Every so often I’d be at a friend’s house and there wouldn’t be a microwave oven in sight. When I asked why, I was never given a complete answer. “We don’t think they are good for us,” was a typical response. I’ve been a pretty frequent user of this appliance. I even bought a cookbook years ago titled, Microwave Meals In Minutes. So if there was something fishy about microwaves, I needed to investigate.

We’ve heard the news about plastics in a microwave oven. The chemical agents within the plastics break down when heated, potentially adding carcinogens to our food. We’ve heard the warnings about heating up baby formula in microwaves, not just because of the plastic bottles holding the formula, but because the formula can become hotter than the bottle. What a parent feels as lukewarm can actually be hot enough to burn the tongue and throat of the baby drinking the formula.

What I didn’t know, and what most parents I’ve talked with didn’t know, is that microwaves break down the molecular structure of food. What does this mean? Well, at one end of the spectrum, it means that our microwaved food loses its nutrients. At the other end, it means that some of our food elements become toxic.

According to Paul Pitchford, author of Healing with Whole Foods, experiments published in a British journal in 1989 showed that microwaves “transform the amino acid L-proline into D-proline, a proven toxin to the nervous system, liver, and kidneys.” Studies like this one done earlier in Russia were enough for that country to ban microwaves in 1976.

So why aren’t we warned about these dangers?

That seems to be the million dollar question these days. Why aren’t we warned about the dangers of the chemicals we use to clean our homes? Those we use on our lawns? The toxins in our food sold to us as high fructose corn syrup and BHT? Seems if we want to know more about this stuff, we have to search for it ourselves.

Thanks to the Internet, there is a great deal of available information on microwave dangers. Choose your source wisely; not all are legitimate. But all seem to be reporting the same information.

Am I changing my microwave habits? Yes. Have I stopped using it altogether? No. I will need an adjustment period. But I use it less, and I have definitely tossed the cookbook!

If I wasn’t such a book nerd, I could probably be asleep before midnight. So when my son came bouncing in at 6 this morning, I felt like I’d been steamrolled at some point in the night.

Whatever I’ve got, it’s definitely trying to kick me in the butt. Feeling kinda achy. Powering up again today with more tea, echinacea, and another vitamin. Mochi pancakes for breakfast with walnuts and a banana, muesli with soy yogurt for lunch (to squeeze in some probiotics), as well as apple and Dr. Cow’s nut cheese with hemp seeds. About to chug a glass of oj with flax oil and grapefruit seed extract.

I’m going to attempt to make pumpkin soup for dinner, which shouldn’t be a problem ’cause the recipe looks super easy.

This virus obviously did NOT know who it was dealing with.

I knew it was coming. It was my fault. For the past three days, I’ve shorted myself on sleep and healthful food choices. So it wasn’t a surprise when I awoke with a cough today.

But it’s okay. Today I’m powering up! This cold virus is in for a fight. I’ve just downed my second cup of herbal tea, and I’m about to throw back another shot of echinacea. (As you can see, I’m putting that one off.) Chased that with a cup of oj with flax seed oil and a multi-vitamin.

Lunch was more collard greens and baked stuffed mushrooms (recipe to come). Snacking on pumpkin seeds. Cut back on workout this morning, but did more stretching, which is apparently good for the lymph nodes.

Washing my hands A LOT and trying my best to keep them away from my face. Sprayed house with a mixture of filtered water and lavender/tea tree oil.

Yes, I’m a nut. But I refuse to be sick!

We’ve heard about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) being linked to obesity. Now it seems there may be another reason to keep the stuff out of your family’s meals and snacks.

Studies done independently by a health researcher for the Food and Drug Administration and other labs have shown traces of mercury in samples of HFCS. Seems the process that separates the corn starch from the kernel requires the use of lye. One way lye is created is when large amounts of salt are shot through vats of mercury.

The Corn Refiners Association claims these methods are outdated for most of the facilities where HFCS is processed. Most. So the questions that arise for me include…1. Why are there any facilities still being allowed to use these methods? 2. What about the HFCS that is imported from other countries? 3. How many of our children were affected by the mercury before the methods were changed?

According to Stephanie Childs, spokesperson for ConAgra Foods, large amounts of mercury would have to be consumed in order to be dangerous. But with HFCS being found in so many products, ranging from ketchup to cereal to bread to snacks, large amounts of HFCS are being consumed daily. 1 out of every 10 calories Americans consume, say estimates.

Apparently inorganic and organic mercury are more dangerous than elemental forms, and the lab results did not specify which type of mercury was found in the samples. When it comes to the development of our children, is that something we want to gamble on?

It’s time the Food and Drug Administration take the reigns and do the job it was created to do.

Resources:

“Children of the Corn”, Mother Jones, July and August 2009

“Mercury in High-Fructose Corn Syrup?” WebMD

“Study Finds High-Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury”, Washington Post, January 28, 2009