| 10 Nutrition and Food Safety Myths, Facts and Rumors |
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Heard any of these? Know if they're true? Check out our experts' answers and see if your beliefs match up. 5 NUTRITION AND DIGESTION RUMORS CLAIM: "Soda leeches calcium from your bones." Much played up in the popular press, there has never been any definitive proof that the plentiful amount of phosphorus or caffeine found in sodas harms bones. What is certain is that when soda replaces calcium-rich beverages, such as fortified juice or milk, calcium deficiency can result, increasing the risk of osteoporosis. —Bareuther CLAIM: "It’s best to eat fruit on an empty stomach." This rumor seems based on traditional Indian diet principals and has made its way into American popular culture through various diet fads that advocate nonmixing of foods, from concern regarding putrification of such mixed foods in the stomach. (I see stomachs daily and have never found putrification of contents). In a review of scientific studies, I didn’t find any evidence-based support. If eating fruit apart from other foods makes you feel healthier, I have no objection—as long as you eat 2 cups daily! —Raymond CLAIM: "Milk products are bad for an upset stomach." Milk’s high protein and high fat slow stomach emptying—not a great thing if you’re nauseated. But this applies to any food that takes a while to digest. Milk gets singled out because in some people, a bug that causes vomiting and diarrhea may also cause a temporary lactase deficiency (the enzyme you need to digest milk) in the small intestines, which does not help with the diarrhea. Besides, ever clean up curdled milk vomit? —Raymond CLAIM: "Too much cheese can make you constipated." But … cheese always gets an unfair rap when constipation is the topic. It’s the lack of fiber if you consume a whole wad of cheese, and not something specific to cheese, that causes the trouble. Try eating it with whole-grain Triscuits and crudités (cut raw vegetables), and you should be fine. —Raymond CLAIM: "The more sugar you eat, the more you crave." Eating sweets quickly raises the level of the feel-good brain chemical serotonin. You keep eating sugar to keep that serotonin level from falling—or combat it when it does. To avoid this roller coaster, choose complex carbohydrates (rice, pasta, baked potatoes, whole-grain bread, whole-grain crackers), which will induce a more even serotonin production. —Bareuther
Last updated and/or approved: January 2010. Bios current as of summer 2007.
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