Does microwave zap food's nutrition?

Done the right way, microwaving food is one of the best ways to preserve nutritional benefits.

• Microwaving is near the top of the list for nutritionally sound food preparation


• Using too much water can leach vitamins and minerals out of food


• Cover food tightly to create a steam-cook environment

Editor's note: upwave is Turner Broadcasting's new lifestyle brand designed to entertain the health into you! Visit upwave.com for more information and follow upwave on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram @upwave.

(upwave.com) -- The rumor: Zapping food in a microwave leaches out key nutrients

We've all heard about how microwaving food removes some nutritional value, but is it true? Is something bad happening to our food behind that microwave glass?

The verdict: If you do it right, cooking food in the microwave is one of the best ways to retain your food's vitamins and minerals

There are dangers to microwaving your food. You could get scalded, for one. If you use the wrong kind of plastic (hint: one that doesn't say "microwave safe"), unhealthy chemicals could seep into your food.

What is a cheat meal?

Do microwaves cause cancer?

But if you're concerned about getting the most nutrition out of your eats, microwaving is a safe bet. In fact, it's near the top of the list for nutritionally sound food-preparation methods. If you use your microwave with a small amount of water to essentially steam food from the inside, you'll retain more vitamins and minerals than with almost any other cooking method.

upwave: Cook yourself sexy

"Whenever you cook food, you'll have some loss of nutrients," says registered dietician and certified food scientist Catherine Adams Hutt. "The best cooking method for retaining nutrients is one that cooks quickly, exposes food to heat for the smallest amount of time and uses only a minimal amount of liquid."

Guess what? Microwave cooking does that.

Consider spinach. Boil it on the stove, and it can lose up to 70% of its folic acid. Microwave it with just a little water, and you'll retain nearly all its folic acid. Cooking bacon on a griddle until it's crispy (yum) can create nitrosamines, while microwaving bacon creates far fewer of these cancer-promoting chemicals.

upwave: Do microwaves cause cancer?

Of course, you can mess microwaving up. Dump your veggies in a bunch of water and overcook them, and you'll leach out plenty of nutrition. "When you cook food in a microwave, cover it tightly, creating an efficient steam environment," advises Hutt.

Steaming over a stovetop is just as good, though. In some cases, it may even be better: One small study found that steamed broccoli retained more of its cancer-fighting sulforaphane than microwaved broccoli.

But in most cases, using your microwave to cook food, if it's covered tightly in a microwave-safe container with a minimal amount of liquid, is a nutritional win.

In fact, it can even enhance the nutrition of some foods. It makes the carotenoids in tomatoes and carrots more available to our bodies, for example. It makes the biotin in eggs digestible. And heat kills bacteria in food that can make us sick.

"From a safety standpoint," says Hutt, "you don't want to be eating raw chicken."

upwave: Get dangerous germs out of your home

So go ahead and use that microwave. It's a quick way to essentially steam food from the inside out. You won't get the aromas that baking or roasting provides, but if you do it right, with just a little bit of water in a tightly-closed microwave-safe container, you'll be very well nourished.

This article was originally published on upwave.com .

© 2013 upwave, All Rights Reserved.

From Hef's "Big Bunny" to jet icon

The last six U.S. DC-9 commercial passenger airliners officially retired January 6. In the 1970s the DC-9 became a status symbol among the world's emerging Jet Set. Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner's custom DC-9-32 was dubbed "The Big Bunny." Its reported cost: about $5 million.

The Big Bunny's unique features included a fur-lined boudoir and a disco in the rear. In 1970, Hef used it travel to Europe and Africa with then-girlfriend and centerfold model Barbi Benton -- who went on to become a mainstay actress on TV shows like "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island."

A DC-9 took part in the 2012 election. GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, right, trusted one to ferry his running mate, Paul Ryan, from stump speech to stump speech. The plane Ryan flew was built in 1970, the same year that Ryan was born.

DC-9s sport a rear-mounted engine design and a classic "T-Tail." Delta's last scheduled DC-9 flight was flown by this Series 50 model built in 1978. FAA registry number: N773NC. It landed at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on January 6 to pick up passengers for the final flight.

The plane taxied to Gate D6 after arriving from Detroit as Flight DL1965, a tip of the hat to the first year DC-9s began service. DC-9s are about 133 feet long, carrying up to 139 passengers.

Inside the terminal, Delta marked the fleet's retirement by hosting a small party, including cake, and blue and white balloons. Passengers included aviation geeks and journalists. Later, while en route to Atlanta aboard the final flight, passengers and crew honored the DC-9 with a quick champagne toast.

N773NC's cockpit was a lot like stepping back into the 1970s. It had no advanced flight management computer and no modern "glass cockpit" digital displays. Instruments included plenty of old-fashioned round, analog dials.

• Born in 1965, DC-9s opened jet routes to small airports, spurring travel


• Delta, the last U.S. carrier flying DC-9s, officially retired its fleet on January 6


• Hugh Hefner had one; 2012 VP nominee Paul Ryan campaigned in one


• Delta's final five Series 50 DC-9s will be sold off, another will go to a museum

(CNN) -- Hef owned one.

Miss Universe had one named after her.

And a recent vice presidential nominee campaigned on one.

Now, after nearly 50 years, the iconic McDonnell Douglas DC-9 airliner is pretty much done. Overall, say aviation enthusiasts, it's been a great ride.

The twin-engine, single-aisle jet's biggest and first operator, Delta Air Lines, officially retired its remaining fleet of six DC-9s on Monday, leaving only a handful of passenger models operating among foreign airlines and government and military outfits.

It's high time to give this plane its due. Experts credit the DC-9 with helping to open markets and spark air travel trends that continue today.

And what about pop culture? During its peak in the 1970s, the DC-9 became an ultimate status symbol among the world's emerging Jet Set.

For some, the plane was truly shagadelic.

Playboy magazine owner Hugh Hefner bought a custom DC-9 and turned it into a personal fur-lined flying boudoir.

But while Hef was making mile-high-club history, the DC-9 was making travel history.

Airlines embraced this T-Tailed plane with engines mounted on the rear, instead of the wings. They liked its ability to land easily at airports with shorter runways.

Here's how the DC-9's geeky aviation technology helped change America's travel culture:

—Longer wing flaps and dynamic engines helped DC-9s land and takeoff on shorter runways that often served smaller towns.

—In turn, airlines used the DC-9 to open new shorter routes which connected big cities to smaller ones.

—And that led to making jetliner travel more accessible to more Americans.

Bottom line: The DC-9 helped Americans who live in smaller towns embrace air travel. It's hard to know for sure, but experts estimate the DC-9 series has flown perhaps 2 or 3 billion passengers between its first commercial flight on December 8, 1965, and its last flight on January 6.

"I think its age alone puts it in the hall of fame, just on longevity," said William Swelbar, an aviation industry blogger, consultant and research engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Post-deregulation, the DC-9 was incredibly important in building hubs in lots and lots of smallish markets." Swelbar said it had a direct impact on the growth of air travel to smaller cities like Green Bay, Wisconsin.

"Today that airplane would arguably be too big to serve Green Bay -- because now Green Bay is served by a number of smaller regional jets," he said. "But the fact of the matter is, the DC-9 really helped make Green Bay an important point on a number of airline maps."

Affectionate nicknames for the plane stuck. Some called it the Chuck Niner. More powerful versions were called "Sport Nines." Labels like "Dirty Niner" and "Diesel 9" were veiled references to its smoky, loud engines during the early days.

"As an ex-Northwest employee I can't say enough great things about the Diesel 9," wrote CNN commenter Keith Montgomery. The plane's rear-mounted engines made loading and unloading luggage faster, he wrote, because baggage handlers didn't have to wait for the engines to "spool down" before they could access the bags.

By the late '60s, the buzz was growing and Hefner wanted one. In 1969 he took delivery of a DC-9-32 -- a longer version than the original -- painted black and stenciled with the iconic bunny logo on the tail. The aircraft was dubbed "The Big Bunny." Riding this sleek chariot, the Playboy prince whisked his bright-eyed girlfriend Barbi Benton on a whirlwind trip to Europe and Africa in 1970. Video posted on YouTube shows the plane as a high-altitude party palace, complete with a reel-to-reel videotape player, a shower, and a disco.

In 1977, BWIA West Indies Airways celebrated the crowning of Trinidad and Tobago's first Miss Universe, Janelle Penny Commissiong, by naming a DC-9 in her honor.

More recently, the plane played a role in the 2012 election. GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney trusted a DC-9 to ferry his running mate, Paul Ryan, from stump speech to stump speech. By the way, that plane -- built in 1970 -- was the same age as the vice presidential candidate.

Since 1965, Delta -- the first carrier to fly DC-9s -- has flown a total of 305 of them -- nearly a third of the over 970 that McDonnell Douglas manufactured until production ended in 1982.

This isn't the first time Delta has retired the DC-9. The Atlanta-based airline got rid of their first fleet of DC-9s in 1993. But 15 years later, it acquired 72 DC-9s as part of a merger with Northwest. It's been taking those planes out of service little by little until last week, when Delta retired its final six. (Delta said two of those DC-9s will remain on standby for a few weeks as backup planes.)

Not wanting to ignore a key moment in the history of an aviation icon, Delta hosted a small ceremony with cake and balloons on Monday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The DC-9 chosen for the final passenger flight was a 120-seat Series 50 model built in 1978. Its FAA registry number: N773NC.

Aboard the plane was aviation correspondent Jack Harty of Airchive.com. "It was bittersweet," he said, reflecting on the passing of a relic from a different time when on-board WiFi sounded like science fiction and lighting up a Marlboro was commonplace.

While still on the ground, Harty got a peak inside the flight deck. He found no advanced flight management computer and none of the modern, so-called "glass cockpit" digital displays you might find on newer airliners. The plane's instruments were a throwback to 1970s technology -- lots of old-fashioned round, analog dials.

N773NC's first airline was North Central in '78. A year later, it was obtained by Republic. It changed airlines again in 1986 when Northwest swallowed Republic. In 2009, it got a Delta paint job, after Delta's mashup with Northwest.

Eventually it was time for Harty to board N773NC for Delta's final scheduled DC-9 passenger flight -- appropriately named Flight 2014 -- from Minneapolis to Atlanta. Once in the air, the crew led passengers in a quick champagne toast to honor the aircraft.

By the way, another storied airliner from the same era, the DC-10, will reportedly make its final passenger flight in February from Dhaka, Bangladesh, to Birmingham, England.

The DC-9 leaves behind a powerful design legacy that will fly for years. Aviation geeks point to what they call "variants" of the plane which are still going strong, including the MD series -- the MD-88 and the MD-90. Another plane with design roots reaching back to the DC-9 is the Boeing 717. These planes all look a lot like the DC-9, with their rear-mounted engines -- and of course that cool-looking T-Tail.

To replace the DC-9s and other retiring planes, Delta is acquiring 36 717s this year from AirTran and another 36 in 2015. The 110-seat 717s have a range that will allow them to fly all of the airline's domestic routes.

By 2017, Delta also plans to add 40 Airbus planes to its fleet, including the international widebody A330-300 and -- for domestic routes -- the single-aisle A321.

Delta also is the process of buying 100 new Boeing 737-900ERs to replace older 757s and 767s.

Get ready for a lot more airliners to retire between now and 2019. The aviation consulting firm ICF SH&E predicts more commercial jets will be retired worldwide this decade than ever before -- somewhere between 6,000-8,000. Compare that to about 1,700 commercial jets that were retired in the entire 1990s.

The time is right for airlines to buy newer planes, experts say, because interest rates are relatively low, and higher fuel prices require newer, efficient engines.

As for the exiting DC-9s, one will be handpicked for permanent display at the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta.

"It was a robust workhorse of an airplane," said Delta spokesman Michael Thomas. "Its longevity proves how robust it was."

Is this world's toughest bike race?

The 2014 Tour d'Afrique began on January 10 from the Sudanese capital Khartoum. The race covers around 12,000 km, all the way down to Table Mountain, in Cape Town, South Africa.

All previous Tour d'Afrique races have set out from Cairo, but this year the Egyptian capital was deemed too dangerous. (Pictured, 2013 Tour)

Tour d'Afrique's highlights include crossing the Equator in Kenya, passing Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti in Tanzania, as well as Lake Malawi, Victoria Falls, and Namib desert. (Pictured, 2013 Tour)

The route passes through the deserts of Sudan, home of the infamous "haboob" sandstorm. (Pictured, 2013 Tour)

Desert heat isn't the only climatic challenge. Roads become mud baths during Tanzania's rainy season.(Pictured, 2013 Tour)

The race can bring out the best in people. (Pictured, 2013 Tour)

One of the toughest days of the Tour -- climbing the Blue Nile Gorge, in Ethiopia. (Pictured, 2013 Tour)

A boy in Malawi takes a more laid back approach than the Tour cyclists ...

This local cyclist performs an endurance feat of his own, while a competitor deals with a puncture. (Pictured, 2013 Tour)

Sandra McMillan, 73, a retired real estate agent and a mother of five from Canada, is the oldest rider in this year's Tour.

The biggest hazard for competitors? Cars. Pictured, the Tour d'Afrique convoy snakes into Kenyan capital Nairobi. (Pictured, 2013 Tour)

Terrain is another challenge, rarely more so than in the northern Kenyan lava rock desert. (Pictured, 2013 Tour)

The Tour can be a long and lonely journey, but "it teaches you what your strengths and weakness are," says Macmillan. (Pictured, 2013 Tour)

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• The Tour d'Afrique is a four-month, 12,000 km cycle race across the length of Africa


• Race starts in Khartoum, passes Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti, ends in Cape Town


• Oldest competitor is a 73-year-old Canadian woman


• Organizers help local communities by donating bikes

Khartoum, Sudan (CNN) -- A group of international cyclists gathered around in the restaurant of Khartoum's old Accropole Hotel and listened attentively to an orientation by the tour's chief coordinator.

He listed what they would need to pack for the daily ride, which included water, snacks, energy bars, patch kits, pumps, cash, cell phones and cameras.

"And you'll need butt cream," Randy Pielsticker, 36, added jokingly, referring to small containers of protective balm designed for cyclists. Considering the average 12 hours daily ride and the 12,000-kilometer length of the tour, he was right.

Last week a group of cyclists took to the road on the Tour d'Afrique expedition starting from Khartoum, Sudan, where the White Nile and the Blue Nile meet. The four-month road trip will take them through nine countries until they reach Cape Town, South Africa, on the continent's southern-most tip.

The idea for the expedition came to a former development worker, Henry Gold, who had worked in places like Ethiopia and Sudan. Gold wanted to find a way to provide cheap, sustainable transportation solutions to local populations on the continent, and attract attention by organizing a continental bike race.

"I wanted to start producing bikes for Africa that would help kickstart development -- sort of like China and India with their bikes," he said.

Read: Five African festivals you can't miss

There is a mystery and magic to it.

Randy Pielsticker, Tour d'Afrique chief coordinator

The bike production project did not take off, but the idea of a Cairo to Cape Town bike race did, and in 2003, the first Tour d'Afrique race took place, setting a Guinness World Record for the fastest human-powered crossing of Africa.

It is run by a Toronto-based company of the same name, which now sponsors seven global treks, with Tour d'Afrique representing its flagship race.

"This one tends to be the biggest draw," said Pielsticker. "There is a mystery and magic to it."

For the past 11 years, the Tour d'Afrique expedition began from Cairo. This year, however, matters were different, because of current events. "There's an international travel advisory against traveling to Egypt right now," explained Pielsticker. Ironically, perhaps, the tour started this year from Khartoum.

From township to pro cycling

Pro cyclist defies tough childhood

Historic cyclist shows off high-tech bike

It may be better known for its involvement in conflict in regions like Darfur, but Pielsticker described the north of Sudan as "one of the safest places in the world."

"People here are really nice and hospitable," he added.

The change in plans made organizers add new routes and destinations to this year's tour to maintain the tour's length, including routes passing by the pyramids of Meroe in Sudan and the rock churches of Lalibela, in Ethiopia, a favorite for many.

Read: Rock churches 'built by angels'

"Ethiopia is a classic," said Sharita Van der Merwe, 29, a seasoned tour guide. "The history and the culture are amazing."

In addition to ancient sites in Sudan and Ethiopia, the tour's highlights include crossing the equator in Kenya, passing Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti in Tanzania, Lake Malawi, Victoria Falls, the dunes of the Namib desert and on to Table Mountain in Cape Town.

But the trek, of course, is no easy ride. There are tremendous obstacles to overcome, including navigational challenges, mechanical problems with the bikes, harsh weather conditions, difficult terrain, possible water shortages, the risk of diseases like malaria, and even predatory animals.

And then there's the challenge of having strangers get along for four months.

"It's a social experiment," said Van der Merwe, giggling.

But the greatest challenge, Pielsticker maintains, is a universal one.

The biggest hazard for cyclists is the same everywhere in the world: the automobile.

Randy Pielsticker, Tour d'Afrique chief coordinator

"The biggest hazard for cyclists is the same everywhere in the world: the automobile," insists Pielsticker.

Cyclists of all walks of life, ages and nationalities have joined the tour in the past. This year, they come from 13 different countries, with the youngest being 20 and the oldest 73.

Alessandro Mauri, 22, just graduated from college, and wanted "time off and to take an adventure."

On his first tour, Mauri, whose father is Italian and mother is South African, sees the tour as an opportunity to reconnect with the continent. "I've always loved Africa," he said.

Mauri is looking forward to some of the tour's challenges, including the sandstorms of northern Sudan. "I would like to experience a haboob," he said with a smile.

Read: "Star Wars" set disappearing into Sahara

The tour often brings back alumni and most notable of them is Sandra McMillan. McMillan, 73, a retired real estate agent and a mother of five from Canada, joined the first Cairo to Cape tour in 2003. It was personal tragedy that brought her to Africa.

"My 18 year old daughter was killed in an accident in 2001," she said. "She had a burning desire to go to Africa."

In 2002, McMillan saw an advertisement for Tour d'Afrique. "I said to myself, I want to do this.

"And there was a category for the leisurely fit," she added with a laugh.

McMillan acknowledged that many thought she would not make it to the end. "There was even a bet that I would be the first to go," she said. But she completed the tour, and is now back on her fourth tour, 11 years later.

The tour is not life changing, it is life affirming.

Competitor Sandra McMillan, 73

While the tour may provide an opportunity for some to take an adventure in Africa, the group's founders are keen on giving back to local communities by donating bikes to individuals or organizations in the continent, supporting projects that promote bicycle awareness and raising funds for cyclists' favorite charities.

The Tour d'Afrique Foundation, the company's development arm, has teamed up with many African groups, such as the South Africa-based Happy Africa Foundation, to distribute donated bicycles to students and health workers in several countries.

In Zambia, for example, Christabel Mushe, a 19-year-old female student used to walk four miles a day to school and arrive tired, which impacted her concentration in class, and even sometimes missed school.

"But when I received the bike, all of this was over," she said. "Both of my performance and attendance improved."

Roy Kagna, 60, is a health caregiver in Zambia. "I have been able to visit 10 to 15 patients on a daily basis, more than I used to when I had no bike," he said.

But perhaps most importantly, the tour has provided its participants with a deeper insight into Africa.

"I learned that there is such commonality among humanity regardless of color," said McMillan.

"The tour is not life changing, it is life affirming," she added. "It teaches you what your strengths and weakness are."

Read: 220 km Sahara desert run: 'The toughest race on Earth'

Read: Africa's magnificent mountains -- seven amazing climbs

It really was a 'good day' for Ice Cube

Ice Cube poses for photographers on Monday.

• Ice Cube wrote the 1992 hit song "It Was a Good Day"


• In it, he describes his version of a perfect day in South Central, Los Angeles


• One of the examples was having his name in lights on the Goodyear Blimp


• His dream was realized on January 20, 2014

(CNN) -- Seriously. It actually happened.

Sort of.

On January 10, in my weekly Apparently This Matters column, I wrote about an online fundraiser called the Good Day Blimp where, essentially, four guys were trying to quickly raise $25,000 for charity to more-or-less guilt-trip the Goodyear company into flying their blimp high in the air while spelling out in lights "ICE CUBE'S A PIMP."

If Goodyear would do this on January 20 -- a very specific and important date -- the South Central Los Angeles nonprofit, A Place Called Home, would get the money.

You know, for kids!

But it had to be THAT date and THOSE words.

It's a little silly and a lot complicated, and you can read the whole backstory here, but just know that it all stems from the lyrics of one of Ice Cube's old-school, 1992 hit rap songs "It Was a Good Day" where, in recounting a day so good he "even saw the lights of the Goodyear Blimp and it read ICE CUBE'S A PIMP."

For my column, I actually spoke to Ice Cube while he happened to be at the CNN Center in Atlanta promoting his new movie "Ride Along," (sequel to come, he told CNN today) and that's when he first learned of the movement.

He thought it was: "Dope."

Then, a few days later he acknowledged the movement on Twitter before appearing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon where the subject once again came up.

So, between us and Jimmy Fallon, we feel a little responsible for this thing blowing up. What was once a quiet, ridiculous Internet fundraiser was now officially a thing.

Goodyear released a statement via Twitter, saying that on January 20 they would treat kids from the A Place Called Home charity to rides on the blimp, and even invited Ice Cube to join them.

However, they weren't going to write "ICE CUBE'S A PIMP." That just wasn't going to happen. But they basically met everyone halfway by promising to write out "IT'S A GOOD DAY."

In the end, Ice Cube flew out to Los Angeles early Monday morning from the East Coast to meet with the kids, check out the blimp, and help the Good Day Blimp guys present a large, novelty-sized $25,000 check to the charity.

"I never thought in a million years it would happen," Cube said, standing outside the blimp. "Rap is a mixture of fantasy and reality, and it seems like fantasy has met reality today."

Sort of.

The wording wasn't exact, but let's face it, Goodyear was never going to write PIMP on their famous airship, and they very easily could have ignored the whole thing. By January 21 it would be a memory.

But it happened. And credit to Ice Cube for being there for the festivities.

It was a good day.

Matt Damon: How to solve water crisis

A woman in Vilupuram, India, washes pots and pans at her new water point. With safe water at her home, she no longer has to make daily trips to the river. Matt Damon and Gary White co-founded Water.org, a nonprofit that helps communities achieve sustainable water systems. Click through to see the work they are doing throughout the world:

White, left, and Damon visit students and teachers at BWDA Middle School in Kolliyangunam, a village near Chennai, India. Hygiene education programs at this school have reduced the number of sick days for students and encouraged families to improve their sanitation facilities.

A young boy takes a bath at a public water stand post near Uttar Bishli, Bangladesh.

Gary White visits a community in need of safe water near Pigñon, Haiti.

A woman draws water from a collection tank. Borrowers in Kenya are using WaterCredit loans to purchase large water storage tanks. These water tanks provide additional income to families, who sell the water to neighbors or irrigate gardens and fields for better crops.

White, left, and Damon talk with people who have WaterCredit loans.

People collect water from a new water source at Mbeme Primary School in Kisumu, Kenya.

• Matt Damon, Gary White: Millions die each year from lack of safe water and sanitation


• Damon, White: With WaterCredit program, we could help end the global water crisis


• They say clean water access improve productivity, restore dignity and transform lives


• Damon, White: We hope more people will get involved with this big but solvable crisis

Editor's note: Matt Damon and Gary White are co-founders of Water.org, a nonprofit that helps communities achieve sustainable water systems. They are participating in the World Economic Forum's annual meeting this week to advocate for universal access to safe water and sanitation. This is one in a series of columns CNN Opinion is publishing in association with the Skoll World Forum on people who are finding new ways to help solve the world's biggest problems.

(CNN) -- On separate trips to Guatemala and Zambia in the late 1980s and in the early 2000s, we each saw the devastating effect of the water and sanitation crisis firsthand. We saw a world in which basic needs went drastically unmet -- where a lack of safe water and sanitation robbed men, women and children of health, hope and even life.

In the time it takes us to fill a glass of water -- about 21 seconds -- a child in some part of the world has died because of water-related disease.

Watch video: Gary White on the ubiquitous force

Gary White and Matt Damon

The disturbing fact is that we've known how to deliver safe water and basic sanitation to people for more than 100 years. So, why are people still dying today because of it? Can you imagine if we had a cure for HIV/AIDS and millions of people continue to perish because of the inability to deliver treatment?

It would be outrageous.

Yet, more than 3.4 million people die each year from water, sanitation and hygiene-related causes. Most of these illnesses and deaths can be prevented.

For example, diarrhea remains the second-leading cause of death among children younger than 5 globally. Nearly one in five child deaths -- about 1.5 million each year -- is because of diarrhea. It kills more young children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined.

Knowledge of that alarming reality drove us to action.

In 2009, we co-founded Water.org, an organization dedicated to ending this crisis in our lifetime. From the beginning, we focused on finding solutions that won't depend solely upon charity. We came up with WaterCredit, which applies the principles of microfinance to the water and sanitation sector. Through the program, individuals take affordable, small loans to finance the water and/or sanitation solution that works for them.

According to our internal analysis, we've empowered more than 1 million people to gain access to safe water or sanitation. Our research also shows that investment in WaterCredit reaches five to 10 times as many people as a traditional grant over a 10-year period. At the current rate, we believe we could end the global water and sanitation crisis for nearly 100 million people by 2020.

Matt Damon and ... toilets?

Web only: Kids that inspire Matt Damon

CNN Heroes: Wine to Water

Safe water and toilets change everything. When you see the difference it makes in a community, it's the difference between night and day.

We met lively, excited children, and women moving with ease and natural, joyful energy. We spent time with a group of children at a school where they demonstrated hand-washing techniques and talked about the important things in life -- their classrooms, their teachers and friends.

We know about Muddumare, who was living with many family members in in a village outside of a rapidly growing city in India. "We have 16 people in the house. Five years ago, we constructed our home by taking out a loan but we did not build a toilet. Nobody had a toilet in the village, and no one thought about having one in the house," said Muddumare. "All of us used to go out in the open for defecation. But now as the population is increasing, there is no space for this."

Muddumare said his children are all becoming more educated and doing more "modern" work. He questioned how he and the family could go on defecating out in the open. Given the progress the world around him was making, it seemed ironic to him that his family did not have a toilet in the home.

Muddumare made the decision to construct a toilet to make life better for his family.

By taking out a WaterCredit loan of 7,000 rupees ($112 U.S. dollars) from Water.org's local microfinance partner, the Organization for the Development of People, he was able to build a toilet. He has 3 acres of land where he grows groundnuts, sorghum and finger millet. The yield from his crops helps him earn money, which he uses to repay the loan amount in easy monthly installments.

Having a toilet means his family no longer was hindered by the time-consuming and physical constraints of open defecation. The change improved productivity and restored dignity. For many others, it saved health and transformed lives.

We hope that in the coming year, more organizations, both in the private and public sector, will double down on water and sanitation-related investments. Together, we can accelerate the pace of progress against the enormous but solvable crisis.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Matt Damon and Gary White.