Food Myths! That bowl of cornflakes isn’t as healthy as it may seem. In fact, it’s empty calories. That low-fat yogurt you are eating to lose weight is full of unhealthy sugars! And no, the chocolate that you stopped eating because of zits doesn’t really cause acne!
Advertisement, fancy, and creative packaging is tricking customers, influencing them to buy ‘healthy’ foods that aren’t actually healthy!
Also Read: Always Eat the Right Healthy Food As per Your Blood Type
So, how do you differentiate between what’s good for you and what isn’t? What’s healthy and what’s just a fad? Well, don’t fret because here we debunk 10 food myths and misconceptions!
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Smoothies and Juices – One of the Biggest Food Myths
Oh! Look at Instagram or go to YouTube and you will find thousands of self-proclaimed dieticians sharing their smoothie recipes. There’s avocados, kale, bananas, strawberries, soy milk and a variety of other things involved. Plus, it seems all healthy. But is it?
Well, partly. According to Jennifer Calo of Compass Nutrition, it’s actually not so healthy.
Of course, fruits and vegetables are healthy, but drinking them in a form of juice will strip you off fiber and results in a rapid spike in blood sugar levels. Plus, too much of fructose from much juice can cause stomach aches, not to forget that smoothies aren’t really filling, and soon you will feel hungry, and you will eat more calories than you should. Instead, you should probably have a salad or fruits with their skin on. Spread out the intake of healthy foods throughout the day.
Eggs are bad for the heart
Yes! It has cholesterol and of course, the bad cholesterol can mess with your heart, clog arteries. But, egg and their yolks have just 211 mg of cholesterol per large egg. The cholesterol from the egg does not really affects the heart. While you should limit your cholesterol intake to 300 mg a day, an omelet with three eggs once a while isn’t bad at all. Penny Kris-Etherton from Penn State University suggests that an egg a day isn’t unhealthy for otherwise healthy people.
Granola Bars
You might be thought that they are a healthy alternative to chocolate and your sugar cravings. They have protein and have lower fats. But they aren’t healthy. It’s cooked with oil or butter and often has much sugar. A single serving will run you about 180-250 calories. And the energy you receive is from sugar while you should be getting it from minimally processed foods.
Vitamin Water
Oh! You should get your vitamins every day. However, vitamin water might not be the right bet for you! It’s similar to soda and can have up to 31 grams of sugar, which is almost eight teaspoons. So, just add mint or lemon and honey to enhance the taste of water instead of going for empty calories.
Flavored Yogurt
It’s a fad, especially low-fat ones. But flavored yogurt just has that ‘healthy’ mask and aren’t healthy. The amount of sugar is terrible. Instead, you should eat plain old yogurt or sweeten it up with honey and maple syrup. Or just add some fresh fruits. Why has strawberry flavored yogurt when you can have some regular yogurt with right strawberries?
Fat makes you fat
Many people avoiding eat fats thinking that fats on the outside mean fat inside your body. But that’s far from the truth. Eating the right kind of fats and avoiding trans-fatty acids can help you be healthy. In fact, there is a ketogenic diet that’s scientifically recognized to help in weight loss. However, for the diet to work, you will have to eat a dramatic amount of fat.
Also Read: Where Dose Our Fat Disappear, When We Lose Weight?
Carbs make you fatter
Of course, there’s low-fat, and there’s low-carb community. Contrary to the theories that carbs make you fat, there’s nothing that suggests that carbs are unhealthy. Jean Harvey Berino from the University of Vermont suggests that eating too many calories makes you fat, whether you are eating carbs or fats.
But dieticians do recommend that individuals should eat less sugar since sugar can result in blood sugar or insulin spikes, is responsible for diabetes and some lifestyle conditions.
Nighttime calories fatten
Some people avoid eating dinners because of this belief. But calories are calories, and it doesn’t matter when you eat them. Studies do suggest that one shouldn’t sleep for at least 2-3 hours after eating. So, you might want to stop midnight snacking.
Cornflakes
Corn Flakes aren’t healthy. Period! Breakfast cereals like cornflakes, particularly the ones that have pre-added sugars are unhealthy to contain significantly less nutrition. So, they are just empty calories.
Detoxing is good
When you fat for a detox or eat mono-meals, you aren’t cleansing your body. In fact, the weight you lose while detox is water weight. That’s the reason it comes back with a vengeance in a few weeks. Mono-meals and detox simply starve your body and reduces water weight. And no, you can’t cleanse the body of all the junk you had eaten through the week.
So, what should you actually eat?
Dieticians and Nutritionists suggest that we should all eat a balanced diet, have calories that are optimal for our weight, health and height. So, have an indulgent chocolate once in a while, but otherwise, try eating whole foods, which are unprocessed and don’t come in a packaging.
Beware of Food Myths – Be fit. Stay healthy.