15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

The world of healthy eating is full of myths that we habitually accept as truth, but they can be misleading and even harmful to health. Based on scientific research and expert opinions, we will help you understand these issues and form a conscious approach to healthy eating.

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

According to nutritionist David Zinchenko, both HFCS and sugar, or sucrose, are made from a mixture of two sugars: fructose and glucose, approximately 50 to 50, which means that they are basically the same thing, and also not very healthy for you.

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

The USDA Economic Research Service looked at more than 4,000 foods and came up with data based on price, weight, calories, and serving size. It found that healthy foods are actually cheaper than unhealthy junk. Bananas, carrots, mashed potatoes, orange juice, and salad are cheaper per serving than French fries, soda, ice cream, and fried chicken.

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

Yes, vitamins and minerals are good for you, but you need to get them from food, not pills. This is because your body can only absorb 10-20% of what you ingest. The rest goes to making really expensive, bright yellow urine.

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

Energy drinks do contain vitamins, plant extracts, amino acids, but the average 16 ounce can contains about 280 calories of pure sugar, which is 80 calories more than a 16 ounce bottle of Pepsi. Sorry to disappoint.

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

Not so, according to an 18-month study by the Rand Corporation. They analyzed the contents of nearly 31,000 menu items at 245 “family” chains and found that 96 percent of their meals contained more calories, fat, and sodium than the USDA recommends adults and kids consume in a single meal. Plus, they contained an average of 271 more calories and 16 grams more fat than fast food. In other words, both are on the unhealthy side.

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

Even if you don't believe that soda is carcinogenic, numerous reports show that the artificial sweeteners aspartame and sucralose lead to increased food intake later in the day and more calories consumed overall. Plain water, while tasteless, does not do the same.

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

Yes, in theory. But most low-fat foods contain sugar and a ton of carbs, which your body will convert to fat if you eat too many of them. So, it sort of compensates for the low fat content of the product.

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

Carbs are energy, without them you would be sleepy and sluggish all the time. What really matters is the type of carbs. In other words, donuts are bad, whole grain bread is good.

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

Again, in theory, yes. But marketing gimmicks make the product sound “natural,” when it may actually contain high levels of high-fructose corn syrup, sugar, and tons of sodium. If you don’t read the label carefully, this may not end well for you.

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

Despite what popular talk shows may claim, calories are calories. Your body doesn't care when you consume them, but when it comes to weight loss, it's how much you consume that matters.

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

Raw foodists say that heating food above 118 degrees destroys essential enzymes. This is true, but it doesn't matter. After all, enzymes are essential for plants, not for your health. In fact, the first thing your stomach does with raw food is destroy those "essential" enzymes.

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

The problem with juice is that it contains a lot of sugar. Instead of cleansing, after a quick transition to juice, you just fill your body with empty calories. You can also cleanse your body with beer.

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

You should like this fact. Chocolate itself is not bad for you, but not the milk chocolate you eat, which is mostly milk fat and sugar. Just buy good dark chocolate!

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

It should be, but it's not. Most granola is coated in sugar and drenched in butter. For example: One cup of Quaker Natural Granola, Nuts & Raisins contains 420 calories, 30 grams of sugar, and 10 grams of fat. Another doughnut, Mr. Simpson?

15 Popular Healthy Eating Myths and How to Debunk Them

Mostly, yes, but not always. Onions, for example, have the lowest pesticide absorption capacity of any vegetable, according to the Environmental Working Group. Also, avocados, corn, and pineapples are best bought non-organic. (Hopefully that's reassuring after all the bad news.)

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