When microwave ovens first came on the scene there were some early skeptics on the safety of the machines, but the convenience and ease of use for the busy person soon left the skeptics behind. We have become so used to using these machines on a daily basis to warm up our food that it is almost inconceivable to go back to the older and longer method of using our oven and stove. But the truth is, that is exactly what you should be doing. Here's why!

Two of the leading food scientists, Dr Hertel, a retired Swiss food scientist, and University Professor Blanc, teamed up with the University Institute of Biochemistry and the Swiss Federal Institute of Biochemistry to study the effects of microwaving. They did this by taking blood samples of all the subjects directly after eating micro-waved foods. Astoundingly, they found that each person's hemoglobin decreased. (Hemoglobin is an iron containing protein in the blood that transports oxygen through out the body. Hemoglobin is produced in the bone marrow. Low hemoglobin can cause anemia, which is an iron deficiency, and can cause a deficiency in folic acid, B6, B 12. Fatigue soon sets in and pallor of the skin, and one can experience shortness of breath and even fainting spells.)

Further more, they found that the body's leucocytes increases. This is a recipe for ill health. The word leucocyte comes from the Greek word leukos- meaning white and kytos- meaning cell. These are white blood cells and they help defend the immune system against foreign and infectious material. They are also produced in the bone marrow and make up about 1% of the blood in a normal human adult body. Abnormally high levels of leucocytes can create Leukemia.

Hertel and Blanc also discovered that eating microwaved foods increased cholesterol levels. They studied this phenomenon for two months and found each day that progressed, eating foods cooked this way, produced an increase in harmful effects.

Hertel and Blanc's findings became very unpopular with big corporation and in the end they were challenged. Blanc did not want to take up the fight but Hertel chose to pursue it. Unbelievably, Hertel received a gag order from the Swiss courts in 1993 and was told "he was interfering with commerce" and consequently was not allowed to publish his results. Then in 1998 Hertel was exonerated by the European Court of Human Rights who stated that "Hertel's gag order was contrary to his right to freedom of expression". We still have microwave ovens in almost every home in North America.

Russian scientists studied the effects of micro-waves on thousands of people and consequently completely banned the use of micro-wave ovens in 1976. Unfortunately commerce won and the use of these ovens were reinstated.

To understand the negative effects of microwave ovens you need to know how it works. Basically the oven uses electromagnetic energy. A polarity of positive to negative vibrates millions of times per second. It is this vibration that creates the thermal effect, heat. The problem is that it is so violent that when these waves hit a molecule, especially water, that it completely tears it apart or deeply deforms the molecule. This can result in a 60 to 90% reduction of not only the nutritive value of foods, but that it alters the structural make up of the foods. In a summary from Russian food scientists, The Atlantis Raising Educational Center in Portland, Oregon, had this to say:

- Carcinogenic compounds were formed in virtually all foods tested under normal cooking conditions.
- And the nutritional value was altered in almost All foods.

Microwaving your foods may be convenient but at what price? Is your health at risk? Do more research and decide for your self.