How Does Microwaving Food Affect Its Nutritional Value?

Comparing the nutritional value of food that was cooked in the microwave oven and food that was heated in a conventional way, one of these methods hurts the nutrients in our food more than the other. Which one is it?

If you use a microwave oven, what's happening to your food is pretty simple. Energy waves are absorbed by the water in food, and that's what heats up the dish you're trying to cook. Because of this, the nutrients in food are not affected heavily.

On the other hand, conventional cooking, such as in a pot on the stove or in an oven, there's far more increased chances of hurting the nutrients.

Also, cooking times in microwaves are usually much shorter, reaching the temperatures to cook more quickly than in conventional methods.

So, to answer the question, microwave ovens don't hurt the nutritional value of your food as much as conventional methods. That's according to Scott A. Rankin at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.