Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

Seeker34 — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:32:10 GMT

As an interesting side-observation, the "Healthy Choice" brand (low fat, but high sugar) came out around 1985 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy_Choice. Growing up in the 80's I remember it was all about the low-fat/fat-free diets, but thinking if you eat an entire box of low fat cookies, you are still eating an entire box of cookies.

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

heykapo — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:28:29 GMT

There's a marvelous and inexpensive alternative to the microwave and the conventional oven. It's called a double boiler, and leftovers emerge tender and hot. Been around forever, works just fine.

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

country mom — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 11:21:04 GMT

Sometimes I wonder about our categorizations of "obesity" and whether these categorizations actually help to fuel the problem. I am 5'6" tall and weigh 190#. For a middle-aged woman, I am considered "obese". Yet, living on an organic, grass-based farm, I lead a very active, natural lifestyle, taking hour long walks each morning, doing chores, gardening,etc... I regularly do activities with my kids such as biking, swimming, and skiing with my kids. I eat mostly fresh organic vegies and grass-fed meats and daily take cod liver/fish/krill oil.

When I was a freshman in college, weighing about 155#, I had my body fat measured and it was in the teens. Still, even at that weight, I was told by the medical establishment that I needed to loose weight. This reccommendation only served to continue in me a harmful dieting cycle that that began in my teenage years when, as a three-mile a day runner and starting soccer player on the varsity soccer team, I learned that I was "overweight". At that time, my weight was about 150#.

In those years, I tried to eat "healthy", but to do so I ate mostly a low fat, vegetarian diet which was the best I new at the time. I did my fair share of "binging and purging" using exercise as my purging technique.

Since that time, I have gained about 10 # with each pregnancy. During one of my recent doctors visits, I was categorized as an "obese female". I have come to deeply resent this categorization. I recently took an at home fitness test which put me in the 95% for my age in cardiovascular ability. My waist measures 35". I also am able to lift 50# feed bags and bales of hay with no problems. After unloading multiple loads of little square bales last week, I suffered no injuries, while my peers injure themselves doing normal daily activities.

Let's be careful about categorizations!

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

Alan845 — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:08:26 GMT

I saw an experiment in which 2 identical pot plants were kept alongside each other, 1 was watered with ordinary tap water, the other with tap water that had been microwaved and cooled. The plant receiving the microwaved water died in a few weeks, the other plant remained perfectly healthy. Are we less sensitive than plants?

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

Birdlady — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 19:45:49 GMT

I was pretty young once microwaves got really popular. I was born in 1984, so they were just getting mainstream! I was the first person in my school to have one at home. lol I remember my mom stopped making homemade meals. She would get those boxed meals and cook it in the microwave. That's what I was raised on and my health suffered so much.

Instead of just letting meat thaw in the refrigerator, she put it in the microwave. Instead of baking potatoes in the oven, they went in the microwave. I think a lot of my health problems can be associated with the use of the microwave. I have never been obese, but the rest of my family is. Go figure!

I threw my microwave out about 6 months ago and I don't miss it. There aren't any whole foods you can make in the microwave. Even leftovers can be warmed in the oven if needed.

The only thing I miss it for is my microwaveable wax for hair. lol

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

The Herb Doc — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 04:19:55 GMT

I posted this before but someone X’d it out! (I really think someone has it out for me on this site! Come on whoever you are-I love you all- we are all in this together!)

Well here it is again! I believe colon cancer and many other epidemics also started after we were eating microwaved food a lot!

Think about it! How do you think the food or water is warmed? The molecules are vibrated and moved around at close to the speed of light! Do you not think this causes molecular changes? Do you not think molecularly corrupted food can cause cancer and strange digestive functions as well as lots of other abnormal changes? Come on, this isn’t rocket science!

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

C Ed Wright — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 12:24:34 GMT

This "study" by these "experts" is a classic case of diversion via disinformation: Keep "the goy cattle" confused (per The Protocols -- still believe they're "fake"...!? DUH!!!])

See http://www.mercola.com/article/microwave/hazards.htm for a good article on what really happens to microwaved (MW'd) foods and biological compounds in the human body. Let me break it down simply: All "heat" as we know it is actually molecular vibration. No heat (absolute zero), all molecules sit absolutely still; the more heat, the faster they wiggle & jiggle until by about 500 degrees F., they begin to literally slam-dance into each other. MW'ing food not only spins water molecules but when they slam into adjacent food molecules the act like tiny spinning buzz-saws and randomly snip them unpredictably into every conceivable radiolytic fragment, most if not all of which are TOXIC! Other molecules are merely distorted into indigestible versions called isomers, many of which are TOXIC! That's the chemical science of it.

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

Chinaboy — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 09:18:59 GMT

I love this kind of discussion. It is truly empowering to find 'real people' thinking 'real thoughts'.
I recall, vaguely, something about micorwve ovens being banned in Russia or the former USSR, because microwave ovens cause what they called 'microwave sickness'. Does anyone else recall this? If that's true, what is the obesity factor in Russia? That would make a more 'controlled experiment'.

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

Rogway — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 03:41:13 GMT

What might have really started all of our gloomy days and ways to take a hard dive downward to health? Think back folks. Remember the mid 1960's? Technology was really coming on-new weapons were being developed-the space age was heated up-doctors were still making house calls and telling you to go to the woods and your garden to get your medicine-more fast foods were being introduced-the grocery stores didn't have nearly as much junky foods-and so on. Then the trend began to change. Food stamps and medical cards were just beginning to elvolve. Soon after, people who you couldn't drag to a doctor was waiting in line to get in. People began flocking to the grocery store and began to raise less and less of their own food because it was a lot easier for them. More and more NEW DISEASES soon began to appear across the country. Supply and demand began a race to make it UNHEALTHY if you have to but, make it fast, and make it cheap. The tax payers were stuck with the bill while the regulators pocketed their share of this new market. Now, no more house calls from your family doctors-a pill is now good enough-sell it to America because it seems that's what they want-deceive them-whatever it takes to make a buck. Now, we have become a nation that is falling far behind many other countries especially in healthy living. But the gospel that many preaches today to try to change our lost health, doesn't seem to be heard by many people because it must be inconvenient for them to comprehend.

I'm really not bucking on the aid of food stamps and medical cards, I know many needs them, but that was when the trend began to change.

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

steve1956 — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 03:08:28 GMT

About 10 years ago i read a report of a study done entirely in a hospital for i think 3 weeks. A group was put on a diet. Food was cooked the conventional way. Then cholesterol was checked. Next week same exact diet was microwaved. Chol. went up. Then back too the regular cooking. Chol. went down.
I think the microwave made particles too small to digest. I think good ole hydrogenated crap makes particles too small also.

hfcs is deadly. Have you ever seen sugar consumption charts for the last hundred years? The curve for sugar increase and cancer increase looks identical.

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

annapavlova42 — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 01:40:07 GMT

This is interesting and remarkable how anyone can blame a piece of machinery with weight problems. Did the microwave speak out and say, " You are invited to a large eating party. Please bring enough food so someone will be able to roll you out the door."

Do not think so. The process food with all of its deadly chemicals did the trick. Further more, we know that the microwave causes the big C. Even back then companies and corporations knew that the microwave was incedious to everyones health. But again, money talks and kills.

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

Lynn46 — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 01:18:43 GMT

Hellow fellow VitalVotes readers:
The following is a little "off-topic," but I thought you would find it interesting and somewhat ironic (if anyone's passing could be construed as ironic, but please read on).

I just visited wikipedia.org's "death log" page (as I do quite frequently) and found the following entry for June 5, 2007:

Edwin Traisman, 91, American food scientist who developed McDonald's french fries and helped develop Cheez Whiz, heart attack.

The reference for this entry is:
http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/0607biz-traismanobit07-ON.html

Now, I ask you, does it appear that Mr. Traisman lived so long because he did not eat the stuff he had a hand in creating: McDonald's fake french fries or Kraft's Cheez Whiz fake cheese? Hm-m-m-m--some (fake) food for thought...

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

Russ Bianchi — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 00:06:16 GMT

Labrat is in the correct train of thought on this one!

There is no correlation to microwaves, but there might be some very sub-footnote, or ancillary factor, in the dumbing-down of the US Food Chain, for profit motive, along with many, many, other factors.

If there is any truly single bullet, smoke, rifle, corpse & shooter picture, that CAN be correlated to the obesity numbers rising statistically (with net bad health results) it is clearly the introduction, approximately ten years earlier to 1980, of High Fructose Corn Syrup, in the US food & beverage chain.

HFCS is the least costing bulking ingredient after air, water, or salt, that essentially replaced the use of sugar (cane or beet) in many sweetened beverage or food brands, & many unsweetened brands also.

Today, the most conservative numbers place HFCS consumption (zero in 1970), alone, at about 98 pounds per year per person in the USA, of a total sweetener consumption of 153 pounds per year per person (USDA 2006 numbers).

There are non governmental numbers placing total sweetener consumption closer to 190 pounds per year per person, that are credible.

For reference, the average American in 1905 consumed less that 6 pounds per year from all sweetener sources.

HFCS is medically proven to directly convert to triglycerides in the blood stream (building block of LDL or bad cholesterol) &/or brown adipose tissue (stored body fat) when consumed.

HFCS, other than any other single factor, DOES contribute to insulin resistance, Syndrome X, hypoglycemia, diabetes, cardio vascular disease & OBESITY.

Who do we have to thank for the obesity crisis, besides not controlling our own individual caloric intakes? Uncle Sam, USDA, FDA, US Congress (Senate & House), The Corn Lobby, The US Annual Subsidy Farm Bill, Big Food, Big Soda & Beverage.

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

Bridestein — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 23:39:22 GMT

I'm sure this will freak some people out, but I just take my food (whether cooked or raw) out of the fridge about an hour before I intend to eat it so that it comes up to room temperature. I have never gotten sick doing this, but I don't eat commercially produced food.
I have never liked the way food came out when cooked in the microwave and ours lasted 17 years because we so rarely used it. Unfortunately my husband won a new one, but I just use it to sanitize my sponges. He will use it to reheat leftovers though, so I just make sure not to cook enough for there to be any.

re: Did Microwaves Kick-Start the Obesity Epidemic?

labrat — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 23:27:26 GMT

Well gee - before 1980 we didn't have cable, PC's, cell phones, and a host of others things someone can point the finger at - but is it science?
Correlation does not equal causation.

Obesity rises as we spend more and more time and money on diets and exercise and the promotion of "healthy" lifestyles. Maybe "heathy" food promotion and obsession with weight loss diets cause obesity?

Obesity rises as smoking rates declined - so maybe we traded so-called smoking-related illness for obesity-related illness?

Let's see how many correlations we can come up with to put the blame on!