Almost everyone usually uses a microwave just to heat up something quickly, and not have to wait for the stove, or oven to warm. The microwave is just  a lot faster, and for us college students, the microwave can be our best friend. So here is the question…. should you be really using the microwave?

By definition a microwave is ” an electromagnetic wave of extremely high frequency “. (Dictionary.com). Basically a microwave is a usual household item used to cook, defrost, and recook foods, or to heat up some kind of drink. Some of the things we commonly think to put in microwaves are, popcorn, TV dinners, soups,  left over restaurant foods, etc.  So before the microwave was invented what did people use to heat up and cook their food?? Well that’s easy, they all used stoves, and ovens.

Whats a stove oven?

By definition a stove oven is ” a chamber or compartment, as in a stove, for baking, roasting, heating, drying etc.”(dictionary.com). So basically a stove oven is used for cooking, heating, and baking, kind of just like the microwave. Some of the only differences between a microwave, and a stove oven is that the stove oven is bigger, it may take longer to cook depending on the food, and where the heat source from the microwave, and stove oven is coming from. That’s the big difference. So where does the heat source come from in these microwaves, and these stove ovens?

For microwaves to heat food the microwave contains a magnetron. A magnetron is basically the source of the microwaves radiation, and the heat source. This magnetron gets the microwave to be at the right frequency so the can be heated directly.(darylscience).

There are two types of stove ovens, gas and electrical. With gas ovens the heat comes from the gas fueled burners that are inside of them, and with electric stove ovens the heat comes from the electric coils, and the electrical energy becomes heat energy for the food basically.

A lot of people I know today actually prefer to use a stove oven over a microwave. But why is that? A lot times I hear that “the radiation that the microwave produces is bad for you”. So what does this mean? Whats so harmful about a microwave?

Microwaves use electromagnetic energy to heat the food.  Microwave radiation is also what heats up the foods. When your are  exposed to  the high levels of this, this can cause cataracts because the lens of our eyes are very sensitive. This why you shouldn’t stare at the microwave.

According to medical daily.com a microwave can ” zap the nutritional value of your food and health leaving you susceptible to develop health complications due to continuous microwave use”.(medicaldaily.com) So how do microwaves do this? The water molecules that are inside of the microwave rotate all around the microwave, and inside of the food. When this happens the molecules that are inside the food change which lead to the nutrients inside of the foods to change as well.(medicaldaily).  When heating food in  the microwave when it is wrapped in plastic , or in plastic containers  this can release carcinogens into the food. Carcinogens are basically a substance that can cause cancer.  These carcinogens can be found in the plastic or the plastic containers that the food is in, and can get into the food which will get into your body, that then can release possible toxins that are harmful to the body.

It is also said that microwaves can change the make up of a persons blood. A Swiss clinical study reports that there were blood changes in the people who participated after eating milk and vegetables that were heated in the microwave.  In the study their were 8 people who ate and drank milk and vegetables that were heated in the microwave. The study showed that” the red blood cells decreased while the white cell levels increased as well as the cholesterol levels, and the conclusion was that the non-ionizing radiation of the microwave can affect changes in your blood and your heart rate”. (medicaldaily.)

When it came to the Swiss study I think there could possibly  be other reasons  (third variables) that could be the reason for the change in blood. Also I don’t think this can be truly a conclusion about microwaves because there were only two types of foods used. Maybe depending on the food the change in blood could occur. Or this conclusion can even just be due to chance. I our day in age, when it came to cooking our own food, we usually jump right to the microwave. I use the microwave all of the time, and I am a pretty healthy person. I would say that maybe its always good to change up and use the good ole fashioned stove oven once in awhile. To answer the overall question, in my opinion I think its ok to use microwaves. Its like the same thing with almost anything, there are usually risks that come with it.

What do you guys prefer microwaves or ovens?

Sources:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stove-versus-microwave-energy-use/

https://alintaenergy.com.au/savewithgas/blog/oven/how-does-a-gas-oven-work

http://www.darylscience.com/Demos/MicrowaveOven.html

http://applianceassistant.com/Range-Stove-Repair/How-Electric-Ovens-Work.php

http://www.medicaldaily.com/microwaves-are-bad-you-5-reasons-why-microwave-oven-cooking-harming-your-health-250145

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/waves/magnetron.html

http://www.fda.gov/radiation-emittingproducts/resourcesforyouradiationemittingproducts/ucm252762.htm#About_Microwaves