microwaved caapi

[Parshvik Chintan]

so i brewed a dose of caapi, and placed it in a jar (probably around 3 tbsp) to reduce.
i was getting impatient doing it in a pot of water on the stove, so i put the jar in the microwave, later i noticed it bubbling up furiously, and it has remained hot and steaming for quite some time (as i type it now, starting from about 2 mins ago)

did i just boil away all the goodies? or is it still viable?

 

[endlessness]

There's no reason why microwave would have done anything bad, it just excites dipoles from water making it boil, and boiling with microwave is same as boiling in stove which isnt a problem (its done for hours traditionally as you know).

Dont worry, be happy

 

[Parshvik Chintan]

There's no reason why microwave would have done anything bad, it just excites dipoles from water making it boil, and boiling with microwave is same as boiling in stove which isnt a problem (its done for hours traditionally as you know).

Dont worry, be happy

for some reason i got it in my head that you can boil away the actives.
glad to find out i am mistaken, as my impatience already caused a spill during the filtration, i would hate for it to ruin my brew too..
there is a lesson in there somewhere, but im not patient enough to figure it out

thanks endlessness ♥

 

[AluminumFoilRobots]

Endlessness: so there is nothing to worry about at all in microwaving psychoactive solutions? I've never done it the few times I thought about it (for whatever reason it was that I was thinking about it...) simply because there was something in the back of my head that told me "no!"... I guess I'm going to have to do some research on microwave ovens!

 

[endlessness]

No problem I can think of, at least with the usual stable molecules we play around with... Maybe a real chemist can confirm or correct me

 

[Eliyahu]

I'm sure it sounds a bit crazy but oh well...

I have been told very directly and clearly to not use a microwave for anything especially for psychedelics by a very trustworthy spirit friend of mine..

I searched around but could find no known valid reason for this which led me to believe that perhaps there is some negative thing about microwaves we as a society do not yet know about..

I do unfortunately still use a microwave but only when there has been no other choice..

 

[MelCat]

Microwaves have been banned in Russia for quite some time from what I understand.

When you start looking at the possible dangers of microwaves, it becomes clear, they can't possibly be good for you.

A quick google search for "microwaves banned in russia" will bring up a plethora of articles, each describing the effects of microwaves. Here's a link to one and a couple of quick quotes. I can't vouch for the validity of the articles listed but they've convinced me to quit using my microwave for food altogether. The only uses I have for mine are the digital timer and to get the funk out of stinky sponges.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/18/microwave-hazards.aspx

The Powerwatch article cited above summarizes the Russian research quite well, which I will duplicate below.

Russian investigators found that carcinogens were formed from the microwaving of nearly all foods tested.
The microwaving of milk and grains converted some of the amino acids into carcinogenic substances.
Microwaving prepared meats caused the formation of the cancer-causing agents d-Nitrosodienthanolamines.
Thawing frozen fruits by microwave converted their glucoside and galactoside fractions into carcinogenic substances.
Extremely short exposure of raw, cooked or frozen vegetables converted their plant alkaloids into carcinogens.
Carcinogenic free radicals were formed in microwaved plants—especially root vegetables.
Structural degradation leading to decreased food value was found to be 60 to 90 percent overall for all foods tested, with significant decreases in bioavailability of B complex vitamins, vitamins C and E, essential minerals, and lipotropics (substances that prevent abnormal accumulation of fat).
I might add that this finding is supported by the 1998 Japanese study by Watanabe7 about vitamin B12 in milk, cited above.

Dr. Hertel concluded that microwave cooking changed the nutrients in the food, and that changes took place in the blood that could cause negative health effects.

Hertel's conclusions were that microwaving food resulted in:

Increased cholesterol levels
Decreased numbers of leukocytes (white blood cells), which can suggest poisoning
Decreased numbers of red blood cells
Production of radiolytic compounds
Decreased hemoglobin levels, which could indicate anemia
Not surprisingly, Dr. Hertel's study was met with great resistance from those with much to lose.

 

[Eliyahu]

Thanks for providing that information MelCat-

:surprised


I guess I should listen more closely to my spirit friend

 

[jamie]

I have not owned one in years. I personally dont get near microwaves, but if anyone else wants to microwave caapi that is their choice.

I went out to eat at a real health conscious place a few weeks back while downtown..all vegetarian and organic, some raw food etc...I ordered some currey and they microwaved it before they brought it to me. I felt bad for not asking beforehand, but I just wont eat that stuff. They understood I guess though and brought me some that was not microwaved. I think the whole microwave thing is beyond many people in america at this point. I can imagine in 10 years though you wont see so many of them.

 

[AluminumFoilRobots]

That is really amazing that Russia has banned these things! Thanks for that load of information, MelCat... this is weird, some pop-nutrition online magazine thing was talking about ways to keep nutrients in food and it said "When in doubt, microwave"... WTF?

So, yeah, I wont be microwaving anything psychoactive or not!

 

[endlessness]

None of those "microwave are evil" articles or claims seem to really stand.

Hans Hertel, who supposedly saw the dangers of microwave, never published his paper, there's no method for his research, results have never been reproduced.

Here's a critical look at the claims made by the link above:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0813/is_3_32/ai_n13664949/

Before panicking over microwaves and spreading how evil they are, please take time to research it beyond the unreferenced blogs.

Microwave food is bad not because of microwaves, but because of the crap food itself.

Also, it should be common sense to never heat anything in plastic and to wait before your food is cold to store in plastic, regardless of microwave or not, due to plasticizers and substances like bisphenol-a.

I dont think the elves will be angry at you for heating caapi up, but do as you please. I never heat caapi in microwave because I never had to, if Im boiling plant material im boiling several doses so it wouldnt fit in the microwave anyways.