Are microwaves making us fat?

by Chris Sparling (Subscribe to Chris Sparling's posts)
Dec 31st 2007 10:47AM

Categories: Diet & Weight Loss, Fitness, Nutrition & Supplements

Without getting all Freakonomics on you, I still feel strongly that statistics are sometimes a great way to make sense of this oft-confusing world of ours. Then again, as I've suggested in the past, statistics can also lead you wildly astray, making just about anything seem plausible. Nonetheless, I feel that a simple statistical analysis of microwave usage and weight gain will reveal a very interesting correlation, if not actual causality.

A day late and a dollar short as always, it seems that my theory on this relationship has already been made. Researchers from the University College London found that the obesity epidemic began at the same time that the microwave started to become a standard fixture in the American household (around the early 1980s). Being able to nuke your food made it far more convenient and required less preparation time, thereby also making it easier for us to eat until our bellies were more than content. No longer was it necessary to stand over a stove for twenty minutes to make a meal, as the microwave made it possible to create the same meal in about two minutes.

Convenience is the American ideal (hence why we're willing to pay $1.50 for a single-serving bottle of soda instead of $0.99 for a 2-liter bottle, which rids us of the incredibly arduous task of pouring into cups). It's the goal of every new product; to be easier to use and more effective than the last one. With regard to the microwave, however, it stands to reason that convenience has lead to reliance and abundance, which in turn has resulted in marked, collective weight gain.

Comments (66)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

Vishaal 12-31-2007 @ 11:22AM

I actually have a Turkish friend who has been living here on her own since the age of 20 (she's 30 now), and she bought her FIRST microwave a couple months ago. She cooks everything herself and never eats at fast food restaurants. She does not eat packaged foods or candies. She only indulges in rich dark chocolate. It's not that she's trying to be healthy, it's just she says that people in Europe just eat this healthy natual way and that Americans are extremely unhealthy eaters. She is proud that she has not become one of us in terms of eating. She has an amazing body. She makes eating healthy and normal look very doable.

Madeleine 1-01-2008 @ 8:40PM

Just for the record...

'Belly's' should be 'bellies'
("...until our belly's were more than content." )

Mirillie 1-01-2008 @ 8:59PM

It is not the microwaves that make us gain weight, but the industry that has sprung up with easy to microwave convenience foods. That is waht is making us fat.

Victoria Smith 1-01-2008 @ 9:10PM

Microwave don't make people fat. How stupid can you be?

Ken 1-01-2008 @ 9:17PM

Microwaves do not make us fat. What we microwave tells the true fatting story. Eating healthy microwave meals is a great beginning. Visit www.okbodyweight.com and start losing weight safely today.

Dan 1-01-2008 @ 9:31PM

Microwaves make people fat like guns kill people. Short answer=THEY DONT! The people controlling the tool makes the decisions.

Jennifer 1-01-2008 @ 9:21PM

Eating to much junk and not being active enough makes you fat. It 's not like the microwave forces you to eat the food you cook in it. Sheesh!!

Babs 1-01-2008 @ 9:34PM

HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP is the real culprit! That stuff does not get burned by our bodies, it turns directly to fat!

Muundoggie 1-01-2008 @ 10:47PM

You hit the nail on the head. High Fructose Corn Syrup is chemically produced, it does not occur in nature, and is totally undigestible therefore causing your liver to react to it as if it were a toxin and wraps a FAT molecule around it. And don't forget about MSG, it is a salt. Salt causes one the retain water. Msg is hidden in almost all processed foods and fast foods. Just read the labels. MSG has many other names that are used to fool the public. Both of these ingredients became heavily used just before all these people became obese. Also let's not forget artificial sweetners. They turn to formaldahyde when eaten. We all know what that stuff is used for. And it contributes to cancer.

Linda 1-01-2008 @ 11:49PM

amen. i've quit using products that contain high fructose corn syrup. personally, if the first 3 ingredients are any type of sugar, i call it candy. we need to write to the manufacturers of products with hfcs and tell them we aren't buying their products again until they get it out. i have.

Craig 1-01-2008 @ 9:37PM

Another real culprit to obesity is central air conditioning and heat. The body burns more calories trying to stay warm or cool thus reducing accumulated body fat.

Factor that in with better transportation, greater selection of foods, less strenuous jobs, and choosing sedimentary entertainment over physical. Did I forget to mention sitting in front of the computer typing responses to silly, self help articles?

Apparently, the good life actually shortens it. Is it really how long we live or how well?

Fash 2-23-2008 @ 7:39PM

I hear what you're saying, but it's sendentary...

patrickgawne 1-01-2008 @ 9:56PM

I resent the implication here. I am a big fat guy and I thoroughly enjoy cooking on the stove. I was fat long before I owned a microwave and I earned every ounce of my blubber. I can even kill and clean my supper. I lost a bunch of weight once and I felt strange and unhealthy. Even though I weigh 300 pounds, I can bench press my weight and I can dead lift more than my weight. Before I broke my back I could pick up a Volkswagen. Show me a skinny,"healthy" guy that can do that.

angel 1-01-2008 @ 10:03PM

While I think MICROWAVE/ FAST food might be part of the problem.... I think the problem is OUR COMPUTERS.... I think we live and eat on our computers... The microwaves just helps us to cook MORE FASTER so we can sit our fat arses down.

kalihoa 1-02-2008 @ 3:09PM

kalihoa (10:05:03 PM): hey
ScoobyScoobydooS (9:58:57 PM): heyy urself
kalihoa (10:05:36 PM): i spent the nite with alyssa..new yrs
ScoobyScoobydooS (9:59:28 PM): oo cool
kalihoa (10:05:53 PM): it was pretty fun
kalihoa (10:06:19 PM): today we sled at grandmas house i jut got back
ScoobyScoobydooS (10:00:29 PM): oo funn
kalihoa (10:07:15 PM): sydney, parker, uncle craig, papa, grandma, aunt zabrina, and justin, and me and alyssa were there
ScoobyScoobydooS (10:01:28 PM): oo cool
kalihoa (10:08:30 PM): uncle craig and papa went to the new imax in town to see i am legend and me and alyssa just left they dropped me of at my house
ScoobyScoobydooS (10:02:32 PM): oo that sounds like funn
kalihoa (10:08:58 PM): wat have u been up to
ScoobyScoobydooS (10:02:53 PM): nuttin jc
kalihoa (10:09:15 PM): o
kalihoa (10:10:22 PM): small world today..on alyssa's aim (she has like 60 people) she was talkin about how much she hated this one kid and she was using his first and last name
kalihoa (10:10:59 PM): his name was dillyn foy and i said oh my god i no that kid and she laughed like she didnt believe me
ScoobyScoobydooS (10:05:05 PM): aha
kalihoa (10:11:30 PM): so i was like he has redish blondish curly hair and he livs down my street
ScoobyScoobydooS (10:05:30 PM): ya and...
kalihoa (10:11:49 PM): she ended up believing me
ScoobyScoobydooS (10:05:40 PM): oo
kalihoa (10:11:58 PM): its true

Zaphod 1-01-2008 @ 10:27PM

The Obesity Epidemic started around 1980 , wasn't that the same time Reagan made catchup a vegetable

Tammy 1-02-2008 @ 1:58AM

The other thing that started in the early 80s was the fitness craze - jogging and aerobics suddenly became the "in" thing. Then you really started noticing your body and it grew from there...

Ralph Garcia 1-01-2008 @ 10:27PM

Actually, the microwave causes meat and pork to throw out fat that you would otherwise eat. I think people are getting fatter because more restaurants and fast food places have gone to use trans fat type oils such as hydrogenated oils. An example of this is crisco oil. It's in a paste form in a can just like fat. It's no wonder that it sticks to your waist and forms on your body. Restaurants and fast food places went to it because it had a longer shelf life. But we can't blame all this on that. People need to have more discipline. It's the same thing with alcohol as people overindulge. Instead of dealing with their problems, people don't cope and try to escape their problems and reality by overeating and overeating of alcoholic beverages which leads to problems.

Dave 1-01-2008 @ 10:31PM

PEOPLE....I want everyone to try this. Water a seed with microwaved water (after it cools) The seed watered with the water will not germinate! Food is energy. Microwaved food removes all of the lifeforce in the food. People who eat microwaved foods run a high risk of colon cancer, bone cancer and other serious side-effects. Throw away your microwave! I haven't used one in 10 years and I have the health to prove it!

Muundoggie 1-01-2008 @ 10:49PM

Hurray for you Dave. You are the FIRST smart person I have read that has a good test for microwaved anything. I wish more people would listen and heed your words.
Convenience will kill the people of the world. Or make them ill with diseases.