8 Food Myths Busted!
Margarine is better than butter.
NOT!
Butter contains saturated fat that, when eaten in excess, can raise "bad" (LDL) cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease. For that reason, some people use margarine as a substitute. The problem with margarine—specifically stick margarine—is that it contains trans fats, which increase LDL cholesterol and lower the "healthy" (HDL) cholesterol. Double whammy!
Your best bet is a soft-tub vegetable spread that says "trans-fat free"— it will be low in saturated fat as well. If you're watching your calories, opt for soft-tub brands in "reduced fat" or "light" versions.
Bananas are fattening.
WRONG!
One medium banana has only about 105 calories—you'd have to eat at least six to equal one slice of New York-style pizza! Bananas are a good source of fiber, magnesium, and potassium, all of which can help manage blood pressure. They're also a good source of vitamin B6, which helps boost your immune system. What's more, they're portion-controlled, portable, and don't require refrigeration. Enjoy them sliced into cereal, mixed with nonfat yogurt or cottage cheese, or frozen for a yummy dessert. (On the other hand, I can't recommend packaged "banana chips," which have added fat and sugar and are loaded with calories.)
Cravings are your body's way of telling you it needs something.
NOT TRUE!
It's a convenient excuse, but a craving is not a signal that your body "needs" a specific nutrient. Scientists have gone to great lengths to test this assumption. Imagine that you have a chocolate craving (as far-fetched as I know that must be!). You are given the choice of a nutrient-rich (but not flavorful) cocktail that mimics the chemicals found in chocolate, or a candy bar that looks, smells, and tastes like chocolate but contains no authentic chocolate compounds. Which do you think would satisfy your craving most—the chocolate nutrients or the chocolate taste? In actual psychological studies, taste won, hands down.
Cravings are driven by emotions and psychology. We crave foods we enjoy and associate with pleasurable times. For example, you may crave hamburgers because you downright love the taste, or because you have strong and happy memories of eating them at family barbecues—not because you're deficient in protein or iron. Of course, hormonal changes also can be responsible for cravings. Ice cream and pickles, anyone?
Cooking veggies destroys their vitamin content.
NO WAY!
Cooking actually boosts your body's ability to absorb the nutrients in some vegetables. For example, the cancer-fighting phytonutrient lycopene is stronger in cooked tomato sauce than in raw tomatoes. That said, many nutrients will be lost with the wrong cooking technique. The most important rule: Do not overboil veggies! Nutrients will slip out of the vegetables and into the boiling water, so all that goodness will be lost. To retain the most nutrition, steam, roast, or microwave with as little water as possible, and keep cooking time to a minimum.
More Nutrition content on MSN Health & Fitness:
Courtesy of PARADE
http://www.naturodoc.com/library/nutrition/margbutt.htm
Butter has stood the test of time (centuries of antecedents thrived on its delicious taste and nutrition, which was more useful than in our times, at least in the West that is, because of their active lifestyles); margarine is utterly unnatural, except for its substrate product. The high fat in butter may be a problem, but problems seem to keep cropping up with engineered foods. For now it seems the trans-fat issue has been solved. What next time?
Solve the butter problem as one would solve the milk problem: opt for whipped butter or light (reduced-calorie) butter. To avoid toxins and antibiotics in the butter from abuse of dairy cows, one could, probably should, also opt for organic butter.
Source: http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/88/12/6015
Have fun finding more credible people in the field.
kJ = Kilojoule = Calorie
adipose tissue = fat
"The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Vol. 88, No. 12 6015-6019
Copyright © 2003 by The Endocrine Society
Franz-Volhard Clinical Research Center and Helios-Klinikum-Berlin (M.B., J.S., J.T., F.A., A.M.S., F.C.L., J.J.), Medical Faculty of the Charité, Humboldt-University, D-13125 Berlin, Germany; German Institute of Human Nutrition (U.H., S.K.), D-14558 Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Germany; and McMaster University (A.M.S.), Hamilton General Hospital, L8L 2X2 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Drinking lots of water is commonly espoused in weight loss regimens and is regarded as healthy; however, few systematic studies address this notion. In 14 healthy, normal-weight subjects (seven men and seven women), we assessed the effect of drinking 500 ml of water on energy expenditure and substrate oxidation rates by using whole-room indirect calorimetry. The effect of water drinking on adipose tissue metabolism was assessed with the microdialysis technique. Drinking 500 ml of water increased metabolic rate by 30%. The increase occurred within 10 min and reached a maximum after 30–40 min. The total thermogenic response was about 100 kJ. About 40% of the thermogenic effect originated from warming the water from 22 to 37 C. In men, lipids mainly fueled the increase in metabolic rate. In contrast, in women carbohydrates were mainly used as the energy source. The increase in energy expenditure with water was diminished with systemic ß-adrenoreceptor blockade. Thus, drinking 2 liters of water per day would augment energy expenditure by approximately 400 kJ. Therefore, the thermogenic effect of water should be considered when estimating energy expenditure, particularly during weight loss programs.
This work was supported in part by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. J.J. is a recipient of a Helmholtz fellowship of the Max-Delbrueck-Center of Molecular Medicine.
Abbreviations: BMI, Body mass index; RQ, respiratory quotient."
I'd call this "myth" a fact.
um research says that technically the fatest country is Nauru
and we are the 9th fatest
based off percentage of people obese
about 94% of their people are obese
Oddly, while many of the "myths" are debatable, the very fact this article actually makes some people question the nutritional *advice* we're given is a good thing.
I still know people who swear butter is pure evil, etc etc etc.
Again, small point in favor of disinformation streams is that they often wake people up to question the tripe they consume mentally and emotionally as the word from above.
This article is accurate. If you won't believe something without research, here's references for a few of these. The rest are easy to find if you want the reference - just search a reputable site like FDA or USDA.
Certain foods can burn fat
…according to David Baer, Ph.D., a research physiologist at the USDA Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center in Maryland. “No negative calorie foods have been discovered yet, he says.
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/9-myths-about-your-salad?page=1
It’s better to eat six mini meals than three squares
As the writer said, this may not be best for everyone. It's never been proven to raise your metabolism, but helps with cravings and, eating regularly (not necessarily that often), can regulate your metabolism. Eating sporadically puts your metabolism all over the charts.
http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/guide/heart-healthy-diet
Fresh fruits and vegetables are more nutritious than frozen ones
The freezing process itself does not destroy nutrients. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Focus_On_Freezing/index.asp
Decaf coffee has no caffeine
Click the links on this page to see the caffeine content of decaffeinated coffee. Yes, it does still have some caffeine:
Margarine is better than butter
This one you can answer yourself by just reading the labels of both.
Everything she says is true, but nutrition is the new religion lately, and most of us are still in the dark ages of the inquisition.
Oh, and IQ139? I agree, but please use your intelligence to speak the language of the audience.
P.S. I wear loafers so I don't have to tie my shoes, hehe.
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