Following is a letter from my viewer on the safety aspects of Microwave cooking together with my reply detailing my views on the subject
Hi Gayatrigaru,
First of all let
me express my bliss over your recipes that are being posted day by day.
I am one of your regular
viewers for your recipes.
Thanks for giving us many useful,
new, delicious, nutritious food recipes.
The main subject that I write this
mail is that I would like to let you know some facts of microwave
cooking, that may be useful for you which I learnt from my Doctor.
Before going to that, I
would like to tell you that I am not going to hurt your feelings of
Microwave Oven feasibility.
I currently reside in United States
and I would like to share my happiness of the thing "
My pregnancy " with you :)
My pregnancy is confirmed recently
and I am strongly opposed by my physician regarding the usage of Microwave.
Of-course, I never used it before
but the doctor herself told me not to eat anything cooked or prepared in
Microwave.
She cautioned me that
it’s not at all good for the growth of fetus. Microwaves are unsafe for
baby's milk.
She also told that they are trying
to educate their patients and clients regarding the biological adverse effects
of Microwave usage.
I came to know many things about
this topic recently. We also know the fact that Soviet Union banned the usage
of Microwave oven in 1976. Of-course microwave ovens are so convenient and
energy efficient to use in our daily purposes.
But I came to know many hidden
hazards of this way of cooking. Also, I don’t wantto list out all of them becoz by doing so.. I
think
I may hurt your personal feelings.
Gayatrigaru, I know how you care for
the nutritious healthy food before making any recipe and presenting it to
the viewers.
The same thing, I thought of telling
you some truths that I heard directly from a very good Doctor here in my
place (New Jersey ).
And I am also happy that in my 7th
month of pregnancy we are planning to go to my home town in India
where I can escape from this Electric Stoves even, as the facts say that they
are also not that much good for the digestive and intestinal organs. Of-course
I have no other way right now except using the electric stove in my apartment.
Gayatrigaru, if by anyway.. mee
abhipraaayaalni vyathirekinchi unte.. I am sorry.
You are an Intellectual and you know
what is right from your point of view.
Of-course I also know that
I should not expect that a simple mail like this will change ones
opinions and self experience. But I can't resist myself from writing a mail.
This is just my opinion. That’s it.
And I also say that I admire
your upcoming recipes as usual and continue to support you forever as I do
always.
If you think that I have written a
bigggg mail.. just feel that I am a wellwisher of yours.
Thank You,
Kiranmayi Duvvuri.
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Dear Kiranmayi,
I’m happy to receive your mail. It’s
more heartening to know that you are an expectant MOTHER. It’s a great moment
and feeling, in one’s life. I congratulate you on the occasion and suggest that
you should lay your hand on the book titled “New Baby Book”, so as to enjoy
each and every stage of pregnancy. With the baby in womb and this book in your hand,
you get a feeling as if you both are suddenly able to communicate with each
other. Treating that you are my daughter, I feel you are carrying the most
precious thing in the universe. Thus you shouldn’t be exposed to any artificial
chemicals, radiation etc. Thus it is good if you are avoiding during pregnancy
- Microwave ovens, cell phones, packaged pre-cooked food with preservatives etc.
As regards microwave ovens, let me
first say, I am not emotional on its issues as I’m its user only - but not its
inventor. I generally adapt (not adopt)
things to my requirement so as to take the best amongst the available.. The
Sanskrit saying tells “Ati Sarvatra Varjayeth”, i.e., excesses should be
avoided everywhere. Having said that, I would like to mention that I use
microwave in the desired fashion and also share the following:
After my marriage, I didn’t have a
micro-wave for 15 years. When my husband became diabetic, on doctor’s advice, there
was a need to cut down on carbohydrates and fats to control his sugar levels.
He was advised to reduce oil intake by 2/3 of what he was consuming. That was
the time when I was also told by the doctor to reduce weight through Life-style change, i.e cutting down on carbohydrates and fats. In right earnest we reduced
oil in all recipes. Such a drastic reduction is bound to make the recipes
bland. Though we reconciled, others in the family, no more liked the food at
home. My child put his foot down. At this juncture, it was nearly impossible to
make three different types of curries
every day one for diabetic, one for weight reduction and another for feeding a growing
child. Just because one or two members
in the family become calorie conscious why others should suffer? Thus the quest
to prepare food without compromising on taste but with less calories began.
Microwave oven together with Gas stove opened the gates of new method of
cooking.
You would have noticed that in most
of my recipes, I use both Gas stove and Microwave. The microwave is used mostly
to sizzling vegetables with little or small quantities of water. Seasoning of
these vegetables is again done on a Gas stove. While seasoning I have
successfully cut the oil quantity to 1/3 of what I used to put earlier. As the
vegetables are sizzled and cooked in Microwave the recipes started coming out
better with the unique taste of each vegetable. They do not become soggy (as
they would be when cooked in a Pressure cooker) or seek more oil when put
directly on to the pan. You may check that, in most of my recipes the microwave
sizzling doesn’t exceed 10-15 minutes.
The ill effects of microwave can be categorized
into 3 types and they are also ranked accordingly
1.
Radiation
2.
Container / vessel related chemical alteration, reaction on the
food
3.
Chemical alteration in the food
stuff
Radiation: It’s a hazard, if the manufacturer
has not adhered to the industry safety standards and the microwave leaks from
the oven. We presume the enforcement agencies are conducting the routine and
mandatory checks before giving licenses/ permissions to ship and market different
models of these microwave products. However
pregnant ladies and people sensitive to radiations need not take the risk
unnecessarily and avoid microwave ovens.
Container
related chemical alteration in food:
It’s a known fact that food reacts with the container in which it is cooked.
Thus I prefer Iron pans to Aluminum pans while cooking on gas stove and have
also put an article on this subject on my website. While the food is cooked in
microwave - Glass, ceramic and plastic ware, is the descending order to specify
the inertness for reaction of the food with different containers. Though
plastics are the most convenient ware for day to day use, only a few plastics
are microwave safe. At times even plastic-ware labeled micro-wave safe, turn
out not to be truthfully labeled. Thus, I use a thumb rule for all microwave
ware i.e when I put the food in a ware and heat in microwave, the food should
get warm, but not the container. Such of the containers only I choose for
cooking. I presume that when the container is neutral to the microwaves, the
food obviously cannot react with it. Plausibly, the underlying reservations
about the inertness of the feeding bottles must be the reason why your doctor
did not subscribe to the idea of giving microwave subjected milk to the child
Chemical
alteration in food due to microwaves:
It’s known fact that raw vegetables contain the best nutritional values. The
moment food reaches fire, alteration takes place – vital components are lost or
are altered. So is the case with microwave also. Ill effects of cooking exist
in all modes of cooking whether it be on Fire, Gas stove, Electric stove or
Microwave. That is one of the reasons why fauna in the jungles which feed on
raw food, do not have neither diseases nor doctors. But we can’t eat raw food,
isn’t it? Thus nutritional losses are
inevitable in all modes of cooking.
We
are yet to have credible outcomes of research categorically denouncing
microwave cooking compared to other cooking modes. We find innumerable sites listing
nutritional losses and alterations that occur in the food cooked in microwave.
It’s true, but it’s equally true for other modes of cooking too, which are
seldom listed. In India, I’m yet to find announcements on this subject by
credible institutions, so must be the case in other parts of the world. I feel
that if cooking is an evil then the different modes be compared and the lesser practically
convenient evil be suggested by the researchers. Plausibly microwave cooking couldn’t
be proved to be the biggest of all the evils as yet, and that is one of the
reasons as to why microwave ovens are not only sold but bought more and more.
Following are the two sites which look to have hosted credibly on this subject.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Microwave_oven
This
entire discussion takes me back 35 years ago when my father first bought CALTEX
gas stove for my mother. Elders at home, refused to take food cooked on this.
For auspicious occasions and srardhaas this stove was turned off because they
genuinely believed that AGNI DEVATA cannot reside in the gas flame which can be
turned on and off instantaneously. Compared to those days, see, what is the
position which a gas stove occupies in our houses today.Dinnosaur didn’t adapt to
change and therefore vanished from earth, whereas Giraffe adapted and survived
Now
the secret of my choosing microwave + Gas stove is to reduce the overall
cooking time so that vital nutrients are lost lesser and at the same time I use
less oil. That’s the adaptation in Gayatrivantillu.
Reverting
back to your issue, I endorse your concerns for which you may avoid microwave
oven at-least till your baby comes on to solid food
Never-the-less
the modern motherly (grandmother to your child) instinct makes me write this
reply almost immediately. I am hosting your letter and my reply under the Title
“Generation Gap on Microwave Cooking?”
God bless you and your family.
Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!
