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- Processed food is less nutritious than raw food
While fresh apples and crisp green salads are a delight to eat,
the idea that all raw foods are implicitly healthier than processed
food is not so. Food which is canned, dried, frozen or cooked is not
necessarily lower in nutritional value. In fact these processes help
to extend shelf life, make food safer and in some cases can actually
improve its nutritional quality. For example, the beta-carotene in
canned carrots is more available to the body than that fresh ones
and fresh peas, which have been harvested and frozen immediately,
have more vitamin C than peas that have been stored at room temperature
for a few days before consumption.
- Sugar causes diabetes
When sugar is consumed the hormone insulin is required to bring
blood sugar levels back down to normal. Diabetes is caused through
a lack of insulin, not an excess of sugar in the diet. Once someone
has diabetes it is important to manage the frequency and amount of
eating and the types of carbohydrate, including sugar, consumed to
allow the body to maintain good blood sugar control.
- Missing meals helps you lose weight
Research shows that missing meals can actually lead to an over-compensation
and increased food consumption at the next meal. The result can be
a gain, not loss in weight. Not only that, when a meal is missed,
the body makes up for lost energy by conserving what you have already
eaten and slowing up your metabolism.
- Preservatives are bad for you
Not true. Without preservatives our food chain would be not be
as safe as it is today. Nitrates and nitrites used in processed meats
protect against the deadly Clostridium botulinum, bacteria while mould
inhibitors used in cereals help to stop the growth of potential carcinogens
that could otherwise lead to stomach cancer. If a preservative has
an E number, far from being undesirable, this means it is approved
for safe use in food.
- It is bad to eat between meals
Most people feel like eating something every 3 - 4 hours to avoid
becoming too hungry. Dividing your calories into three meals and two
or three snacks instead of three large meals can help to keep you
well fuelled throughout the day and lessen the chances of over eating
when meal times come around. Depending on what you choose, snacks
can also make significant contributions to the day's total intake
of vital vitamins and minerals.
- You can not digest more than one type of food at a time There
is no scientific proof that the human body needs to separate out protein
and carbohydrate foods at different meals because it can not cope
with digesting them together. This idea of 'food combining' came originally
from work at the end of the 1800's by Dr William Hay and has been
popularised through various food combining diet books published over
the last ten years. Humans have one stomach and a medium-length gut
which makes us omnivores and quite capable of handling for example,
a steak (protein and fat) and potatoes (carbohydrate) at the same
meal.
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