More on Microwaves

[Guest guest]

I thought I would pass this along,

Misty

http://www..com

 

 

Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

 

February 12, 2003

 

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Dear Reader,

 

To microwave, or not to microwave?

 

That was the question in an e-Alert I sent you last month

( " Micro Management " 1/27/03) about the effects of microwave

cooking on the nutrients in foods. A megawave of e-mail

responses followed with questions and some additional

information. So inasmuch as this subject is clearly a concern

to so many, I'll take a further look at the subject. But I'll

tell you right now - the news doesn't get any better. If

anything, it gets a little worse.

 

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Back in the U.S.S.R.

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An HSI member named Mykola says that the January e-

Alert " raises more questions than it answers. " Regarding the

U.S.S.R. ban on microwaves in 1976, she wonders if the ban

has been lifted. And then there was the Swiss study that was

deemed to be so damaging to microwave manufacturers that the

Swiss Federal Court found the researchers guilty

of " interfering with commerce " and fined them the equivalent

of $65,000. Mykola wants to know why the legal action was so

successful against the study. She asks, " Was the study

flawed? I would sure like to know before I give up my

microwave. "

 

I'll start with the easy question: The Soviet ban on

microwaves was lifted in the late 1980's with the fall of

Communism. This reversal was prompted by the rapid political

changes of perestroika - not as a result of any new evidence

that found microwaves to be safe. Previous to the 1976 ban,

Russian researchers concluded that microwave cooking might

create cancer-causing agents in food while causing a

degeneration of some essential nutrients.

 

The Swiss study found similar discouraging evidence about

microwaved food, but instead of seeing their research greeted

as a breakthrough, the scientists who conducted the study

were sued by the Swiss Association of Dealers for

Electroapparatuses for Households and Industry (SADEHI). As I

mentioned, this suit resulted in a stiff fine for the lead

researcher, Hans Hertel. But according to some detailed

information sent to me by an HSI member named Doug, SADEHI

apparently had a very powerful and unfair influence over the

Swiss court. This was later recognized when the Swiss

decision was reversed by the European Court of Human Rights.

 

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Blood revelations

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To answer Mykola's specific question about the validity of

the Swiss study: Hertel's research does not appear to be

flawed at all. If anything it was far more controlled than

most studies. Hertel enlisted eight subjects, who were all in

their 20's and 30's. Each of them (including Hertel, who was

the ninth subject) followed strict macrobiotic diets. In

order to control as many variables as possible, the group

lived in the same hotel for a period of eight weeks, and all

abstained from smoking, alcohol, and sex.

 

In intervals of two to five days, the subjects ate specific

foods on an empty stomach. For instance, on one day they

would eat organic vegetables cooked conventionally; on

another day they would eat organic vegetables from the same

source that had been frozen and then defrosted in a microwave

oven; and on another day they would eat organic vegetables

cooked in a microwave oven. Immediately before and after each

of these meals, blood samples were taken from the subjects.

 

At the end of the eight-week testing period, Hertel's

analysis of the blood samples revealed significant

conclusions: blood hemoglobin levels decreased significantly

after ingesting microwaved foods (both total levels and the

amount contained in each red blood cell); white blood cell

levels tended to increase for no other reason than foods were

microwaved; microwaves altered protein molecules; and LDL

cholesterol increased relative to HDL cholesterol.

 

Hertel found that as the study progressed the blood samples

revealed anemic tendencies. That trend became increasingly

more pronounced toward the end of the study.

 

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Cold comfort

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In the January e-Alert, HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., told

us about another microwave study that showed depletion of

antibodies and the breakdown of enzymes when breast milk was

microwaved. This is an important point for those using

bottles with breast milk. It certainly must be tempting to

take a shortcut when heating up a bottle for a midnight

feeding, but it should be avoided. Microwaving destroys some

of the critical disease fighting capabilities in human milk,

eliminating a key reason people choose breast milk over

formula. Plus, as with food, it creates unpredictable cold

spots and hot spots. Microwaved milk that feels warm when

tested, may contain hot spots that can burn a baby's mouth.

 

Perhaps the only small piece of good news in this microwave

discussion comes from an HSI member named Mike, who says that

while he recognizes the dangers of microwave cooking, he

disagrees with the idea that low levels of radiation can

escape from the ovens. Mike writes: " I used to repair

microwave ovens, so I'm familiar with their construction and

how they work. The microwaves produced by ovens are the size

of a pencil lead and dissipate very quickly. There are three

interlocking switches activated by closing the microwave

door. If even one of these switches fails to work, the oven

will not turn on. With a properly operating oven, the door

cannot be opened far enough to allow a wave as large as a

pencil lead to escape. "

 

Mike's reassurance is welcome. But it's somewhat cold comfort

in light of the existing studies on microwave cooking.

Because even if microwaves can't escape the oven, once the

food has been altered by microwaves and consumed, we can't

escape the old adage: You are what you eat.

 

To Your Good Health,

 

Jenny Thompson

Health Sciences Institute

 

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Sources:

" The Hidden Hazards of Microwave Cooking " Acres USA, April,

1994

" Court Removes Gag Order from Swiss Scientist on Microwaved

Food " Leading Edge International

" Russians Ban Microwave Ovens " Stephanie Relfe, Health,

Wealth & Happiness

 

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