This past week, we looked at one notable food blogger’s pic of the top 3 food myths that were de-bunked over the past year. But there were many more… I consulted the Mayo Clinic for a rundown of their pick of persistent nutrition myths…
Common high-carb foods – some of which, I’ll bet, you didn’t tag as such! The Mayo Clinic
warns, “Any diet or eating program that eliminates an entire food group gets a red flag”
How some of these popular food myths started remains a mystery. But the Mayo Clinic has taken pains to ensure that we all know what’s true and what’s not when it comes to nutrition…
Hold onto your hat
The Mayo Clinic is revered as one of the most prestigious and scientifically lauded private medical facilities in the world. When they tell you something, you can believe it. So I thought it might help if I passed on to you some of its top nutrition myths. You’ll be relieved that some of these aren’t true. But surprised or annoyed about others…
Everyone should follow a gluten-free diet
“Unless you have celiac disease or gluten intolerance, you don’t need to avoid gluten, which is the protein found in wheat, barley and rye. Whole-wheat products have great nutritional benefits, in-cluding essential B vitamins and fiber.”
You should use unrefined sugars in place of white table sugar
“Sugar is sugar, although unrefined sugar options may contain a small number of vitamins and min-erals. The advantage is minimal as they are still considered added sugar and contribute to the re-commended daily limit on added sugar in the diet.”
Full-fat products = weight gain
“The fat-free and low-fat diet trend is a thing of the past — 80s and 90s to be exact. Yet, some indi-viduals are still scared of fat. This shouldn’t be the case as fat has beneficial functions like protect-ing our organs, maintaining cell membranes, promoting growth and development, and absorbing essential vitamins.”
Avoid carbs if you want to lose weight
“The low-carb diet is a fad diet that has continued to make an appearance over the years. It gives carbohydrates — fruit and whole grains included — a bad reputation. Any diet or eating program that eliminates an entire food group gets a red flag from me as you likely will miss out on vital nutrients.”
Certain foods, such as grapefruit, cayenne pepper or vinegar, can burn fat
“Sorry, no foods burn fat, make you lose weight more quickly or increase your metabolism enough to have an effect on weight loss. Diets that focus on single foods, like those mentioned above, are re-strictive and lack nutrients the body needs”
Low-fat or fat-free products are healthier choices
“Many products labeled low-fat or fat-free contain added sugar or sodium to help make up for the loss of flavor when removing or reducing fat. In addition, fat helps with satiety — making you feel fuller longer. Choosing a fat-free product to reduce calories can backfire.”
My take
That’s just my pick of the Mayo clinic list of biggest nutrition myths. A quick Google search reveals dozens of ‘nutrition myths’ lists from a wide variety of legitimate and not-so-reliable sources. I spent half an hour surveying a random collection of the legit-looking ones I found. And I was surprised at how many myths I thought were true!
My questions for you:
How many of the Mayo Clinic’s top nutrition myths did you think were true (before you read this post)?
Will knowing the above are myths influence your eating habits or food choices?
Has today’s post energized you to seek out more debunked nutrition myths?
Muse on that!
~ Maggie J.