders food less fit to eat or unhealthy.
Vitamins
One way in which microwaving can legitimately affect nutrition of food is by reducing vitamin content. This effect is not unique to microwave cooking, however -- it's noted in any form of cooking. A 2004 study published in the "Journal of Food Chemistry" by Dr. D. Zhang and colleagues notes that foods -- particularly vegetables -- cooked in the microwave or on the stove have lower vitamin content than raw foods. You may need to eat more of a cooked food than a raw food to get the same amount of vitamins.
Sparing Vitamins
Thankfully for those who admire the convenience of a microwave oven, there's evidence that the vitamin loss is lower in the case of microwave cooking than in the case of stovetop cooking. A 2007 study published in the "Journal of Food Quality" by Dr. M. Schnepf and colleagues notes that microwave cooking techniques appear to spare more vitamin content than stovetop cooking techniques. This may be due to the fact that microwaves typically cook food for a shorter period of time.
References
- "Food Chemistry"; Phenolics, ascorbic acid, carotenoids and antioxidant activity of broccoli and their changes during conventional and microwave cooking; D. Zhang et al; December 2004
- "Journal of Food Quality"; Sensory Attributes and Nutrient Retention in Selected Vegetables; M. Schnepf et al; May 2007
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