I did some research because things like this bug me. Microwaves are part of the electromagnetic spectrum that's all around us all the time. Microwave ovens were invented in 1945. Not that it's important, but I feel better! I use my microwave for reheating leftovers, heating water, making popcorn, that sort of thing.
I also did research on norgeskog's post about the raw veggies being more nutritious due to nutrient loss that occurs because of cooking. I offer this excerpt as a springboard for discussion.
Don Matesz, MA, CH, CNC
Outline of a Produce-Dominated Diet and Why We Need to Cook Vegetables
What about cooking? Westerners commonly believe raw vegetables are more nutritious than cooked, but Chinese nutrition has long stated the opposite. Who's right?
All of the nutrients in vegetables are locked inside cells composed of fibers. These cells are not opened by chewing, no matter how vigorous, and unlike apes and other herbivores, humans have no enzymes or special gut chambers (e.g., multiple stomachs, enlarged colons) with resident symbiotic protozoa or bacteria for digesting fibers. Consequently, we really can't access the nutrients in raw plant food.
Cooking explodes plant cells, releasing their nutrients. Even though cooking may destroy some nutrients, studies have shown that we absorb more total nutrients from cooked vegetables. We absorb only 1 percent of carotene from raw carrots, but 5 percent to 19 percent from cooked carrots. The softer the texture, the better the absorption. (Similar considerations apply to meat.)
