10 myths about food, long since refuted by science

1. You can not use wooden cutting boards for meat

It is believed that by using a knife on a wooden board will be microscopic scratches and pits, which will remain the smallest particles of raw meat and bacteria. It would seem better to use plastic boards that are easy to wash and disinfect.

However, studies have refuted this belief. Dean Cliver (Dean O. Cliver) from the University of California foundPlastic and Wooden Cutting Boards. That plastic boards do not provide any significant antibacterial benefits.

Even if specially put on a wooden board bacteria, the natural characteristics of wood will not allow them to breed. All bacteria caught in the cracks in the wooden surface, gradually die.

Cliver tested boards from ten types of wood and four types of plastic. The result was unexpected. If a sharp knife to cut the working surface of plastic and wooden planks on which caught the bacteria and which is then cleaned by hand, more bacteria can be found in the plastic, and not in the tree.

Therefore, whatever the cutting board you use, just carefully look after it and disinfect the work surface. And do not buy the board, which promise a special antibacterial coating. It's just a marketing ploy.

2. If you add salt to the water, it boils faster

This is still hard not only housewives but also professional chefsBut anyone who knows chemistry, will tell you that the amount of salt that we add when cooking, did not affect the boiling point of water.

Yes, strictly speaking, the salt changes the boiling point of water, but it all depends on its concentration. To significantly accelerate the boiling water would have to add and completely dissolve the salt so that the resulting eventually would become inedible dish.

The amount of salt that we usually add when cooking changes the boiling point of water, at best, only a few tenths of a degree.

3. Low-fat foods are good

Without fat human body is not able to absorb most of the nutrients necessary for survival. In addition, the lack of fat leads to a variety of disruptions in the functioning of the nervous system.

Alanna Dibon

A sufficient amount of the correct grease only helps with weight loss and cholesterol reduction.

Look at the composition of the products in the store and are thinking about buying, and not drag on the machine for low-fat foods, because you heard somewhere that they are useful. Most fat-free products contained little "good" and many "bad" fats and many additions and substitutions (e.g., sugars, and sodium).

Try to include in your diet monounsaturated fats (avocados, pecans, almonds, peanuts) and omega-3 fatty acids (chia seeds, seaweed, salmon).

4. Dairy products - the best source of calcium

Many believe that the best dairy products for health and strong bones is nothing. Yes, in dairy foods contain vitamin D and calcium, but it is also in dark leafy greens (kale, spinach).

But bone strength depends not only on calcium and vitamin D. No less important VITAMIN K (in leafy greens, he is, and here in dairy products - is not present) and magnesium (there are almonds, cashews, oatmeal, potatoes, but not milk).

If you take care of your bones are not limited to milk. Include in the diet and other sources of calcium: kale, mustard greens, kale, cabbage, bok choy.

5. You need to drink eight glasses of water a day

Water was recently advertised as a cure for all ills. Of course, it is necessary for normal body function, but eight glasses a day will not relieve you of all the problems.

Alanna Dibon

Universal amount of water that should drink each, does not exist. Do not necessarily stick to some certain amount of water per day, just drink when you feel like. Power - an individual matter. Sometimes, the body may need less, and sometimes more than the average water rates.

And do not forget that the body gets the water from any liquids, fruits and vegetables. A sign of sufficient water content in the body - the light color of urine.

6. Foods high in sodium salty taste, so you need to avoid salty

This is especially important for those who follow the consumed amount of salt and sodium because of the risk of developing hypertension or diabetes. The difficulty is that not all foods that are high in sodium to taste salty. his many25 Surprisingly Salty Processed Foods. in different sauces, baked goods, intermediate goods and fast food.

So do not forget to look at the composition of the products in the store and find out what it consists of your favorite dishes in cafes and restaurants (many of this information is available on the website).

7. If there are eggs, raise cholesterol levels

On blood cholesterol levels affect saturated fats and trans fats. The eggs contain very little saturated fat (about 1.5 g of fat in one large egg) and trans absent. scientists believeEggs: Are they good or bad for my cholesterol?That of the amount of cholesterol, which is in the yolk, only a small portion into the blood stream.

complete exclusion eggs from the diet because of fear will not give you anything to cholesterol, but can only do harm. Abstaining from eggs, you are depriving yourself of 13 vitamins and minerals, as well as a delicious breakfast.

8. Aluminum foil and utensils associated with Alzheimer's disease

This myth has been particularly prevalent in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s, and even now he is not so popular, some still believe in it. This is because in the course of research carried out in the 1960-1970's, was found elevated levels of aluminum in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. After that, many began to avoid aluminum cookware and even foil.

However, since then it carried out a lot of research. Now, scientists believeAluminum - is there a link to Alzheimer's disease?That most of the aluminum entering the organism is processed by the kidneys and excreted in the urine.

9. Crust on roasted meat helps keep it more juicy

In the XIX century the German chemist Justus von Liebig, one of the first suggested that if the cooking meat at very high temperature, the resulting crust will not pass liquid is inside, so the meat is juicier.

Only here during his Liebig experiment compared the amount of fluid and nutrients in a single piece of meat, slow cooking in water, and in another, roasting on a very hot surface. Naturally, Fried Meat has turned more mellow, because from the first piece just all boil.

Popular author Harold McGee (Harold McGee) in his book "On Food and Cooking" (On Food and Cooking) Described an experiment in which meat was compared with and without crust. Both pieces were prepared in the same manner. It was found that meat, fried to a crisp, less juicy than meat without crust.

10. It does not eat after six or seven o'clock in the evening

It is much more important than what you eat during the day. Food eaten after six in the evening, it does not magically turns into fat. This advice "helps" lose weight just because reduced the total number of calories per day.

Andy Belatti

This myth came from a misunderstanding of the digestive system. People think that if you go to bed on a full stomach, slowing the metabolic processes in the body lead to the fact that all the food eaten will go into body fat. This statement is true only in part, and that is not for everyone.

Although metabolism during sleep really slows down, it does not stop completely. Food in the stomach will still be digested.

Of course, you do not lose weightIf malnourished, all day does not get up from the table and do not exercise. Here it does not matter what time you will reap - in five or seven.

If you go to bed very late, and dine at five or six in the evening, because you want to lose weight, it will not help you. You just miss one meal, but it is quite dangerous if you're trying to lose weight. In the body turns on starvation mode. During the next meal will happen release of hormones that make you eat more than usual. As a result, you only hurt yourself.

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Listen to common sense: if some advice or a new magic diet too good to be true, or suitable for everyone, without exception, most likely, this is another myth. Such information is better to be skeptical and try to check it in reliable sources.