Remember when defrost meant all day on the counter? Or when popcorn was only made on the stove? How about reheating actually included having to find a clean pan? Food preparation has significantly changed in the past thirty years, and not always for the better. In conjunction with this change, society is setting a pace for us that few can maintain. Work all day, run the kids all night, home maintenance all weekend, and somewhere in the middle we're supposed to find time to plan our meals so we can eat right. It's not always easy to be in the kitchen preparing real food, and so many rely on the quick and easy, which often includes the microwave.
As a rule, it is best to avoid using microwaves to reheat or prepare our food. Ever put bread in the microwave? What happens? It comes out nothing like it went in. It's rubbery in some areas, and gooey in others. Microwaves change the chemical properties of food, which make it less able to be utilized by our bodies. That, however, is not really the worst part of microwave use. The most dangerous aspect of microwaves is when we put food into plastic containers and then heat it. Simply put, any form of plastic in a microwave is deadly.
Most everyone realizes that plastic isn't meant to be eaten, but rarely do we really contemplate what happens when we heat plastic next to food. Plastic is a petroleum product, so it is fat soluble, and when it is warmed, it softens. When we use plastic containers in the microwave, some of the plastic will invariably end up leaching into our food. Few would call this a good thing, but it seems even fewer really understand the consequences of plastic in our bodies. Petroleum products in general, and plastics specifically, are hormone disruptors. That means that when they enter the body, they mess with the natural cycling and signaling of our hormones.
Hormones play an extremely delicate balancing act in us. Most often, we have several hormones working in harmony to bring normal function in the body. When one hormone is elevated or lowered, it creates abnormal function. In the case of petroleum products and plastics, the hormones that are affected are the estrogens. Plastics in the body act as estrogens. They find the receptors that estrogens bind to, and stimulate them. Unlike estrogens however, which will leave after a short time and move on to be degraded, plastics continue to stimulate that receptor over and over, and are very difficult for the body to eliminate, so will often go on to over-stimulate other receptors as well. This creates significant imbalances in the body, and specifically induces estrogen dominance.
Estrogen dominance creates significant problems, including feminization of males, infertility in both sexes, quicker onset of menarche (first menstrual cycle), increased symptoms of PMS and menopause, and acceleration of many types of cancer. I firmly believe that many of the symptoms that revolve around sex hormones today are at least partly related to the plastics that we have introduced into our diet through the use of plastics in the microwave. Whether it's the cheap throw-away containers, the expensive hard plastic, or the "microwave" safe bags that our frozen veggies are sold in, no plastic is safe to be put in the microwave.
A safer use of the microwave would be putting the food in glass or ceramic containers for reheating. Neither of these can leach into the food, which means you are not picking up unwanted chemicals as you warm things back up. I'm not saying that microwave use is good for our food. We can, however, make it much safer if we keep anything that is petroleum based far away from them.
In our fast paced society, microwaves have become a mainstay, and plastic containers the standard. The combination, however, is a deadly mix of hormone disruption that, until it is stopped, will continue to subvert the health of Americans. You can significantly improve your health and the health of your family by simply avoiding food that is heated in any plastic container. In my opinion, there is no such thing as "microwave safe" plastic.
Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter.
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