Some Nutrition Myths

When you hear someone giving you nutrition advice – how do you know if it is good advice or some myth?  There is so much information on nutrition and some is reliable and some is not.  Here are 5 Nutrition Myths you may have heard of.   

• “Sugar is Addictive” – Most people know sugar isn’t healthy.  I was talking with a relative about sugar and she stated that we all need some sugar each day – some white table sugar.  Out of respect, I didn’t argue with her but no, we don’t need any white table sugar.  In fact, our bodies easily make sugar (glucose) out of the carbs we eat each day.  Some people think that if you eat foods with white table sugar or other added sugar, you will be addicted to “sugar”.  Food Addicts Anonymous recommends abstinence from sugar (along with flour and wheat which makes no nutrition sense.)  Science doesn’t back up the claim that sugar is addictive.  An article in the European Journal of Nutrition concluded, “We find little evidence to support sugar addiction in humans…”.  Although sugar may not be addictive it is a good nutrition practice to limit added sugar in our diets.  The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines recommend we limit foods and beverages high in added sugars.  Not eliminate them but cut back on them as who doesn’t enjoy some desserts?
• “Processed Foods are Unhealthy” - Many of my students note we should avoid processed foods.  But so many foods are processed foods.  Yogurt is a healthy food but yogurt is processed.  Cow’s milk is healthy but cow’s milk is processed.  Whole grain bread is healthy but it too is processed.  EatThis, NotThat! has an article on “20 Benefits of Ditching Processed Foods” which notes processed foods have lots of extra calories and lack fiber and nutrients.  But whole grain bread is processed, has no extra calories, has fiber and plenty of nutrients.  One has to be careful when putting food into a “processed food” category as many “processed foods” are very healthy.   Some processing does remove nutrients.  White bread has most of the fiber and many nutrients removed in processing.  White rice also has lost fiber and nutrients in processing.  The more food is processed, the more nutrients can be removed.  Apples are healthy, applesauce has fiber and some nutrients removed, apple juice is much less healthy as it has no fiber and many nutrients removed.  Some processing methods can preserve nutrients.  Frozen fruit, vegetables are just as healthy as fresh and maybe even more healthy.

• Drink 8 glasses of water a day – this always causes a lively discussion in class, as almost every student has heard this myth.  Yes, you need water, but this “water” can come from milk, tea, coffee, soup, juice and even fruit like watermelon or vegetables.  It doesn’t have to be plain water.  How do you know if you need more water or fluids?  If you are thirsty, you are getting dehydrated.  So, drink some fluid.  I wrote an interesting blog on what fluids are the most hydrating and water did not top the list.  Fat-free milk, whole milk, and orange juice were more hydrating than plain water.  After a walk on a hot summer’s day, I find a glass of real orange juice on ice more refreshing than ice water.

 

• "Cooking destroys nutrients…” Some health food gurus recommend eating only raw foods. I would not be a fan of this.  You may hear things like:  cooking destroys enzymes in food, cooking destroys the vitamins and minerals in food and even the proteins.  Odd claim about “enzymes” as our stomachs would destroy any “enzymes” in a food.  Cooking can affect the nutrition in foods – some in positive ways.  Cooked tomatoes like tomato soup, catsup, salsa provide more lycopene – a healthy antioxidant in tomatoes.  ScienceDaily notes:  “Cooking tomatoes – such as spaghetti sauce- makes the fruit heart-healthier and boosts its cancer-fighting ability.”  Cooking will destroy some of the vitamin C in tomatoes but boosts the lycopene content.  Some vitamins are water-soluble so cooking vegetables in large amounts of water, then draining the water, can result in loss of some vitamins.  That is why they recommend steaming, microwaving, stir-frying as ways to minimize nutrient loss when cooking vegetables.
• “Don’t Eat After 7 PM” This is another myth that many of my students have heard.  One student noted, “if you eat after 7 pm you will get fat.”  Not eating after 7 PM may indeed help some people maintain or lose weight. Why?  Because the foods many people eat after 7 PM can be high calorie foods like candy, ice cream, pie, cake or other dessert-type foods.  Eating an apple after 7 PM will not result in obesity.  Some people may find eating a big meal just before they go to sleep can interfere with their sleep and cause problems with reflux or GERD.  Others may eat a meal after 7 PM and be up for hours later and have no problems eating a later meal.  Athletes may even want a bedtime snack.  Discover Good Nutrition notes: “The right snacks at bedtime help athletes recover and also perform at their best the next day.”  The article notes how real cow’s milk or other dairy like cottage cheese or yogurt (made from real cow’s milk) are healthy bedtime snacks as they provide high quality proteins athletes need.  

Have you heard any of these Nutrition Myths?  My students usually bring up most and sometimes all of these myths in class.  Water is the one that is most controversial.  Some students will not fathom that milk or coffee can supply “water” and count as part of their 8 glasses of water a day.  And that is OK as drinking 8 glasses of plain water isn’t harmful.  Other students are relieved that they don’t have to focus anymore on counting and reaching 8 glasses of water a day to be healthy.  Many people are surprised that cooking foods like tomatoes can result in the food being healthier.  I always tell students to enjoy the salsa at it is quite healthy.  As for eating after 7 PM, I often like to eat my dessert before going to bed.  I have done so for years with no seeming ill effects.  And athletes may want to add a bedtime snack of real dairy and a carb food to their evening snack. 

Sources:  Myths, recommends, article, Dietary Guidelines, water, blog, Discover Good Nutrition  Image sources:  Water pouring , Food processing , Should I stop eating after 7 pm?