Eating is great for the emperor! For busy modern people, whether eating microwave food bought from convenience stores or heating leftovers left over from last night, using microwave ovens seems to be an indispensable and important household appliance in life. However, rumors that microwave heating food is harmful to health have repeatedly appeared on websites and offline groups. Is it really bad to heat food with microwaves?
Rumors! Microwave food does not cause cancer.
Before answering this question, we must first understand the heating principle of microwave oven. According to the Safety Guide for the Use of Microwave Ovens issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2065438+06, microwave belongs to non-ionic radiation wave (unlike X-rays, which are ionizing radiation light). Microwave energy is very low and can penetrate many substances, such as glass, paper, ceramics, plastics and so on. The polar molecules (such as water or protein) in food can be concentrated in a short time.
The network circulated: "Microwave ovens will radiate, and eating too much will cause cancer? Chen Shiting, a nutritionist at Corning Hospital, explained that this is a completely wrong concept, and microwave radiation is completely different from cancer-causing radiation. Microwave is a kind of non-ionic radiation wave, which is not enough to destroy the molecular chain or atomic structure of organic matter, and of course it will not be stored in food, so it will not pollute food; The radiation that people are afraid of is carcinogenic, especially the ion radiation waves like X-rays and γ-rays, which will change the structure of atoms, destroy DNA and lead to cancer. This is also the reason why many people suffer from cancer, which may be related to too much X-ray radiation.
Four health hazards of microwave food
Nowadays, many people like to buy frozen microwave food or microwave lunch in convenience stores for convenience. Are these foods harmful to health? Chen Shiting explained that the microwave food seen in the market at present is nothing more than lunch, roasted rice, stewed rice, spaghetti, pot stickers, pizza, salty crispy chicken, fried chicken and other foods. These seasoned foods will have health problems.
1. Too many additives.
In order to make microwave food more delicious and taste more prominent, general manufacturers will add many chemical additives, such as monosodium glutamate, chicken powder and other seasonings; In addition, the saturated fat, sugar and salt in the microwave cooking bag are more than the recommended amount. If you eat them for a long time, you may suffer from the crisis of metabolic syndrome.
2. Unbalanced nutrition
Looking closely at the contents of microwave food, we can find that most kinds of food are classified as fattening staple food, meat and oil. Although there are vegetables in the box lunch, there are very few boxes whose actual weight exceeds 1. Maybe you will say green beans, corn, curry potatoes and so on. But in fact, these plants have high starch content and are listed as staple food from the perspective of nutrition; Therefore, for a long time, diners who mainly eat microwave food may not even eat a fruit and vegetable a day, which is particularly prone to nutritional problems such as constipation and poor color.
3. Risk of dissolution of toxic substances
The process of preparing food by microwave heating is mainly reheating to reach a delicious temperature. If people do not control the microwave time as suggested, the ingredients may overheat and the packaging materials may produce toxic substances. It is suggested to pay attention to the heating temperature and time of the packaging label and whether the material is suitable for microwave before microwave. For example, some foods need to be unpacked before heating. (Suitable for microwave materials: glass, ceramics, polypropylene)
4. Incomplete sterilization
Microwave heating generates heat through the friction of polar molecules in food. If the polar substances in food are unevenly distributed and the heating time is not enough, sterilization may not be complete. It is suggested that food be heated in stages. For example, food needs to be heated for 3 minutes, and it can be heated for 1 minute each time and stirred for 3 times, which will help the food to be heated evenly and avoid producing toxic substances due to heat concentration.
It's healthier to eat microwave food like this.
Chen Shiting said that general microwave food can be roughly divided into three categories: lunch, staple food and snacks. If people buy these microwave foods, how should they mix them to eat healthier? It is suggested that this can be done.
Lunch class
health problem
Microwave lunch boxes in convenience stores usually have the risks of high oil, high salt, high sugar, too much meat and too many processed products, and the amount of vegetables is extremely low, usually not exceeding 1 serving (3 servings are recommended for adults with vegetable amount 1 day).
It's healthier to eat like this.
Please pay attention to the fat of meat and vegetables when eating in the microwave oven. If it looks shiny, it is recommended to eat it with hot water and avoid eating too much oil and salt (because oil will also absorb salt and sugar). If it is found that the amount of instant vegetables is less than 1 serving (1 serving of cooked vegetables is 100g, which is about half a bowl to eight full), it is suggested to buy extra boiled vegetables, lettuce salad or 1 serving of fruit (1 serving of fruit is about 1 serving).
staple
health problem
Baked rice, fried rice, baked noodles, pasta, curry rice, noodle soup, chicken rice, scallion cake, rice balls and other staple foods are the most easily seen microwave foods in convenience stores. You should know that the main component of white rice and flour is starch, which has a high glycemic index and is very easy to cause hyperglycemia and obesity. Another problem is that these staple microwave foods usually lack the nutrition of protein and vegetables.
It's healthier to eat like this.
It is recommended to eat half of the staple food microwave food every meal. If you eat it all, you will feel very tired (because blood sugar rises rapidly), and the remaining half can be frozen for the next meal or snack. Protein is not enough, you can match it with a tea egg, tofu cooked in Guandong, or a yogurt cup; Vegetables can be supplemented with lettuce salad, boiled cabbage in Guandong, mushrooms, radishes and white bamboo shoots. Or a banana to meet the body's demand for protein, fiber and phytochemicals.
snack
health problem
Snacks, such as meat buns, meatballs, jiaozi, Shao Shao, fried chicken and chicken nuggets, are usually limited to staple food and protein. Therefore, it is prone to the problems of excessive intake of sugar and protein and less intake of fruits and vegetables. In addition, these single snacks are usually accompanied by sauce seasoning packets. If you are not careful, you will eat too much oil, sugar and salt, and diseases such as hypertension, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia may come to you quietly.
It's healthier to eat like this.
If you eat meat buns, meatballs, jiaozi and steamed dumplings, it is suggested that the amount of meat mixed in snacks should not exceed 1 palm at a time, and do not pour too much sauce, because a lot of salt and sugar have been added to these foods during the conditioning process; At the same time, it is recommended to eat another portion of fruits and vegetables, especially bananas, because of the high potassium ion content. If you accidentally eat too salty, you can neutralize the excess sodium in your body.
If you eat fried meat snacks such as chicken nuggets and fried chicken, it is recommended that you eat no more than two servings at a time (1 serving of meat is the size of three fingers). If there is fried noodles, it is also recommended to remove them first to avoid excessive intake of calories and carcinogens. In order to supplement staple food and fruits and vegetables, it is suggested to buy a 25g sweet potato (or royal rice ball), a lettuce salad or a fruit to balance the high-oil snacks.
Proper use of microwave oven 2 skimming oil
1. Select the material of the food container.
Microwave materials can only be polypropylene PP (recycling mark No.5), ceramics, glass, etc. Metal (such as stainless steel) should never be used, because the metal will reflect the microwave, which will cause the microwave to reflect in the furnace and generate sparks; The plastic part is only suitable for polypropylene with heat resistance temperature of 140℃. If polystyrene (PS) is used, because the heat-resistant temperature is only 70~90℃, when it exceeds the heat-resistant temperature of the container, toxic substances are easily dissolved.
2. 50 cm away from the microwave oven is the best.
Although the energy of microwave is quite weak, it is still recommended to keep a distance of more than 50 cm from the microwave oven, and don't look directly at the microwave oven.
Is it easy to lose nutrients in microwave food?