Micro wave dangers ?

[looneybin]

Originally Posted by cashflyer

Since a microwave only excites the water molecules, then your food is effectively cooked by steam?

the easy answer is - yes

[914GT]

There have been studies that show that grilling and barbecuing food create various cancer-causing compounds, so that would be a much greater health risk than the effect of microwave radiation on food. Microwaves at 2450 MHz cause heating by friction when energy is absorbed by various molecules, not just water. Cooking oil and fats can be heated up in a microwave also. I don't think there's anything magic about 2450 MHz, it just happens to be in the ISM band where's it's OK to generate high RF levels without interfering with communications (well, before WiFi and cordless phones anyway).

[looneybin]

Do they interfere with pacemakers? i see the signs in restaurant windows that warn people with a pacemaker that a microwave is in use, but then again i live in a nanny state that also warns you that drinking gasoline is bad for you.

[914GT]

I cannot see a microwave oven interfere with a pacemaker unless the oven had a defective door seal causing to leak a lot of RF, and/or the pacemaker having some kind of wiring exiting the body. Otherwise the pacemaker, being deeply buried inside the body, is well protected from the microwave energy.

A follow-on comment .... I'd be more concerned with mobile phones or hand-held radios/transmitters and their interference potential to pacemakers. These can generate a few volts/meter field levels close to the body at frequencies that the human body does not shield well against. People worry about microwave ovens but don't hesitate to put an intentional radio transmitter right next to their brain.

[RWebb]

what you have heard is speculation - and not too well founded

I've even heard people try to claim that the Uwaves excite molecules with a bias to translational vs. vibrational motion - you can go look those up if not clear from your chemistry courses.

A good place to look would be Cons. Reports - it would be in old issues. No one seriously questins this now AFAIK.

uwave cooking is less dangerous than BBQ or any fry technique that creates black or brown colored parts of the food or sauce. These yummy cooking techniques DO create nitrosamines, polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other things that are NOT good for you - carcinogenic, toxic etc.

As Bruce Ames has pointed out repeatedly however, the body has a series of mechanisms to deal with these toxins. Of course, just cuz you can recover from something does not mean you chould challenge your body with it over and over again.

Generally speaking, you should cut the BBQ down or out if you are a child, are pregnant or working on it. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much but would avoid too much black on the food.

I wouldn't worry about the uwave effects on food AT ALL.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

OK ,You guys are not paying attn. Pazuzu is the only person understanding the Q.
If you DO NOT know the issue I am addressing here on the Borg please refrain..
If You do not any thing about this please feel free to tell the world.
If You do a little research on this there is a camp that states the food M.W. is not a good thing.
There is always some one with their agenda...just the facts please

If you put a hot pocket in a microwave and then ate it, that would be bad for your health.

Many people have already correctly stated in this thread that no, microwaves do not harm the food or make it unhealthy. They simply excite the water molecules in the food causing them to vibrate and generate heat (steam).

Are you holding out for a different answer?

[Hugh R]

Microwaves retain more of the vitamins and such than boiling your veggies which washes the stuff into the water.

[onlycafe]

i have one particular customer that will not allow me to use the microwave to heat her food.
i told her that i put a crystal in the oven and that it neutralizes the bad waves. she likes that.

[dad911]

Sounds like a good topic for Penn & Teller.....

[aigel]

All I have read is pseudo scientific stuff coming from the homeopathic and naturopath crowd. They claim the molecules get screwed up by the radiation, then upsetting your body. The microwave scare is as old as the microwave ovens. Did you know when electric ovens came on the market, there were people that claimed their roasts tasted "electric"? When trains were introduced, there were people that believed the speed would make you ill. This never ends - people fear new things.

Think of this - if microwaves were detrimental to your health, life expectancy in the US would have seriously declined in the 70s and 80s when microwaves were introduced to practically every household in the nation.

Cheers,

George

[red-beard]

I read recently that one of the reasons that humans suddenly became "smart" about 300K years ago, is that they discovered cooked food. Cooking food allows humans to better absorb the nutrician an calories. in addition the malliard reactions (cooking where stuff turns brown) makes the food taste better.

The cancer scare about grilled food is also a pile of rubbish. The amounts of cancer causing agents produce is tiny. All poisons need a dosage and an exposure time. Our bodies are designed to "clean up" the small amounts of garbage, since a lot of those things occur naturally.

As has been stated above, the only thing dangerous about a microwave oven is if it is leaking. The food cooked in one is basically steamed and would be no different than if steamed.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by looneybin

but then again i live in a nanny state that also warns you that drinking gasoline is bad for you.

Wha... You mean I can't relax after a hard days work with a frosty mug of gasoline anymore?

OH YOU CRUEL WORLD!

[Dantilla]

I heard a long (laughable) explanation of the dangers recently on the radio.

The short story is this:

A microwave is bad because it creates movement among molecules, and that is terrible.

Umm.......... I think we call that "heat". Temprature is our method of measuring molecular movement. A regular oven excites molecular movement. If it doesn't, your food is still cold.

If your burrito's molecules are not moving, it's at zero degrees Kelvin.

The guy on the radio was so animated about the extreme dangers of microwaves, and had absolutely no basis in facts. It was as silly as Penn & Teller's decrying of Di-hydrogen-monoxide, except this guy was serious. How he got on the radio, I'll never know.

Burritos are better when their molecules are excited. Toater oven, convection oven, microwave oven, campfire, whatever it takes to create molecular movement.

[DARISC]

Until the controversy is resolved, I'm taking no chances with microwaves. I'm planning on expanding my kitchen to 12,000 sq. feet (I'm still researching whether or not that will be big enough) and installing a macrowave oven.

[looneybin]

Originally Posted by DARISC

Until the controversy is resolved, I'm taking no chances with microwaves. I'm planning on expanding my kitchen to 12,000 sq. feet (I'm still researching whether or not that will be big enough) and installing a macrowave oven.

Thats fine, make sure you put it in a lead lined vault

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

Thought I would take this to the Borg of thought and see who knows what.
Thanx in advance !

Guys, if you are not part of the Borg please don't respond to this thread!

Pic of me and the wife:

[kstar]

I just installed a quantumwave oven; it also has a particle mode.

When I remove my burrito, it's either cooked or still frozen.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

Not exactly, The so called damage they supposedly to to food to be consumed ..

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

OK ,You guys are not paying attn.
If You do not any thing about this please feel free to tell the world.

Who's not paying attention??

[afterburn 549]

Me either............Thanks for all the input evryone !!