The most popular myths about healthy eating and their refutation

May 29 is World Digestive Health Day. We often hear people teaching each other how to eat right. At the same time, passing off the common "folk" delusions as the truth. Let's try to disprove popular myths about healthy eating

(Total 10 photos)

1. MYTH: Sugar is better than glucose-fructose syrup.

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

2. MYTH: Healthy food is much more expensive.

The USDA Economic Research Service studied more than 4,000 types of food and produced data based on price, weight, calories, and serving size. It has been found that healthy food is 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.

3. MYTH: Multivitamins are essential for your health.

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

4. MYTH: Soda is bad, energy drinks are good.

Energy drinks do contain vitamins, herbal 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 for the disappointment.

5. MYTH: Restaurants offer healthier food than fast foods.

According to an 18-month study by the Rand Corporation, this is not the case. They analyzed nearly 31,000 menu items from 245 family chains and found that 96% of their meals contained more calories, fat and sodium than the USDA recommends for children and adults in one meal. Plus, they contain an average of 271 more calories and 16 grams more fat than fast food. In other words, both are on the junk food side.

6. MYTH: Diet soda is harmless.

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

7. MYTH: Low-fat foods are better.

Yes, in theory. But most low-fat foods contain sugar and tons of carbs that your body will convert to fat if you eat too much. Thus, the low fat content in the product is compensated, as it were.

8. MYTH: You have to cut carbs.

Carbohydrates are energy, without them you would be sleepy and lethargic all the time. What is really important is the type of carbohydrate. In other words, donuts are bad, whole grain breads are good.

9. MYTH: Natural foods are healthier.

Again, in theory, yes. But marketing gimmicks make the product "natural" when it can be high in glucose-fructose syrup, sugar, and tons of sodium. If you don't read the label too carefully, this may not turn out well for you.

10. MYTH: Daily calories are not digested into fat.

Despite popular talk shows, calories are calories. Your body doesn't care when you consume them, when it comes to weight loss, it only matters how much you consume.

11. MYTH: Raw food aids digestion.

Raw foodists say that heating food to more than 118 degrees destroys essential enzymes. It's true, but it doesn't matter. After all, enzymes are necessary for plants, not for your health. In fact, the first thing your stomach does with raw food is to break down those "essential" enzymes.

12. MYTH: Juice cleanses the body quickly.

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

13. MYTH: Chocolate is terrible.

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

14. MYTH: Granola is a very healthy food.

It should be like this, but it's not. Most of the muesli is covered with sugar icing and doused with butter. For example: One cup of Quaker Natural Granola, Nuts & Raisins has 420 calories, 30 grams of sugar, and 10 grams of fat. Another donut, Mr. Simpson?

15. MYTH: Organic food is always preferable.

Mostly yes, but not always. Onions, for example, have the lowest pesticide uptake capacity of all vegetables according to the Environmental Working Group. In addition, avocados, corn and pineapples are best bought non-organic. (Hope that puts your mind at ease after all the bad news)