Microwave Cooking
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| Japanese microwave oven 1971: by Miya.m |
Although microwave cooking is undoubtedly a super convenience for us in today’s hectic lifestyle (90% of people in the US own a microwave), are foods cooked this way really healthy? When microwave ovens were first introduced in the US in 1967, we were advised to purchase one that did not leak energy and to always maintain a reasonable distance from the appliance when in use. Today many of us pop a dish in the microwave to heat, reheat or even cook it without giving it a second thought. It is commonplace to buy a new house or apartment with a kitchen already equipped with a built-in microwave, and if you are traveling away from home, your hotel room probably has one too. So how do we know if it is really safe to use? Food for thought.
In Ayurvedic medicine food that has been heated or cooked in a microwave is considered non sattvic: spiritually and energetically impure. Using a microwave upsets the original life force of all foods and is placed in the same category as fried foods, fast foods, frozen foods, processed foods, leftover night foods…in other words, foods to be avoided. Experiments reported in 1989 in ”The Lancet”, British Medical Journal, showed that microwaving food alters its properties enough to bring about ”structural, functional and immunological changes” in the body, creating known toxins to the nervous system, liver and kidneys. In addition, parasites that are often found in raw and undercooked foods, such as meat and fish, are not always destroyed through microwaving.
Although we could say that all cooking changes the properties of food to some extent, the high temperatures reached in microwave cooking from EMFs (electromagnetic forces) cause harmful rather than beneficial changes in food molecules, especially in protein foods because of their complex molecular structure. Whenever food is treated chemically, whether it be through the use of pesticides before we ingest it, or through our cooking methods, it plays a role in negatively influencing our vital qi.
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