I’m a dietitian, this is why microwaving food makes some meals more nutritious

A health expert has debunked the myth that microwaves remove nutrients from your food, reporting that in some cases it is even better than steaming or blanching vegetables.

Clinical dietitian Shyla Cadogan from Lifebridge Health clarified that any cooking method – whether frying, boiling or stir-frying – affects the nutrients in food, but microwaves have been shown to preserve them.

Microwaves use the “average oven temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit to cook food and take less time to reheat food than alternative methods that help prevent nutrient loss,” she claims.

People have falsely claimed that the radiation in microwaves destroys the nutrients in food and breaks them down into carcinogens, but Cadogan reported that this is not the case.

The dietitian’s claims are also supported by others in her field.

Dr. Anthony L. Komaroff, MD, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and senior physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, shared similar points.

“Microwave cooking is actually one of the least likely forms of cooking to damage nutrients,” Komaroff wrote. Harvard Health Blog.

“That’s because the longer food cooks, the more nutrients tend to break down, and microwave cooking takes less time.”

Microwaves use non-ionizing radiation, which releases electromagnetic waves that cause molecules in the food to move and generate heat that is transferred through the food.

The process cooks the food from the inside out and while it does cause some enzymatic shifts, Cadogan says this is true of virtually any other cooking method that involves heat.

Meanwhile, the heat used to cook food on a stovetop or in a conventional oven increases the temperature from the outside in, meaning the outside is exposed to increased heat by the time the center reaches the ideal temperature, reducing the loss of nutrients increases.

The more heat applied to the food and the longer it is cooked causes more loss of nutrients, but the amount of liquid such as water also affects its composition as the nutrients leach into it.

Cooking foods such as vegetables has been found to destroy nutrients such as vitamin C.

Cadogan, who shared the information in StudyFinds.comcited a 2017 study that found “higher retention of vitamin C was observed after microwave cooking, with the lowest retention recorded after cooking.”

The study was conducted by a team from China’s Chungbuk National University, who noted that ‘microwave cooking caused the greatest loss of vitamin K in crown daisy and mallow; in contrast, it caused the least loss of vitamin K in spinach and Swiss chard.’

Vegetables that can lose nutrients by cutting too much during cooking and blanching destroy vitamin C

The data also showed that microwaves preserved ingredients such as sodium, potassium and phosphorus levels in certain foods, including sweet potatoes and carrots.

Both vegetables contain antioxidants – mainly beta-carotene which converts to vitamin A, which helps boost your immune system, vision and eye health.

Likewise, microwaves also preserve the antioxidant lycopene in tomatoes, which lowers bad cholesterol and can help prevent heart disease. Very good health.

a 2023 study found that cooking vegetables had the greatest negative effect, causing them to lose between 70 and 82 percent of their flavanoid content. These are compounds found in food that contain antioxidant properties that reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke.

Cooked vegetables also lost a significant amount of minerals such as potassium, magnesium, zinc, copper and manganese, while ‘microwaving was the most effective method of preserving the nutritional value of vegetables.’

The researchers found that microwaved vegetables had the mildest effect on vitamin C, actually retaining 90 percent of the food’s original content.

“In general, studies show that microwaves can help preserve certain minerals and antioxidants,” Cadogan wrote in StudyFinds.

‘In addition, it is important to remember that certain antioxidants, such as those found in carrots, peppers and tomatoes, are ‘unlocked’ by cooking.’