microwaved herbs

[Guest guest]

<<Put a piece of bread in a microwave...

it either turns to charcoal...

or explodes into flames....>>

 

My bread turns into hot mush and falls apart. If you put toast into the

microwave, it will moisten- the water from the inside coming to the

surface where more easily perceived.

 

Karen Vaughan

CreationsGarden

***************************************

Email advice is not a substitute for medical treatment.

" A failure is a man who has blundered, but is not able to cash in on the

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[Guest guest]

, " " <

zrosenberg@e...> wrote:

 

>

>

> While there are no studies done on qi (the closest I've seen are the effects

> of different ways of cooking and cooking vessels by Rudolf Hauschka in

> nutrition), ... One source (not remembered) says that

> recooking certain foods wrecks the qi.

> >

 

As I stated earlier, I do not believe that qi is a discrete force, but

rather a human perception of the sum of many biochemical processes. I

consider it the same way I consider anger or love. We can perceive

anger,but we can only measure hromones or brainwaves. I think the same

will ultimately be shown to be the case for qi.

 

[Guest guest]

on 1/19/01 8:36 PM, at wrote:

 

> , " " <

> zrosenberg@e...> wrote:

>

>>

>>

>> While there are no studies done on qi (the closest I've seen are the effects

>> of different ways of cooking and cooking vessels by Rudolf Hauschka in

>> nutrition), ... One source (not remembered) says that

>> recooking certain foods wrecks the qi.

>>>

>

> As I stated earlier, I do not believe that qi is a discrete force, but

> rather a human perception of the sum of many biochemical processes. I

> consider it the same way I consider anger or love. We can perceive

> anger,but we can only measure hromones or brainwaves. I think the same

> will ultimately be shown to be the case for qi.

>

 

>

>

Actually, I think both are correct views that can be included in the context

of qi.. I think that one can perceive qualititative changes in substances,

and one can measure quantitative changes in substances, if one designs one's

studies correctly. I'd like to hear Ken Rose's point of view on this, since

he has written a book about qi.

 

 

[Guest guest]

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[Guest guest]

Microwaving has been shown to reduce vitamin B complex, vitamins C and E,

essential minerals and lipotropics

Karen Vaughan

CreationsGarden

 

How much reduction? Doesn't any cooking destroy these nutrients to a

certain degree?

 

-Jason

[Guest guest]

, Karen S Vaughan <

creationsgarden@j...> wrote:

> I believe the University of Minnesota was the original source for the

> infants getting fewer nutrients from breast milk and filing to thrive in

> an environment where all milk was only microwaved.

 

I can't find such a citation

>

> Microwaving has been shown to reduce vitamin B complex, vitamins C

 

All the citations I have seen say the reverse, that microwaving beats

even steaming for vitamin conservation

 

It is suspected to increas D-amino

> acids where L-AAs are preferred.

>

 

suspected being the operative term. this is pure speculation that has

no basis I can locate.

 

[Guest guest]

Todd and all,

 

This week I came accross an article which referenced a Lancet 1989

study which found several alterations in the body from microwave

usage. I did a quick medline search, but didn't find it.

I can't remember where I read this, but I'll try to locate the

article (in the midst of moving soon).

Nicole

 

 

 

 

 

, wrote:

> I bring up the following to solicit others experiences in herb

> preparation and to seek out background information.

>

> I recently mentioned in an herb class that I often microwave water

to

> heat it in order to dissolve powdered herbs. I do this for time

reasons

> as I do not have adequate hot water from my tap and my crummy

stovetop

> takes quite a while to even boil water. I don't add the herbs till

> after removing the water from the microwave. I do this not because

I am

> concerned about microwaves, per se, but because I do not want to

damage

> the herb powders by exposure to high heat, which will destroy

volatile

> components. For the same reason, I would not boil my powders on the

> stovetop either. Of course, there are always a few students in

every

> class who are fanatical about the supposed health risks of

microwaves.

> I didn't allow a discussion on this topic, but merely told the

students

> that they were free to prepare their herbs in any fashion they saw

fit

> and advise their patients accordingly. However I was motivated to

> further research this matter.

>

> Doing a medline search, I came up with the well known data that

> microwaves actually do less damage to common food constituents than

> conventional cooking. However my students were willing to stipulate

> that. T hey were more concerned about what they called

electromagnetic

> pollution. In other words, electromagnetic changes that occurred

in the

> water or food have health consequences for humans. However, in my

> medline search, I also came across laboratory research that

examined how

> different styles of cooking affected the development of cancer in

lab

> animals. Microwave cooking of meat consistently showed zero

> mutagenicity, while oven cooking showed substantial mutagenicity.

It is

> this type of epidemiological evidence that is most impressive to me.

> Other types of research are ultimately pure speculation. So even if

> subtle electromagnetic changes occur in microwave cooking, these

may be

> inconsequential to health.

>

> I think the energetic medicine crowd likes to have their cake and

eat it

> too. It is postulated that some vital energy, perhaps

electromagnetic

> in nature, has a controlling role in human physiology. I do not

agree

> with this position, believing instead that the concept of qi does

not

> refer to a discrete biological force, but merely a different

perspective

> on the same processes described by modern physiology (and physics

and

> chemistry). I often say that qi and biochemistry are like two

sides of

> the same coin, not two separate coins. But for the sake of

argument,

> lets say that the body's true control mechanism is some

electromagnetic

> force that is easily disrupted by external electromagnetic forces.

If

> disruptions in this force can lead to dire health consequences,

such as

> cancer and autoimmunity, then no matter how subtle the initial

change

> is, it will ultimately result in biological changes that are

measurable

> through blood tests. So we would expect to see increased measurable

> evidence of cancer and immune damage in those with excessive

exposure to

> microwaved foods. Yet I can find no evidence that this is the case.

>

> I also did a google search on microwave changes in nutrition and

health

> impact, keeping in mind that about 95% of what comes up on the

internet

> is unsubstantiated opinion, not established facts. This is in

contrast

> to my medline search, which yielded only peer reviewed documents,

not

> propaganda from either microwave manufacturers or fanatics. After

> reviewing 300 documents from the google search, I was only able to

> identify a single study that had ever been done suggesting adverse

> effects of microwaves that were measurable in blood tests. This

single

> study appeared repeatedly as the sole reference in all the other

> articles that attempted to ground their position in science.

However,

> this swiss study involved only 8 vegans and the discussion portion

of

> the study revealed a strong bias on the part of the researcher

against

> any form of cooking. He was a raw foods advocate. Given this bias

and

> the statistically insignificant sample size, there is no reason to

give

> any credence to his findings, none of which have ever been

duplicated.

>

> Now it has been suggested that large corporate interests have

blocked

> all research in this area. However this flies in the face of the

> experience with other industries that create products with known

health

> risks. For instance, there is substantial research on the

carcinogenic

> effects of both tobacco and agricultural chemicals, despite the

power of

> these industries. The FDA has strongly taken on tobacco interests

> during the Clinton administration, proving that the government also

will

> address issues of major health concerns, even when faced with

industry

> pressure to desist. If there was reasonable evidence that

microwaved

> food also posed substantial health risks, I see no reason why

> researchers and the government would avoid this one topic. The

fact is

> that many health risks are legal and the information is available

for

> the informed consumer to make discriminating decisions. I am the

first

> to admit that industry will make every attempt to distort or block

such

> research, but it is there to be found and not with much effort,

thanks

> to the internet. The absence of such credible information about

> microwaves is highly suspicious to me. I can only assume that no

valid

> data to support this position actually exists.

>

> However, I am concerned that I may be wrong about all of this. I

know a

> number of my patients actually reheat their bulk herb teas in the

> microwave. I tell them to do it briefly, so as to avoid constituent

> damage. But I am interested if anyone can direct me to resources

that

> support either side of this argument. I have posted this lengthy

piece,

> not to initiate a discussion on microwaves from a purely theoretical

> position, but to solicit actual data that shows damage to health

from

> microwaved food (and thus, herbs). I am NOT interested in personal

and

> clinical anecdotes about this matter.

>

>

> --

>

> Director

> Chinese Herbal Medicine

>