Last night a friend mentioned an article she’d come across. It told of an experiment in which potted plants were watered with either a) microwaved, cooled water or b) kettle-boiled, cooled water. Apparently, the plants watered with microwaved water died.
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This experiment is easy to replicate. Here I go!
I plan to see if microwaving water has any affect on:
1) cut flowers
2) cuttings from a plant that can grow roots in water
3) potted plants.
Note: If the plants watered with microwaved water do indeed die more quickly, that doesn’t prove that microwaving food is harmful. On the other hand, it sure will make me think twice before nuking food.
Experiment starts tomorrow!
This post was shared with the Healthy Home Economist, Butter Believer, Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Real Food Freaks, Food Renegade, Gnowfglins, and The Nourishing Gourmet..
This post was shared with the Healthy Home Economist, Butter Believer, Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Real Food Freaks, Food Renegade, Gnowfglins, and The Nourishing Gourmet..
14 comments:
I recently got rid of my microwave- can't wait to hear your results!
The only thing I ever use the microwave for is nuking my water. OOPs, guess I need to stop being lazy and get that pan out.
Hang on, Jen. Let's see what the results will be. I really have no idea, but I am certainly curious!
It will be interesting to see what you discover about this. The thing about water, H2O (hmmm... can't drop the 2!) is that those molecules themselves are not going to change. What changes in water is the other things that tag along. For instance, we know that drinking distilled water is a BAD idea. Some call it "hungry" water, as it will actually leach calcium and other things from your bones.
I wonder, then, if microwaves can affect the "other things?" Obviously, it's not going to affect the water molecules themselves, or they would cease to be water.
In your spare time, with your extra energy (yeah, right...) I suggest the following.... nuke some tap water to use for your plants and things. Set up another identical experiment using nuked distilled water and see if there is any difference. Plants DO love distilled water. In fact, some tap waters can be very bad for plants.
Sigh... here is my only slightly scientific mind going wild....
While you're at it, if you have a Berkey water purifier (or if you know someone that does) nuke some of THAT water too. The Berkey takes out all the weird stuff, but leaves in the minerals.
I'm tired, just thinking about it!
My husband and I have discussed this issue ad nauseum. I've looked online at article after article and the thing that troubles me is that those who write long articles about the "dangers" of eating microwaved foods always have at least SOME information in there that I know to be false, and it seems they are trying to sell me on a hoax.
However, I would REALLY like to know. I do know that you can absolutely ruin food in the microwave if you are not careful. But that does not necessarily mean it renders the food unsafe to eat.
Fortunately for me, I don't use the microwave very much, but when at the last minute my DH asks for a baked potato.... well, then I nuke it.
Looking forward to the results of your experiment. :)
p.s. Be careful. Water heating in the microwave will not always appear to boil. So, it can sort of "explode" if you stir it or something. Please let it cool off before removing it from machine.
"with your extra time..."
like your sense of humor!
I'm less interested in seeing what happens with distilled water simply because people don't drink distilled water anyway.
I'll write about it in my next post, but I'm using filtered water. Thanks for the reminder about hot microwaved water!
I do have faith in the scientific method, but I don't think science is always (isn't usually) able to come up with definitive answers when it comes to food choices. If you took a large experimental group and fed them food that had been microwaved, the fed the same food to a large control group - and did this for 20 years - you'd have your definitive answer.
This clearly ain't gonna happen.
the microwave is terrible. if you search the net for info you will find plenty. i found one group of scientists who believe that Water is not technically Water after it is microwaved as its molecular structure is changed. there is no doubt that microwaved food is harmful for your health. the tests and experiments have been done.
I gave up my microwave last year!!
I was really interested in that experiement as well, because I have been hearing that microwaves are bad, but with no proof to that (the one study everyone cites is just that a study everyone cites, there is no copy of the study anywhere to read)
So I did some reading, and read somewhere that the person who did it microwaved the water in a plastic container. now was that a microwave safe plastic container?? no idea.
several other people have done the experiement to see what they would get here is one
http://microwavetest.blogspot.com/
Snopes also did it.
http://www.snopes.com/science/microwave/plants.asp
Connie, thank you so much for sharing those links. I feel better. :)
I don't have any issues with using a microwave...BUT my father and I finally got rid of ours a few years ago. We were only heating up processed junk food in there. We were heating up yucky food in the microwave and never anything healthy. The food tasted good, but always made us feel bad afterwards. So we just threw the microwave away. We have never regretted it. We use a toaster oven instead ;) :) It works great :) Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather :)
I'm super curious to hear your results! This is something that's been on my mind lately. We use ours to reheat leftovers and water, but I've been trying to use it as little as possible lately until I had time (ha!) to really investigate the issue. We're planning to replace our range and microwave next year hopefully to match our other newer appliances and I hate to spend a bunch of money on a new one if I shouldn't be using it...
I traded in my microwave for a toaster oven years ago--the toaster oven took up less counter space than the microwave did (this was before over-stove-mounted ones came out). Besides, I was no longer in a hurry for dinner---I quit working.
Looking around on the web, I learned that a microwave isn't very good for your electric bill, either--it makes the meter spin much faster, and your wiring system has to work harder for those sort blasts of high power.
You ask me, the microwave's what helped bring on the obesity epidemic.
Hi Wenchypoo,
As Heather mentioned, she was using the microwave to heat up processed food - and zo are most people. It just seems to go with the processed food lifestyle, so there is that incidental connection to the obesity epidemic.
On the other hand, you can use it to warm up homemade leftovers.
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