Four Nutrition Myths: Vegeterianism, fats, hot weather, raw vegetables

Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 26 Sep 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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Myth: To lose weight, become a vegetarian

As with most styles of eating, whether you eat meat or choose to exclude all animal products from your diet, the particular food choices you make determine whether the diet is high, low or well balanced as far as calories are concerned. Many vegetarian foods such as vegetarian cheeses and margarine, nuts, seeds and pastry made from flour and vegetarian spreads are relatively high in fat. If you concentrate on these without balancing them out with starchy carbohydrates such as bread, rice, pasta, other cereals, fruits and vegetables, you could find that your weight actually starts to creep up, not down. Simply becoming a vegetarian is not a guaranteed fast route to weight loss. Always read the label for nutritional information (on energy and fat per serving/100 grams).

Myth: A fat free diet is good for you

A completely fat free diet is virtually impossible to achieve and is certainly not good for you. Dietary fats are needed to carry fat soluble vitamins such as X, D, E, and K. Also, a group of nutrients called essential fatty acids, found in plant and fish oils, are absolutely crucial for health. They are needed by every cell membrane in our body to help make them watertight and are vital for the functioning not only of the brain, but also for controlling the production of prostaglandins, hormone-like substances that control several functions all over the body. Research has shown that they are be able to dampen down symptoms of inflammatory problems like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and to be important in the health or our heart and joints.

Myth: You need less food in hot weather than when it is cold

As the temperature outside rises, your appetite may decrease. Even if you do not feel hungry you still need to eat because you need as much energy to perspire and stay cool as you did to stay warm. If you do find yourself eating less and your health will not suffer from losing a little weight over the summer months, then be sure that you still get your full quota of essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals packed in the food you do eat and that you drink at least 2 litres of liquid a day. Myth: It is always better for you to eat vegetables raw

Some pulses such as red kidney beans contain natural toxicants which, if the beans are not cooked properly, can lead to diarrhoea and sickness. Boiling them for twenty minutes renders the toxins harmless and makes this nutritious food safe to eat. Butter beans or lima beans similarly contain cyanide that would be dangerous if eaten raw, but again is destroyed making them safe to eat when cooked. Other vegetables like potatoes would be indigestible if eaten raw while some such as like broccoli appear to lose some of their bitterness when cooked. Cooking carrots or tomatoes helps to release substances called carotenoids and lycopenes so the body can absorb them more easily. These 'antioxidants' have been shown to be good for our health.

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