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The microwave was my mom’s favorite go-to kitchen appliance when we were growing up. She microwaved everything from frozen burritos, to canned vegetables, to pepperoni mini pizzas like these that are commonly sold in bulk at places like Sam’s Club and Costco.

Leftovers were stored in plastic storage containers and heated up in the microwave for lunch and dinner. We even used the microwave to heat up frozen candy bars. My brother and I were always getting sick on behalf of poor nutrition and highly processed microwaveable meals.

They Don’t Say “Nuke It” For Nothing…

I stopped using microwaves to heat up food after stumbling across the studies mentioned in this article at Natural News, which states that microwaved food is bad for your health. I also came across studies that said microwaving rearranges the molecular structure of your food. A friend of mine who specializes in nutrition even agreed that eating microwaved food is bad for your health based on similar studies he’s read over the years.

Evidence shows that microwaving destroys up to 97% of antioxidants, vitamins, and other nutrients in your food. If you’re nuking vegetables and other meals in the microwave, you may not be getting the full amount of nutrients these foods have to offer. You know what else is funny? The definition of nuke is “to attack or destroy (something) with a nuclear weapon.” Who wants to eat food after it’s been through all that?

Healthy Cooking Techniques You Should Be Using

Experts recommend consuming most fruits and vegetables raw for the highest nutritional benefit. I always eat raw fruits, but can only stomach a few raw vegetables. Dr. Weil makes great cooking recommendations in this article, which suggests steaming, broiling, baking, and roasting. There is no mention of a microwave.

In my household, we steam and sautée foods for the most part. Leftovers like pasta are usually served cold straight from the refrigerator, while everything else is reheated in the toaster oven. Today, my favorite cooking appliance is my 6-qt stainless steel pressure cooker by Cosori, which gets used just about every day to make rice, hard-boiled eggs, stews, soups, and one-pot dinners.