Smashed Nutrition Myths!
By Sara Butler
Sometimes myths become so ingrained, many people don’t question them and take them for a fact. What can start out as a small thing, such as coconut oil is good for you, can snowball into a much larger monster, such as coconut oil can cure any ailment and do your taxes!
In an effort to combat many of the pervasive nutritional myths out there, here are a few nutrition myths that you can now consider smashed!
Celery Actually Has Negative Calories
This one is, unfortunately, not true – though how nice would a negative calorie food be? Even though it’s not true it sure has persisted and so many people snack on celery and then wonder why they’re not losing any weight.
Well, some foods are low in calories, but no food has so few calories that your body actually expends more calories processing it than what you take in – resulting in a calorie deficit that is your one-way ticket to a bikini body. Even though celery only has 10 calories a stick, it only takes your body about half of one calorie to digest it.
Nutritional Labels are Always Based on Fact
You’d like to believe that something as official looking as a nutritional label on your favorite cereal is filled with only the truth, but that’s just not true. Nutrition labels are mandated by the FDA but the law permits a margin of error of about 20 percent. So, if you’re eating a 100 calorie pack of crackers, it could very well be you’re actually eating 120 calories.
You have to view labels as simply a guideline and allow for some margin of error in your meal planning.
Organic Produce is More Nutritious
Organic produce is grown without pesticides, and that’s certainly a plus. But, if you’re buying organic produce because you think it’s actually more nutritious you need to think again. Studies at places like Stanford have concluded that the difference in nutrition between organic and conventionally grown produce is so slight it's unlikely to influence your health.
Microwaving Vegetables Destroys All its Nutrients
You’ve probably heard this one before, but this one isn’t exactly true. Every cooking method can destroy some of the nutrients in food, but what really destroys the nutrients in food is how long the food is cooked and what kind of liquid is used during cooking. Microwaves cook really fast and you don’t have to add water, so your vegetables probably retain more of their nutrition through microwaving than other cooking methods. So, don’t be afraid to zap that veg!