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Home › Articles › Nutrition News › Myth Busters

Myth Busters

8 Nutrition "Theories" Debunked

By Teri Brown

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It's hard to tell how a myth gets started. Sometimes it is pure misinformation from the scientific community they say one thing and then a few years later, they find out they were wrong. Other times, it's an old wives' tale that just doesn't go away, like the one about drinking liquid Jell-O to make your fingernails hard. How many women ended up with stomachaches over that one?

The following list debunks8 of the more common food myths. Whether they were scientific miscalculations or just plain silly, knowing the truth will help you make more educated food choices.

1. Myth: All Carbohydrates Are Bad for You
Elizabeth Babson, registered dietitian and director of clinical nutrition services at Barnert Hospital in Paterson, N.J., believes that it is of supreme importance to determine what kind of carbohydrate it is. "'Carbs' is an umbrella term for three types: the sugars (simple carbs), the starches (complex carbs) and the fibers," she says. "The simple carbs, or sugars, are what we refer to as empty calories; they supply little or no nutrients other than calories. Certainly, these we want to limit. So sugar is not bad; rather, excessive sugar may be implicated in some undesirable conditions such as weight gain or dental caries."

The complex carbs have so many beneficial properties they are noteworthy for the energy and B vitamins they contribute to our diet. Carbohydrates are our body's first source of energy, and the B vitamins are responsible for helping our bodies release this energy through certain metabolic pathways. So not all carbohydrates are bad for you.

2. Myth: Eggs Are Bad for You
Wrong again. "Eggs have the highest biological value protein for which all other sources of protein are compared to," says Babson. "'The incredible, edible egg' is a phrase I love because it is so true." According to Babson, the average egg has approximately 75 calories, 5 grams of fat and 5 to 7 grams of protein; thus, even a meal of two eggs is only 150 calories, 10 grams of fat and at least 10 grams of super protein. There is no way that can be considered bad. True, eggs possess cholesterol, but even if you are struggling with high cholesterol, it is more effective to restrict dietary saturated fat then to cut out eggs.
 
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