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I recently read a revealing article from Parade magazine that uncovers common food myths. Some of them were shocking. Do people really think that margarine is healthier than butter? Although butter contains saturated fats that raise cholesterol, margarine is loaded with trans fats. Unfortunately, my parents believed this myth; and, just recently, over the past few years I have begun to discover the many different delicious creamy butters that exist.
A myth that I believed prior to reading this article was that fresh fruits and vegetables are healthier than frozen ones. In some cases, you can get more nutrients from frozen fruits and vegetables. This depends on how old the "fresh" produce really is. After being harvested, fresh fruit can spend many days being sorted through and shipped to markets. Fluctuations in light and temperature affect the nutrients in produce. On the other hand, the negative effects of canned and frozen produce have to do with its taste, texture, and additives.
Another revealing myth is that decaf coffee has no caffeine. There are plenty more! For example, people actually believe that bananas are fattening. Many people argue that cooking vegetables destroys their vitamin content. What do you think about these busted food myths? And, which ones do you think are less obvious?
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10-23-2008 @2:36PM Astin said... I've never once believed margarine is in any way healthy. It's pretty much a chemical substitute for butter. The tradeoffs aren't anywhere near worth it.
As for veggies losing vitamins - it IS true if you overcook, overboil, or otherwise improperly prepare them. Most people overcook veggies, so that instead of being bright and crisp, they're pale and limp. They're also disgusting that way.
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10-23-2008 @2:53PM Pyrofish said... The only ones I wasn't aware of were 1, 8, and 17. The rest had been discussed ad-nauseum by Alton Brown and/or Mario Batali on their shows.
I always laugh when someone says to add salt to make the water boil faster. If it made water boil faster, it would be lowering the boiling point, hence lowering the temperature at which it cooks. Not helpful in most cases. The temp difference is slightly higher in reality, taking just a touch longer for super salty water like Miss Burrell advocates. The difference in flavor more than makes up for it.
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10-23-2008 @2:53PM Pyrofish said... The margarine thing is hilarious to me. I always used butter because it tasted better. I thought I was being unhealthy and didn't care. Then I saw the good Eats episode about butter v margarine and never looked at another hydrogenated fat the same way again. The funny thing is, my hippie sister and her brood, who are amongst the most food conscious people I know, still eat margarine. HFCS? Not a chance? Fast Food? No way! Pork? Please get it out of their site! Chemically-altered-hydrogenated-trans-fat-containing-spreadable-butteresque flavored food product? Yes please! It kills me every time!
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10-23-2008 @4:54PM Jonz said... by and large margarine contains trans fats, but there are certain brands that don't and taste pretty darn good. for example a vegan staple item, Earth Balance, is trans fat free.
some dairy eaters i've met actually prefer earthbalance to real butter. i'm not sure i would agree if i ate dairy, but as it is most dairy products smells gross to me.
oh, and my friend's doctor had his dad using the stuff because he had high cholesterol.
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10-24-2008 @9:13AM LinC said... Transfats weren't discovered until about ten years ago. For several decades margarine was considered to be healthier than butter because it was made from vegetable oil. That view was reinforced in the 1970's when higher colestrol was linked to consumption of animal fats. Food science is still evolving, and I'm sure that many of the views we take for granted now will be overturned by new discoveries.
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10-24-2008 @10:57AM Pyrofish said... We really don't know much about food affecting our physiology. What we do know, is processed foods often affect us in ways other than we believe they should. Not always bad, not always good, just unknown. The reason for this is the complexity of the natural system. Michael Polan has a great lecture somewhere on youtube about this. I believe it was to at the Google campus. He compared the knowledge of today's nutritionists to the state of surgery in the late 1800's (IIRC). It's a long lecture, but worth looking at.
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