6 Foods you should never heat in a microwave: You may have heard the infamous nutrition myth about microwaves, that they zap vegetables of their vital disease-fighting nutrients.

Well, while this may not be true, microwaves actually preserve more of their vitamins and minerals than other cooking methods. But there are however certain foods you should never put in your microwave.

1. Hard-boiled egg. 

With or without a shell, when you heat a hard-boiled egg in the microwave, the moisture in it creates a build-up of steam, like in a pressure cooker, until a stage of explosion.

The egg will not erupt inside the microwave during heating, but then, which means that the boiling egg may erupt in the hands, on the plate, and even inside the mouth.

2. Breastfeeding milk. 

Many young mothers tend to freeze and store their breastfeeding milk for later use, which is great as long as it is not heated in the microwave.

In the same way that a microwave does not heat food plates unevenly, so too do milk bottles not heat evenly, this can create “hot spots” that can cause severe burns to the baby’s mouth and throat.

3. Processed meat. 

Processed meats contain chemicals and preservatives that extend their shelf life. Unfortunately, heating these substances in the microwave can be detrimental to our health.

Heating processed meat in a microwave under radiation causes the formation of oxidized cholesterol products, which are known to be more harmful to the arteries than pure cholesterol itself.

Bernice Kariuki: Meet Arsenal’s Top Chef from Eastlands (biznakenya.com)

4. Uncooked Rice

Heating rice in the microwave can quickly lead to food poisoning. Uncooked rice contains spores of bacteria that can survive microwave heating.

When you take the rice plate out of the microwave and place it at room temperature, the spores multiply and can cause diarrhea and vomiting.

5. Chicken

All types of poultry contain a certain level of salmonella infections, therefore, it is necessary to cook the chicken well to eliminate all the bacteria. The microwave, however, does not do this evenly, so chances are that contaminated parts will remain in the chicken after heating.

6. Vegetables with green leaves. 

No matter how much you want to keep your celery, kale, or spinach to eat later, it’ better to throw them away than heat them in the microwave.

This is because of the concentration of nitrates in the green leaves that become toxic when heated in a microwave. Microwave heating causes nitrates to become nitroamines, which are carcinogenic.

The same is true of heating beets and turnips which are rich in nitrogen.