What do the Abominable Snowman, Loch Ness monster and Chupacabra all have in common? They are mythical creatures made up by humans to scare other humans into believing they exist. Much like these folklore characters – humans have made up a few food myths. These have resulted from the misinterpretation of scientific research creating the possibility of financial gain through preying on our complicated relationships with food and health. Food myths create these fad diets and booming sales of recipe books and food products in support of this false information. What is real and what is fake? Here are some myths busted:
1. Carbohydrates make you fat and are bad for you: Carbohydrates are our primary fuel source and vital for our survival. Some of our cells can in fact only survive off of glucose as an energy source – a simple sugar that most carbohydrates are made up of. I mean just based on those facts can you see how cutting them out of your diet would be detrimental to your health? None the less, certain fad diets will advocate the removal or limiting of carbohydrate foods in our diets. Most of the time this is backed up by harsh statements like “sugar is addictive and causes cancer” which is enough to make anyone avoid carbs like the plague, right? Wrong!! Yes, junk food and sugary foods can become addictive. Yes, eating too much refined sugar, sweets, cakes and chocolates will increase your risk of developing disease – Hello diabetes, how are you doing? But what this statement neglects to inform people about is that not all carbohydrate foods are created equal. Cake and bread are made up of many of the same ingredients; flour, sugar, salt, raising agent, oil, sometimes some egg. The differences between a whole wheat brown bread and a vanilla sponge cake is the varying ratios of these ingredients used to make them and often the type of flour used. The bread is a healthier carbohydrate source while the cake is less healthy. Having a slice of low GI toast in the morning with your coffee every day is not going to make you fat and turn you into a sugar junkie, but a slice of cake covered in icing and chocolate mousse probably will. 2. You can eat whatever you want as long as you exercise: Some of us are blessed with incredibly fast metabolisms, where we can eat fast food 4 times a week, skip breakfast and still be beach body ready. But its all good because you exercise and you aren’t gaining any weight so why should you bother with eating healthy? Eating healthy is for the rest of the people who don’t do any exercise and are 3 sizes bigger, right? This couldn’t be more wrong. Just because you are less predisposed to weight gain and food sensitivities, or exercise more than those around you doesn’t mean you’re exempt from all the reasons to eat healthily. People are living longer and longer lives these days but even through all the advancements in the medicine and beauty industries there is one stead fast fact that has stood the test of time – eating healthy AND exercising is the biggest contributing factor to longevity! No matter what genetic lottery you may have won! 3. Its not what you eat, it’s how much: This is one of those half truths that is often spouted by diet plan sellers and people promising that with their miracle product you can literally have your cake and eat it too. The sad part is that statements like this prey on our natural human need for rationalisation, it creates that little voice inside your head that chats you into giving into a craving. And while I do believe in and strongly advocate for us to live balanced lives, without depriving ourselves of the treats in our diet. I disagree with the part of this statement that makes you think – “I can eat McDonalds every day, but just as long as that’s all I eat for the day”. Or the “its okay I can eat a chocolate bar for breakfast because I’ll just skip lunch.” The truth is it is both what you eat and how much of it that dictates your healthfulness. You can’t think that eating vegetables only for a meal once a week is enough, just the same as a block of dark chocolate a day won’t turn you into a heffalump. There is no substitute for good, consistent nutrition. 4. Eggs increase your cholesterol: A while back a scientific study concluded that eggs increase your bad cholesterol and recommended that people do not consume more than one egg a day. This was very soon after disregarded by a number of members of the scientific community however, just as any good story – humans will almost always believe the more negative statement given the choice. While it is true that eggs (just as any animal protein source does) contain cholesterol, the impact of eating them on your body’s cholesterol is negligible. In fact your cholesterol levels are impacted by the number of saturated and trans fats you eat – so it is the fried bacon and buttered toast in your breakfast that will increase your cholesterol levels before any egg will. 5. Margarine is healthier than butter: Kilojoule-wise margarine and butter are usually quite close together. The argument used by food companies to sell their marge has always been that it’s processed from plant fats so it is healthier than butter. This is not always true, butter may have cholesterol and saturated fats but some brands of margarine contain trans fats which are even worse for you, so make sure you look for the trans-fat free brands. 6. Fat free, sugar free, reduced salt, gluten-free, cholesterol-free are always better choices: This is one of my most hated food myths as a food scientist and product developer. Consumers latch onto statements like “fat is bad for you”, “sugar is the worst thing you can eat”, “gluten – the source of all your health issues” and immediately think the free from products are healthier and better for them. This is unfortunately not the case, if you think about it – what makes food delicious? Sweet, salt, fat and flavour (which we taste because of the flavour enhancing capabilities of the former ingredients). So put yourself in my shoes, the shoes of “those people that just put chemicals in our food” – how do you make a sugar free sweet product taste sweet? You use artificial sweeteners. How do you make a naturally fatty product like cheese, yoghurt or mayonnaise fat free but still taste the same? You use sugar, modified starches, and fat replacing agents. Oh and, don’t forget all this has to be cost effective too, because no one wants to pay three times the price for fat free sugar free chocolate than for normal chocolate because I mean you stole all the fat and sugar from the product so why would the consumer pay more? Sometimes the better option is the free from one – but not always, compare labels with the original product and see for yourself what the differences are. The best advice anyone can give is to actually rather focus on eating wholesome foods that are the least processed. Don’t believe everything you read on social media, or what the lady at the dentist said or even your best friend. If a product or a person in the health and fitness industry is promising results fast with minimal effort and time – they are probably lying. Your money is better spent on a balanced diet low in processed foods and an exercise regime than it will ever be on supplements and “healthy free-from” foods!
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AuthorDanielle Gemeliaris has been dancing for half her life and has always been passionate about food, nutrition and the science behind them. The knowledge she gained through her studies, as a dancer and her experience as a health and wellness coach through Herbalife, has made her uniquely qualified to help dancers better understand nutrition and the role it plays in their lives. She hopes to offer the readers of this blog the opportunity to gain a basic working knowledge of nutrition, the role it plays for dancers and learn how to make better more informed food choices in the future. Archives
April 2019
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