What kitchen appliance do you use when you need to reheat last night’s leftovers? Don’t call me a mind-reader but I’m guessing… a microwave! They can be essential in the kitchen, especially if you have a busy schedule. You might think that the sole benefit of owning a microwave is heating up your leftovers, but from a nutrition point-of-view, they give more benefits than that!
Here are a couple of nutritional benefits of using a microwave to heat your food:
- Due to its quick high heat characteristic, microwaves provide a smaller time-frame for nutrients to be destroyed. Regarding vitamin C which is one of the most heat-prone vitamins, it has the highest retention percentage compared to other cooking methods. In other specific studies, it also has the least loss of vitamin K in spinach and chard. Of course, different types of food will react differently but looking at it now, it seems like the microwave can save some of your essential vitamins!
- Microwaves have the lowest antioxidant losses compared to other common cooking methods. Antioxidants are powerful tools against free radicals in our body through the prevention of the radical formation. As radicals accumulate in our bodies, it increases the risk of diseases like cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, to prevent that from happening, antioxidants are always encouraged and having a cooking method that can preserve the most antioxidants seems to be beneficial!
Although there is a small stigma against using microwaves, they are proven to retain nutrients in foods better than a few other cooking methods. So, if you are running late to anything, don’t be afraid to use the microwave for a quick meal!
