5 Food Myths Busted!

[saty]

Myth #1: Raw Foods Are Always More Nutritious than Cooked Ones
Fact: While followers of raw-food diets claim that eating uncooked food preserves all of the nutrients, research shows that this idea is half-baked. It’s true that heat destroys certain water-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin C, but cooking boosts levels of other nutrients.
For example, ketchup and tomato sauce contain up to six times more lycopene than raw tomatoes. Several studies show that this powerful antioxidant reduces risk for prostate and colon cancer, as well as heart disease. And since lycopene is fat-soluble, you need to eat cooked tomatoes with some fat (such as olive oil) to help absorption.

Myth #2. Skipping a Meal Slows Your Metabolism
Fact: Missing a single meal does not put your body into “starvation mode,” but may cause you to eat more at the next meal, because you’re hungrier. Research shows that it actually takes about two to three weeks of consistently low-calorie intake or at least 24 hours of eating absolutely nothing before there’s any significant change in your metabolic rate.
One study found after one to three days of total starvation, there’s a temporary rise in basal metabolic rate, while prolonged starvation lowers it, with the sharpest drop in obese people (explaining why it’s often difficult for very overweight people to slim down even on a very low-calorie diet).
Find out whether 23 popular diet plans actually work.

Myth #3: High-fructose Corn Syrup is Worse than Sugar
Fact: The idea of that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is particularly harmful is “one of those urban myths that sounds right, but is basically wrong,” says the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a health advocacy group. In reality, both table sugar and HFCS are almost identical, nutritionally, with similar effects on the body’s levels of insulin, blood glucose, triglycerides, and hunger hormones.
The real problem isn’t the type of sweetener we eat, but the fact that Americans are consuming way too many empty calories, a key culprit in the obesity epidemic. The American Heart Association recommends a maximum of six spoonfuls of sugar for women, and nine for men, without singling out any specific type, such as HFCS, as the sole dietary villain. Any food ingredient ending in “ose” is usually a form of sugar.

Myth #4: Fruit Juice is Healthy
Fact: While an apple a day may keep the doctor away, that’s not true of apple juice or other fruit beverages. While many people consider fruit juice a healthier option than soda, data from the Harvard Nurses' Study found that women who drink one or more glasses of fruit juice a day are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
Conversely, the researchers found that women who eat three servings of fruit or vegetables a day had significant lower risk of diabetes than did those who ate fewer servings. Not only does eating fruit and vegetables provide healthy fiber and vitamins, but they’re filling, reducing the risk of weight gain (which in turn, raises diabetes risk.)

Myth #5: You Need a High-Protein Diet to Build Muscle Mass
Fact: To bulk up, you need weight training plus extra calories. However, there’s no need to gulp down high-protein shakes and meat galore—a myth that’s been circulating since the 6th century BC, with an ancient Greek strongman claiming that the secret of his athletic prowess was eating 20 pounds of beef a day.
While protein is a crucial nutrient for building, maintaining and repairing body tissues, a very high-protein diet boosts the threat of heart disease, impaired kidney function, bone fractures, and some cancers, including those of the colon and breast, according to Physicians for Responsible Medicine. In the typical Western diet, most people eat at least double the amount of protein needed for good health.
The American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics advises people who are training for resistance sports, including weight lifting, to limit themselves to no more than 0.55 to 0.77 grams of protein per pound of body weight, as part of a healthy diet that also includes healthy carbs for energy and about 20 to 35 percent fat.

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayi...d-myths-busted

[dawkinz]

1 to 4 very good points and I totally agree. Although I would challenge the 5th point

[al209]

Hfcs apparently contains starch like molecules that aren't factored into calorie calculations, thus contain more energy than sugar. Which makes sense when u consider that obesity seemed to shoot up around the time hfcs replaced real sugar.

Fruit juice/sugar doesn't cause diabetes. wacky and dogmatic as they may be, fruitarians don't suffer with it. it doesn't make them or their liver fat either, and they eat fucking loads.

Number 5, well it really depends how much protein your on and what u expect to gain. Again with ref to fruitarians, no amount if calorie surplus seem to build them muscle, they're a good example of why at least adequate protein is necessary for muscle growth. There's gonna be a point where protein synthesis is maxed out, no need to go higher. I'd go with intelligent experienced personal trainers like Anthony Colpo and Alan Aragon on this one at something like 1.6g-2.0g per kilo bodyweight. Bodybuilders eat loads of protein and build loads of muscle, fruitarians eat little protein and build little muscle. Should be a no brainer.

[plam]

Myths busting creates new myths!

[dawkinz]

Originally Posted by al209

Fruit juice/sugar doesn't cause diabetes. wacky and dogmatic as they may be, fruitarians don't suffer with it. it doesn't make them or their liver fat either, and they eat fucking loads.

A Sugar molecule is a fructose molecule bonded with a glucose molecule. Enzymes in the body dismantle that bond almost straight away. Glucose has an immediate effect on insulin levels, and a high glycemic load.
Fructose has been shown to be detrimental to our health and I would urge caution to anyone who has a diet high in fructose or sugar.

[_z3n_]

Originally Posted by saty

Myth #1: Raw Foods Are Always More Nutritious than Cooked Ones
Fact: While followers of raw-food diets claim that eating uncooked food preserves all of the nutrients, research shows that this idea is half-baked. It’s true that heat destroys certain water-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin C, but cooking boosts levels of other nutrients.
For example, ketchup and tomato sauce contain up to six times more lycopene than raw tomatoes. Several studies show that this powerful antioxidant reduces risk for prostate and colon cancer, as well as heart disease. And since lycopene is fat-soluble, you need to eat cooked tomatoes with some fat (such as olive oil) to help absorption.

Just curious, are there any other nutrients besides lycopene that are more prevalent after cooking? Because it's easy to name many, many nutrients that get destroyed or very significantly reduced by cooking/heat. Also, I don't think that cooked tomatoes actually contain more lycopene, I think that cooking removes much of the water in tomatoes and concentrates the lycopene.

[_z3n_]

Originally Posted by dawkinz

A Sugar molecule is a fructose molecule bonded with a glucose molecule. Enzymes in the body dismantle that bond almost straight away. Glucose has an immediate effect on insulin levels, and a high glycemic load.
Fructose has been shown to be detrimental to our health and I would urge caution to anyone who has a diet high in fructose or sugar.

I think the important difference is that pure juice or processed sugar solutions (soda, etc.) have no fiber to slow the absorption of sugar. Whole fruits are full of fiber and mass which allow the sugar to be delivered at a manageable rate. That's the reason fruit tends to have a low GI/GL and is often recommended for diabetics.

[al209]

Originally Posted by dawkinz

A Sugar molecule is a fructose molecule bonded with a glucose molecule. Enzymes in the body dismantle that bond almost straight away. Glucose has an immediate effect on insulin levels, and a high glycemic load.
Fructose has been shown to be detrimental to our health and I would urge caution to anyone who has a diet high in fructose or sugar.

Perhaps you should change your name to Taubez...

[nirvana]

Originally Posted by dawkinz

1 to 4 very good points and I totally agree. Although I would challenge the 5th point

I think I would challenge number 5 aswel. I do alot of heavy weight lifting and the extra protein does make a massive difference. When I was on a high carb diet i felt fatigued all the time.

I follow alot of what barry groves says. [author of trick or treat}

[tenzingnorgay]

Originally Posted by saty

Myth #1: Raw Foods Are Always More Nutritious than Cooked Ones
Fact: While followers of raw-food diets claim that eating uncooked food preserves all of the nutrients, research shows that this idea is half-baked. It’s true that heat destroys certain water-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin C, but cooking boosts levels of other nutrients.
For example, ketchup and tomato sauce contain up to six times more lycopene than raw tomatoes. Several studies show that this powerful antioxidant reduces risk for prostate and colon cancer, as well as heart disease. And since lycopene is fat-soluble, you need to eat cooked tomatoes with some fat (such as olive oil) to help absorption.

Myth #2. Skipping a Meal Slows Your Metabolism
Fact: Missing a single meal does not put your body into “starvation mode,” but may cause you to eat more at the next meal, because you’re hungrier. Research shows that it actually takes about two to three weeks of consistently low-calorie intake or at least 24 hours of eating absolutely nothing before there’s any significant change in your metabolic rate.
One study found after one to three days of total starvation, there’s a temporary rise in basal metabolic rate, while prolonged starvation lowers it, with the sharpest drop in obese people (explaining why it’s often difficult for very overweight people to slim down even on a very low-calorie diet).
Find out whether 23 popular diet plans actually work.

Myth #3: High-fructose Corn Syrup is Worse than Sugar
Fact: The idea of that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is particularly harmful is “one of those urban myths that sounds right, but is basically wrong,” says the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a health advocacy group. In reality, both table sugar and HFCS are almost identical, nutritionally, with similar effects on the body’s levels of insulin, blood glucose, triglycerides, and hunger hormones.
The real problem isn’t the type of sweetener we eat, but the fact that Americans are consuming way too many empty calories, a key culprit in the obesity epidemic. The American Heart Association recommends a maximum of six spoonfuls of sugar for women, and nine for men, without singling out any specific type, such as HFCS, as the sole dietary villain. Any food ingredient ending in “ose” is usually a form of sugar.

Myth #4: Fruit Juice is Healthy
Fact: While an apple a day may keep the doctor away, that’s not true of apple juice or other fruit beverages. While many people consider fruit juice a healthier option than soda, data from the Harvard Nurses' Study found that women who drink one or more glasses of fruit juice a day are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
Conversely, the researchers found that women who eat three servings of fruit or vegetables a day had significant lower risk of diabetes than did those who ate fewer servings. Not only does eating fruit and vegetables provide healthy fiber and vitamins, but they’re filling, reducing the risk of weight gain (which in turn, raises diabetes risk.)

Myth #5: You Need a High-Protein Diet to Build Muscle Mass
Fact: To bulk up, you need weight training plus extra calories. However, there’s no need to gulp down high-protein shakes and meat galore—a myth that’s been circulating since the 6th century BC, with an ancient Greek strongman claiming that the secret of his athletic prowess was eating 20 pounds of beef a day.
While protein is a crucial nutrient for building, maintaining and repairing body tissues, a very high-protein diet boosts the threat of heart disease, impaired kidney function, bone fractures, and some cancers, including those of the colon and breast, according to Physicians for Responsible Medicine. In the typical Western diet, most people eat at least double the amount of protein needed for good health.
The American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics advises people who are training for resistance sports, including weight lifting, to limit themselves to no more than 0.55 to 0.77 grams of protein per pound of body weight, as part of a healthy diet that also includes healthy carbs for energy and about 20 to 35 percent fat.

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayi...d-myths-busted

#3 is a fact, not a myth. I'm surprised anyone still doesn't know this. Sugar is bad but HFCS is far worse:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...etabolism.aspx

#5 is also potentially a fact, not a myth. As they admit, "protein is a crucial nutrient for building, maintaining and repairing body tissues". The hidden issue here is how you define "high", which they ignore in their attempt to demonize protein.

[saty]

Originally Posted by _z3n_

Just curious, are there any other nutrients besides lycopene that are more prevalent after cooking? Because it's easy to name many, many nutrients that get destroyed or very significantly reduced by cooking/heat. Also, I don't think that cooked tomatoes actually contain more lycopene, I think that cooking removes much of the water in tomatoes and concentrates the lycopene.

I found this and it says Cooked Tomatoes can cure cancer.Not sure what to make of it.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiati...s-cancer-cells

[consciousness]

Originally Posted by plam

Myths busting creates new myths!

Too true