Thursday, February 13, 2014

Popular Nutritional Myths

By James Spann


I:5:T Most nutritional myths float here and about on social media, e-mail chain letters, and pop up on late evening television shows. Some are passed down from generation to generation and are widely accepted by many people. Eating deep-fried food items, is one example. Most people would say this is terrible for your health. However, if you dig farther into this issue, you will discovered that, when prepared correctly, fried food items don't need to always be avoided.

Additional nutritional myths:

Sea salt is better than regular table salt.

According to a survey taken by the American Heart Association, many people believe that it's true. However, the statement is false. Sea salt is not a low-sodium alternative to table salt. Table salt is produced in underground mines. Sea salt is produced from the evaporation of sea water. Although they have different tastes, both are composed of sodium and chlorine.

Drinking red wine is good for the cardiovascular system, including the heart.

Research has proven that this statement is not one of many nutritional myths. However, a survey found that most Americans believe that increasing their daily intake of wine will increase its benefits to the heart. This is a myth. Drinking too much wine can cause many serious health problems because it contains alcohol. The American Heart Association recommends only one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men. In other words, moderate drinking of wine, not excessive drinking, is good for the heart.

Eating eggs for breakfast is bad for your heart.

Eggs do contain a significant quantity of cholesterol in their yolks. You will find 210 milligrams of cholesterol in a large size egg. It is common knowledge that the cholesterol may add to blocked blood vessels and cardiovascular disease. However, a study has shown that the majority of healthy individuals could eat an egg every day with no difficulties. Why is this so? The cholesterol in eggs does not create an enormous impact on increasing our blood cholesterol. The principal heart-disease perpetrators are saturated and trans fats, which have a great effect on increasing blood cholesterol. A common egg has two grams of saturated fat and no trans fats. You must limit your cholesterol consumption to less than 300 milligrams daily. When you consume a large egg, you are only obtaining 10 % of this amount. Hence, a large egg a day is okay as long as you don't exceed that 300 mg of cholesterol in the rest of your daily meals.

Eating fatty foods, such as bacon and sausage, will make you fat.

This is not necessarily true. Fatty foods do contain cholesterol and saturated fats which contributes to having cardiovascular diseases. However, calories from sugars - not fat - are the main culprit that causes weight gain. Yes, bacon and sausage most certainly contain calories, but not as much as carbohydrates - which are broken down to forms different types of sugars. These sugars are the main sources of energy - calories - for our body.

So, what is the take home point? If you want to lose or keep from gaining a lot of weight, you should reduce your consumption of high-sugary foods, such as buttermilk pancakes with layers of mocha cream topped with chocolate and whipped cream. Instead of eating high-sugary carbohydrates, eat complex carbohydrates which are high in fiber and vital nutrients, such as broccoli, beans, spinach, and fruits.

If you are not sure whether a particular food practice is a nutritional myth or not, research it online. If you find that the behavior is a myth, congratulate yourself on becoming one of the many nutritional myth busters.




About the Author:



0 comments:

Post a Comment

Easy Ways to Lose Weight

Weight-loss plans for everyone

Powered by Blogger.