Used to think microwaving food destroyed all the nutrients

Back in 2018 I was dead set that microwaves zapped every vitamin out of your food. My roommate Tim would nuke his leftovers and I'd lecture him about it for 10 minutes straight. Turns out I was completely wrong after my nutrition class showed microwaving actually preserves more nutrients than boiling or frying. Anyone else have a health myth they clung to way too long?

3 comments

3 Comments

danielmason12d ago

Oh man I read this thing from a food science blog a while back that blew my mind. It said microwaves actually cook food faster with less heat exposure so more vitamins stay put. I used to think the whole radiation thing was scary but then I learned microwaves just make water molecules vibrate. Kind of embarrassing how long I believed that old wives tale honestly.

margaret_jackson7312d ago

@danielmason exactly, the whole radiation scare is overblown. What nobody talks about though is how the container matters way more than the cooking method itself. Like my roommate still uses those old plastic takeout containers and I'm pretty sure the real risk is chemicals leaching into the food, not the microwave killing nutrients. @danielmason your food science blog probably covered that too but nobody ever mentions it when they freak out about microwaves.

hill.andrew11d ago

Yeah the whole microwave thing is wild when you think about it. I've got a buddy who still reheats everything in margarine tubs from the 90s and I keep telling him that plastic is basically melting into his chili at that point. The microwave itself is probably fine but the container game is where people mess up.