New videos show that contrary to popular belief, microwaving food is actually one of the best ways to make sure that it retains its vitamins and minerals. Frozen vegetables are also proven to be better heated than fresh.
The American Chemical Society posted two new videos to de-bunk these common food myths.
The first myth is that cooking food with microwave appliances somehow makes food less healthy by zapping away nutrients from the food.
It was explained that the radiation in microwaves is not radioactive, but an energy radiating from a source, and it's "way, way below any dangerous limit."
It was also added that "There has never been any research to show that microwave ovens cause any long-term damage to people. They have been designed to quickly affect water molecules - and even if they can affect other things in your food - they're not on long enough to do so."
Registered dietician and certified food scientist Catherine Adams Hutt said that, "Whenever you cook food, you'll have some loss of nutrients, the best cooking method for retaining nutrients is one that cooks quickly, exposes food to heat for the smallest amount of time and uses only a minimal amount of liquid."
If you steam or boil your vegetables, you will lose a lot of nutrients in the process.
Adding a small amount of water and putting them in the microwave however is a much healthier alternative as doing so essentially steams food from the inside out, keeping more vitamins and minerals intact.
Another myth is that frozen vegetables have less nutrients in them.
The video explained that "When vegetables are chosen for freezing, they are picked at the peak of their ripeness - which also means at the peak of their nutritional value."
Although eating raw food is ideal, most people will not be able to really go on a completely raw food diet because of access to raw, organic food and financial constraints.
With an alarming rate of health issues that children to senior citizens experience, people are trying to become more aware of what they put inside their bodies. The mantra, "You are what you eat" still rings very true.
