whats the worst "food myth" you have heard?

bella51708

You can thank my mother for these gems:
If it's fat free or low fat you can eat all you want
Since a potato is a vegetable it's perfectly okay to have it be the only vegetable in your diet
Avocados & nuts are fattening and should be avoided at all costs
Veggie omelets aren't good because of the cholesterol (mind you she had ordered a double-decker club sandwich with onion rings and a coke when she said that to me :grumble: )

This sounds like my Mom. She is still on the fat-free/low fat diet that was common in the 90's. If something says lowfat or fat-free you can have as much as you want of it. She use to be obsessed with fat content in everything. She would not buy anything with more than 3g of total fat. Craziness!!! The scary part is, she still thinks this way no matter how much I explain fats to her.

sunnyday789

You must drink at least 8 glasses of plain water each day or you will become dehydrated. Caffeintated drinks do not count for hydration; in fact you have to drink extra plain water to account for them

ChristySeeksBalance

I'm amazed at all the bread crust myths! I was always told to eat all my crusts, because that is there all the nutrients are! The rest of the bread is just "fluff".

budhandy

gotta eat every 2-4 hours to keep that metabo fire burning but dont eat after 9 pm!:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

SummerSunBaby

Toasting bread cuts some of the calories off.

LOL My grandma swears by this. I have to keep telling her she's wrong. It probably shaves off what? 000.1 calorie.
It's freaking toast.

mtaylor33557

My personal trainer asked me if I was eating "good calories" or "bad calories" ...

Whew that made me laugh so hard... hahaha

Technically a good calorie would be food. A bad calorie would be something that isn't food- like paint or hardwood flooring.

That made me giggle!

jallen1955

there is no such thing as empty calories- all calories are the same


and my all time fave

"this metabolism stuff is just a myth"

talk about nutritionally dense lol

SRH7

gotta eat every 2-4 hours to keep that metabo fire burning but dont eat after 9 pm!:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Arrrrggghhh! I recently reassessed my lifestyle to figure out why I was 40lbs lighter at 25 - I think the answer is:

1) I was a newspaper reporter always on the go, chasing after stories and pounding the pavements
2) I only ate when I was truly hungry and had time to grab something

Now I'm in a management job, stuck behind a desk and can eat when I want. Now I eat my three meals a day with snacks inbetween. Now I'm fat and need to lose weight!

I got fat because I ate more than I used to. I'm trying to retrain myself to only eat when hungry and not when we are told we should do. And if this means I won't stick to traditional meal times and want to have my dinner at 9pm rather than before 7pm then I will do!

ttaylor68913

its healthier to eat standing up vs sitting.... well yes because i spill 90% more (on my shirt) standing up than i do sitting down. bahaha

mtaylor33557

This is not as much a "myth" but something someone convinced themselves to make them feel better.

My MIL is diabetic and the queen of southern style comfort foods.

She once told me.. " Well you can eat the okra, its a vegetable. Yes, I know it's fried, but I did it in the deep fryer, and that cooks it so fast it doesn't have time to absorb any of the oil.."

Yeaaaahhh... that makes sense, so what's dripping off of that paper towel you're putting them onto?

ttaylor68913

oh and apparently i live under a rock what the hell is a negative calorie food? no doubt a mythical creature of sorts but I've never heard that term until this post

psiren28

Diet soda is just NASTY!!! What exactly IS the point of Diet soda anyways? So those people can eat a Big Mac, a Large Fry, and have a Diet Soda to make them feel better? LOL

Nah, it doesn't make me feel better , I just don't like to waste calories on a drink when I can have a zero cal one.

AeolianHarp

- Foods are healthy and unhealthy
- Low sodium reduces water retention (it actually increases aldosterone)
- Sodium is the devil
- Saturated fat is bad
- Red meat is bad
- Gotta drink a ton of water

Those are the biggest ones or me.

mtaylor33557

oh and apparently i live under a rock what the hell is a negative calorie food? no doubt a mythical creature of sorts but I've never heard that term until this post

I think they are supposed to be things that take more calories to digest than what they contain.. is that correct, anyone?

I've never really thought much about it, but I thought I heard somone try to argue that once.

crisanderson27

Currently?

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, if you don't eat breakfast, your metabolism lowers and you store more of the food you eat as fat...so you HAVE to eat breakfast in order to 'jump start' (please, don't get me started on 'jump start'!) your metabolism!!"

Seriously people?

bcattoes

"Legumes are poisonous" Heard it on MFP from a Paleo fanatic.

yoovie

that its a good idea to reward good behavior with it as if you were a dog.

misbehaving and fueling your body aren't related unless you WANT emotional eating issues.

Acg67

"Legumes are poisonous" Heard it on MFP from a Paleo fanatic.

Some people have peanut allergies, if they eat them they could die. Peanuts are legumes therefore you can extrapolate to legumes are poisonous ;P

ilovedeadlifts

no carbs at night.

yoovie

You must drink at least 8 glasses of plain water each day or you will become dehydrated. Caffeintated drinks do not count for hydration; in fact you have to drink extra plain water to account for them

I live by this but i have serious body hydration issues what with being a mermaid and all. Oh wait I thought that said carbonated. No i dont compensate for caffeinated drinks. But I MUST drink 2-3 bottles of water a day or I faint within the next three days.

Acg67

no carbs at night.

Say hi to the insulin fairy for me

klybarger3

Potatoes are bad

yoovie

Potatoes are bad

i read this and instantly wanted vodka

Loraah

Today my housemate told Me that diet coke makes you gain weight. I don't drink diet coke but am now going to drink an entire carton of diet coke in aweek just to prove that I won't gain weight. She's buying them so how could I refuse. I love being right

VMarkV

Carbs, salt, cholesterol, fat, and saturated fat are "the devil" always seems to be popular
Green vegetables don't count as calories since they are so fibrous
Eating animal products causes cardiovascular disease
Eating around bedtime makes you fat
Dietary fat makes you fat
You don't have to count calories if you eat only "clean" foods

vrutwind

"Gluten free foods are much healthier" (coming from a friend who does not have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance).

bcattoes

if you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding. how can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?

I think you jest, but my mother actually lived by this rule, which was extremely unfortunate since she also has an unatural fear of undercooked meat so all her meat tasted like jerky. I hate jerky. But maybe that's why I was such a skinny child.

lg3703

' It is easier for men to lose weight than women."
This blew my mind because I believed it until I saw on Dr. Oz

That's not a myth, its a fact because men naturally has more calorie burning muscles than women because of the male hormone testosterone which is also responsible for those fat releasing enzyme. In contrast, we women have more fat & our hormone estrogen favors more the fat storing enzyme.

Unfortunately, that is true... but exercise DOES help raise T levels =]

lg3703

Currently?

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, if you don't eat breakfast, your metabolism lowers and you store more of the food you eat as fat...so you HAVE to eat breakfast in order to 'jump start' (please, don't get me started on 'jump start'!) your metabolism!!"

Seriously people?

What? That's not true?!! (damn these myths!!)

ZugTheMegasaurus

oh and apparently i live under a rock what the hell is a negative calorie food? no doubt a mythical creature of sorts but I've never heard that term until this post

I think they are supposed to be things that take more calories to digest than what they contain.. is that correct, anyone?

I've never really thought much about it, but I thought I heard somone try to argue that once.

That's the gist of it. And from what I've looked up (basically Snopes and the related links), it's technically true that celery is a "negative calorie" food in this sense, but the difference is negligible. For example, you might eat 6 calories worth of celery, and then it will take 6.5 calories to digest it. You are never going to notice that half a calorie, and you're never going to eat so much celery that it will accumulate to much at all.