Some food myths busted!

Healthy eating habits keep us active and fit, resulting more energy and stamina to be active throughout day. It is better to prepare a diet chart and follow it religiously as unscheduled eating can lead us to various problems like indigestion, upset stomach, obesity, drowsiness or sleeplessness etc.

Moving forward, most of us are still eating everything we shouldn’t, but we’ve picked up some common food myths along the way. These food myths are developed by opinions but are not supported by any research or fact. These myths are harmful to us as it influences daily nutrition. So, I would like to bust five of these common food myths.

High protein food is harmful for the kidneys.Fact: It is true that proteins are processed by the kidney. And common sense suggests that too much of something will damage any device. However, this is not possible.Two separate studies, one conducted by ‘The International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism’ and another published in ‘The Annals of Internal Medicine’ revealed that even though athletes consumed large amounts of protein, the kidney functioned as normal.

Egg yolks are bad for the heart.
Fact: We crack an egg to bake or to make our healthy breakfast, but a lot of Indians are questioning the high cholesterol level present in the yolk. This is clearly a cause of concern for heart patients, or is it?
There is no connection between heart disease and regular egg consumption. According to heart-healthy guideline, you need to limit your cholesterol level within 300 milligrams. An average egg contains 185 milligrams cholesterol so that’s still under the limit. But you need to balance it if you are consuming chicken, dairy and meat products.

Fasting is the only way to detoxify the body.
Fact: It is popular perception that your body needs to be detoxified regularly from impurities. The most common method used for detoxifying the body is fasting. But is it the right way to go?
Scientifically, your body has certain organs like the colon, liver, lungs, kidney and skin to flush out the toxins from your body. You may not be aware, but your body is fasting every night. Hence your body regularly detoxifies from all the toxins, so there is no need to fast to detoxify.

Brown shell eggs are more nutritious than white shell eggs.
Fact: They say do not judge a book by its cover, and the same applies for eggs. No matter the colour, whether brown, white or ‘gold’, the nutritional value is the same. The eggs may come from different breeds of chicken therefore the colour, or the size may differ, but the nutritional value of egg remains similar with a marginal, miniscule at best, difference.

Fresh vegetables are better than frozen vegetables.
Fact: Every recipe and every cooking show will ask you to use fresh ingredients. This is a bouncer, according to studies by UK-based Institute of Food Research. The institute says frozen foods are as nutritious, if not more, than fresh produce. Sounds crazy? The argument is that food loses an average of 45 percent nutrition value by the time it reaches your dinner table. From the time it is harvested, transported and distributed to different vendors it takes a minimum two weeks before you eat it. Frozen vegetables do not lose nutrients as they are preserved in low temperatures and retain value. However, Indian grocery markets are often located close to the supply areas. This might make fresh produce more viable for us. Even so, several studies suggest that frozen or not, vegetables will offer similar benefits.