# Microwaving Veg **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 25, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-veg/164065 "2003-03-25T17:21:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Theom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@Theom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theom)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-veg/164065/1 "2003-03-25T17:21:35Z")
What does Microwaving Veg do to it in terms of Vitaminess? I am reliably informed that when you boil veg some vitamins are lost into the water hence use the water for stock or gravey but presumably this doesn’t happen if you nuke 'em in the microwave. Are they better for you cooked this way? ---
**Author:** ![Tal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/54ee81/32.png) [@Tal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tal)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-veg/164065/2 "2003-03-26T16:13:39Z")
I’ve always heard that microwaving veggies is about as good as steaming them (in otherwords, good, and much better than boiling) Don’t forget to put a tiny bit of water in the bottom of the container you’re microwaving in, that creates the steam that stops the veggies drying out ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-veg/164065/3 "2003-03-26T17:23:56Z")
Read this first, if you want to avoid getting cancer- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/4x4\_reports/2183386.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/4x4_reports/2183386.stm) “\*Microwaving food generates the cancer-causing chemical acrylamide, scientists have discovered. \*” ---
**Author:** ![Tal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/54ee81/32.png) [@Tal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tal)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-veg/164065/4 "2003-03-26T17:36:49Z")
hey…breathing gives you cancer, so does drinking water, so does everything else we do in our every day lives ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-veg/164065/5 "2003-03-26T21:05:12Z")
Er, the “acrylamide” thing has been, not exactly “debunked”, but more like Emily Latella “never minded”. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2702241.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2702241.stm) > [@](#): > > Wednesday, 29 January, 2003, 10:29 GMT > Food chemical cleared of cancer link > > High levels of a chemical found in foods such as chips, crisps and bread do not, as feared, seem to raise the risk of cancer, research suggests. > > Research in the past year has shown that many types of cooked food contained moderately high levels of a chemical called acrylamide, which is considered to be potentially carcinogenic. > > But scientists from the US and Sweden found that dietary levels of acrylamide do not seem to be sufficient to increase the risk of large bowel, bladder and kidney cancers \_ the forms of the disease likely to be affected. So yes, microwaving veggies is good because it retains more of the nutrients. Do you need an actual cite, or can you take my word for it? 😃 There’s all kinds of stuff out there on the Internet on microwaving vegetables, cooking times, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microwaving-veg/164065/6 "2003-03-26T21:48:00Z")
Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to pass along information that was out of date. Thanks for the update, **Duck Duck Goose**!