Microwaved food

Curlypinkie

Now I'm not talking about ready-meals.

I went in to an Organic shop the other day to buy ground Quinoa for porridge. I asked the lady behind the counter if it's ok to put it into the microwave to cook it and she got this really shocked/frightened/disgusted face on her.
"oh no, you can't use the microwave, it takes out all the vitamins and nutrients out of food!!!"

So I'm here thinking, I always nuke stuff. Don't like fruit cold for example and being a single household I put my fruit in the fridge so it doesn't go bad, then put it in the microwave for a few seconds to get it back to room temperature. Am I doing a double booboo then? Coz I've heard fruit in fridge=not good either.

Help.

Mellor

Curlypinkie wrote: »

"oh no, you can't use the microwave, it takes out all the vitamins and nutrients out of food!!!"

She is probably over-reacting. I'd say she would say that if I did or didn't, are I doubt she researched it.
for reference, boiling also removes the nutrients from food (such as veg), but I doubt she'd tell you that.

I microwave oats the whole time, thats about it and I'm not about to stop.

rubadub

There are loads of myths surrounding microwaves, think mythbusters had a whole episode on it!

I like asking people to explain themselves, leading them on as though I believe them. e.g. if she said "oh no, you can't use the microwave, it takes out all the vitamins and nutrients out of food!!!"

I would say, "OMG, so you mean the nutrients in 1kg of frozen brocolli could be destroyed in 5 seconds in a microwave on defrost??!??"

And then hopefully they cop on to the BS they are spouting. I am sure if you overcook food to the point of drying out or burning nutrients are lost, and that does not just go for microwaves. So if I wanted to make a study showing they are "bad" I am sure I could, you really have to know all the info behind these statements to understand what they really mean.

If microwaving porridge I leave it to soak overnight in the fridge as it seems to cook better.

r3nu4l

OK, here's an abstract from a paper describing the effect of boiling, pressure cooking, microwaving, grilling and frying on antioxidants in vegetables.

Journal of Food Science manuscript wrote:

According to the method of analysis chosen, griddling, microwave cooking, and baking alternately produce the lowest losses, while pressure-cooking and boiling lead to the greatest losses; frying occupies an intermediate position. In short, water is not the cook's best friend when it comes to preparing vegetables.

I'll look for links on vitamin and mineral content later

Harvard Health Letters to the rescue

Microwave cooking and nutrition

Some nutrients do break down when they’re exposed to heat, whether it is from a microwave or a regular oven. Vitamin C is perhaps the clearest example. So, as a general proposition, cooking with a microwave probably does a better job of preserving the nutrient content of foods because the cooking times are shorter.

As far as vegetables go, it’s cooking them in water that robs them of some of their nutritional value because the nutrients leach out into the cooking water. For example, boiled broccoli loses glucosinolate, the sulfur-containing compound that may give the vegetable its cancer-fighting properties as well as the taste that many find distinctive and some, disgusting. The nutrient-rich water from boiled vegetables can be salvaged and incorporated into sauces or soups.

Is steaming vegetables better? In some respects, yes. For example, steamed broccoli holds on to more glucosinolate than boiled or fried broccoli.

Editorial

How you cook your vegetables may make a big difference in how much nutrition you get from them. And you might be surprised to learn that using a microwave may help retain the vitamins, minerals, and other compounds that make vegetables such a health boon to begin with. This issue of HEALTHbeat explains how microwave cooking affects the nutrient content of food and also gives tips for healthier microwave cooking.

More on microwaves and nutrient loss

The results show a general decrease in the levels of all the studied compounds except for mineral nutrients which were stable under all cooking conditions. Vitamin C showed the greatest losses mainly because of degradation and leaching, whereas losses for phenolic compounds and glucosinolates were mainly due to leaching into water. In general, the longest microwave cooking time and the higher volume of cooking water should be avoided to minimize losses of nutrients.

Microwave cooking review

Critical Reviews in Food Science Nutrition wrote:

Microwave cooking has gained considerable importance as an energy-saving, convenient, and time-saving cooking method. This article reviews the state of the art of microwave cooking and the existing publishing data on the effects of microwave cooking on nutritive values of moisture, protein, carbohydrate, lipid, minerals, and vitamins. Most reports indicated that microwave cooking resulted in higher moisture losses compared with conventional methods. Overall, the nutritional effects of microwaves on protein, lipid, and minerals appear minimal. There is no report on the effects of microwaves on carbohydrate fraction in foods. A large amount of data is available on the effects of microwaves on vitamins. It is concluded that there are only slight differences between microwave and conventional cooking on vitamin retention in foods. In conclusion, no significant nutritional differences exist between foods prepared by conventional and microwave methods. Any differences reported in the literature are minimal.

So, in short, what you were told is nothing more than the usual fear-mongering rubbish that you get from many proponents of 'organic', 'natural', 'anything different must be bad' brigade. If they don't understand it then it must be evil and probably kills babies as well :rolleyes:

I would suggest you follow the links, print out the materials, go back and educate her but if there's one thing I've learned about these supposedly enlightened zealots, it's that no amount of properly conducted research or hard evidence can convince them they are wrong, whereas some sloppy home-made experiment published on a dodgy website that supports their view, only hardens their belief.

Brick walls would be easier to convince.

Curlypinkie

Thanks a mill guys, I thought so too, remember watching a program where they conducted scientific experiments on cooking broccoli and pretty much what r3nu4l said was mentioned.
But I'm into this organic/ helthy shyte so got a bit scared for a moment.

Wishbone Ash

I've been eating microwaved food for 20 years (I can't/won't cook) and it hasn't done my health any harm yet.

rubadub

Great links there!
I had heard about steaming being better than boiling since it is not rinsing stuff away. Pressure cooking shortens the steaming time too - and as mentioned above you can save the water, even the steaming water for making soups or sauces.

And just on the topic of micowaves, a post I made a while back

rubadub wrote: »

Substances have different "loss factors", basically their ability to absorb microwaves. Also stuff at different temperatures has different loss factors.

Water absorbs microwaves very well, ice does not! If you put a frozen glass of water and normal glass of water in the microwave it will get hot while the ice glass is barely effected. Once a little drop of water does defrost then the microwaves start piling into it. It heats up really quick and its own heat defrosts the frozen bits around it (rather than the microwaves, it just conducts heat). This defrosted spot then absorbs microwaves again and you end up with a little heat spot, it is like putting a tiny bit of water in a kettle, all the power goes into it and it heats really fast.

So if you microwave a frozen burger you can see brown cooked bits, that can dry out they are cooked so much, while the rest is frozen. Happens with all meat but with burgers you notice the colour a lot more. The first places to go are usually where you touched the item, your fingers defrosting it slightly.

Solution?- simple! just rinse your item under a warm tap before microwaving. It is now coated in a layer of water which will absorb the microwaves and inturn defrost the rest by conduction, once defrosted it absorbs microwaves well. Just keep stirring stuff like stew so it all melts evenly enough.

r3nu4l

Curlypinkie wrote: »

But I'm into this organic/ helthy shyte so got a bit scared for a moment.

There's nothing wrong with organic, I grow my own fruit and veg organically in small plots for my own plate However, don't believe all the hype about extra health benefits, research shows that there is very little, if any benefit and that there is NO evidence to show a clinical benefit to eating organic veg over regular veg.

Proceedings of the Nutrition Society Review article abstract

Consumer concern regarding possible adverse health effects of foods produced using intensive farming methods has led to considerable interest in the health benefits of organically-produced crops and animal products. There appears to be widespread perception amongst consumers that such methods result in foods of higher nutritional quality. The present review concludes that evidence that can support or refute such perception is not available in the scientific literature...Very few compositional differences have been reported, although there are reasonably consistent findings for higher nitrate and lower vitamin C contents of conventionally-produced vegetables, particularly leafy vegetables. Data concerning possible impacts on animal and human health of diets comprising organic or conventional produce are extremely sparse. Data from controlled studies in animal models, particularly within single species, are limited or poorly designed, and findings from these studies provide conflicting conclusions. There are no reports in the literature of controlled intervention studies in human subjects. Comparison of health outcomes in populations that habitually consume organically- or conventionally-produced foods are flawed by the large number of confounding factors that might contribute to any differences reported. If consumer perceptions regarding potential health benefits of organic foods are to be supported, more research of better quality is needed than that which is currently available.

Regarding higher Vitamin C content: The body can only take in so much Vitamin C during the day before excreting the rest, so a large glass of pure orange juice will give you all the Vit C you can take and eating any more provides zero benefit. So unless you are extremely deficient in Vitamin C, a higher content in organic veg means nothing.

It may be better for the planet but it's not going to make you any healthier unless you have serious allergies to pesticides, in which case simple avoidance is always the answer.

Also, wash organic veg thoroughly always, pesticides are not the only thing to wash off fruit and veg, bacteria and fungal spores should be removed too.

Worztron

How long should someone wait before eating food cooked in microwave? Example: I like to put a bowl of porridge with milk in the microwave in the morning. I let it on for approx. 3 minutes. How many minutes should it be left to stand for before eating?