Microwaves

[Jane]

Here is a Science fair project presented by a girl in a secondary school in Sussex . In it she took filtered water and divided it into two parts. The first part she heated to boiling in a pan on the stove, and the second part she heated to boiling in a microwave. Then after cooling she used the water to water two identical plants to see if there would be any difference in the growth between the plants

 

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.478232615552658.105331.100...

 

Found this on Facebook, not sure how to show it here but go to link & scroll down to bottom of page you will see 2 plantsin a pic- click on these to see the results.

[Scarlett]

I've seen this too, and people asserting that the email is a hoax. Just had a quick google and found several links stating that they tried to replicate the experiment and both plants were fine.

http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2012/03/30/will-watering-plants-with-hea...

There are a few analyses of what microwaves do to food, and although it is different to convection cooking, it does not appear to be carcinogenic etc - in fact sometimes it's better (e.g. if cooking meat vs blackened meat)

I do believe in quarternary protein structures and their (unknown) microbiological effects - I anticipate that microwaving denatures these in ways different to convection cooking. I expect this will have a differential impact on health - but the main thing to be wary of seems to be:

a) what container you use

b) frequency of use/ ingestion

c) animal foods (e.g. milk) and fats

[Jane]

thanks for your thoughts Elaine, perhaps I didnt really think it through. have never owned a microwave so cant replecate the experiment.

[Scarlett]

Someone should try it :)

[Elaine de Saxe]

Like most of us, I have heard rumours that microwaved food is bad for us in various ways. No one so far that I have read - and I haven't really researched this topic - has been able to say why. One why that I ask, is: cooked water? We don't heat water for plants never mind boil it. So what is the point of this experiment?

[Andrew Cumberland]

I think the issue is more about what you use a microwave to cook in.  It can do some nasty things to plastics.