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Common food myths

Posted: July 10 2021

Health Wellbeing

It’s time to examine some food myths! Accredited dietician Themis Chryssidis from Sprout Cooking School & Health Studio helps us bust a few common food myths below.

Food Myth 1 - 'Cooking olive oil over high heat is bad for you'

Video transcript

Myth number 1 - Cooking with olive oil over high heat is bad for you.
This could not be further from the truth. In fact, the healthiest populations in the world use olive oil essentially for everything. Put simply, scientists showed us that olive oil has so many amazing health attributes, including lots of antioxidants which means that even if a few free-radicals are caused during cooking by heat or vibration, these free-radicals are easily offset by the many antioxidants that olive oil offers.

Food Myth 2 - 'Vegetarian or Vegan diets are healthier'

Video transcript

Myth number 2 - Vegetarian or vegan diets are healthier than meat containing diets.
Sure, a vegetarian or vegan diet may be healthy because they often include more fruits and vegetables and therefore more vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants which are all important for good health, but the] key to good health is ensuring you have a varied and balanced diet so your body is able to consume all the nutrients it needs to exist healthily. And, a vegetarian or vegan diet, provided they are meeting all the nutrients that are being excluded from the diet. Those nutrients contain the meat food groups such as iron and protein, provided the diet contains those, of course you can be healthy. But, the key to good health at the end of the day, is ensuring you keep a wide, varied diet throughout the year.

Food Myth 3 - 'Skim milk isn't healthy because it contains added sugar'

Video transcript

Myth number 3 - Skim milk contains added sugar.
Now, I love when I hear baristas say this one to me and they advise that I shouldn't consume skim milk as part of my coffee. At the end of the day, the truth is, yes, skim milk contains a very small, really insignificant amount of more sugar compared to full cream milk. But the only reason why that exists is it's not added when we literally skim the fat or the cream away from full cream milk. The result is that other nutrients increase in the milk, proportionally.

Food Myth 4 - 'Fruit isn't healthy because it contains too much sugar'

Video transcript

Myth number 4 - Fruit contains too much sugar.
This is an interesting food myth, and one that does frustrate me. At the end of the day, sugar in isolation is not the sole reason for bad health. We want people to eat a wide, varied diet and ensure they get all the nutrients they need for good health. Sure, if you eat too much of anything, it's not going to be healthy. At the end of the day, fruit does contain sugar in the form of fructose but it provides so much other nutrition - vitamins, minerals, water and fibre that are just as important for good health like any other food, so please, don't skip on the fruit.

Food Myth 5 - 'You shouldn't eat after 8pm if you're trying to lose weight'

Video transcript

Myth number 5 - You shouldn't eat after eight o'clock if you're trying to lose weight.
Now, I find this rule somewhat interesting, bizarre and a little frustrating because I'm not really sure where it came from. It certainly isn't scientifically backed and I think it really just came from people trying to curb people's late-night eating habits. At the end of the day, our weight is impacted by a number of factors - our gender, our genetics - a range of things, but the one thing we can control is our calorie intake or our energy intake. At the end of the day, whether you eat your energy at 7:59 or 8:01, it really isn't going to make any difference.

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Themis Chryssidis is an Accredited Practising Dietitian at Sprout Health Studio – a multidisciplinary health care studio in Adelaide. He has a Bachelor of Psychology, a Masters of Nutrition and Dietetics and a Cert IV in Fitness.

Posted: July 10 2021

Health Wellbeing

Disclaimer

The information contained here is of a general nature and does not take into account your personal medical situation. The information is not a substitute for independent professional medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or used for therapeutic purposes. Should you require specific medical information, please seek advice from your healthcare practitioner. Health Partners does not accept any liability for any injury, loss or damage incurred by use of or reliance on the information provided. While we have prepared the information carefully, we can’t guarantee that it is accurate, complete or up-to-date. And while we may mention goods or services provided by others, we aren’t specifically endorsing them and can’t accept responsibility for them.

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