5 myths about everyday food

[lekate]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-...b_1512285.html

1. Cheese is bad for you

I hear this one every day of the week. The answer lies in the type of cheese you eat. There is packaged, processed cheese and then there is artisan/European and grass-fed cheese. The European/grass-fed cheese is higher in omega-3 fats (anti-inflammatory) fats that are good for you. Cheese is also a good source of protein and calcium. Eating cheese from cows that have been fed growth hormones and antibiotics, and that contains multiple ingredients, fits the myth and should be avoided. You can find imported European cheese in the deli section of your grocery store.
2. Eggs make your cholesterol go up
It's beyond interesting to me that many people will avoid an egg yolk but will eat several packaged cookies during the day! Long-term studies found no relationship between egg consumption and heart disease. Studies do consistently link heart disease with a higher intake of trans fat, which is used in packaged foods to increase shelf life. However, the fat in eggs is mostly polyunsaturated and monounsaturated, and the yolk is an excellent source of the antioxidant lutein, which can lower certain inflammatory responses in the body. Eggs easily fit into a healthy lifestyle, so enjoy an omelet for breakfast and see how satisfied you are the rest of the day.
3. Drinking juice is healthy and a good way to get your fruit
Many people love their morning juice! But experts say drinking juice is equal to the same amount of sugar as drinking a glass of soda. Dr. Charles Billington, a researcher on obesity at the University of Minnesota, states that juice is "pretty much the same as sugar water." Think of all the oranges or apples you would have to squeeze to obtain a cup of juice. You are drinking all the sugar from the juice, minus the fiber that helps stabilize your blood sugar when eating the fruit. Skip the juice and eat a few pieces of fruit per day to improve your health. (This one is very true! I only eat fruit, never juice!)

4. Avoid avocados since they have too much fat
Avocados do contain fat, but it is the healthy monounsaturated kind, which does amazing things in your body. This is a food you want to include as part of your daily diet. Eating avocados can help with increasing the HDL (the happy kind of cholesterol), which you want higher since it helps with lowering heart disease by getting rid of bad cholesterol. Also, having healthy fats in your diet assists your health in multiple ways, including helping your skin and hair stay healthy and vibrant, providing adequate lubrication for the gut to help with normal digestion and absorption, and assisting with making hormones essential to the manufacture of sex hormones. (There are healthy fats and there are bad fats, find that you have to put moisturizer on all the time? brittle hair? Not getting enough fats in the diet. It's funny how at my pet store, for dogs with skin and coat issues we recommend either a fish based kibble or adding fish oil to the current food, but for humans we run to the store to buy lotions and potions for it)

5. Agave is a natural sweetener
Agave, which comes from the cactus and has been used to make tequila, hit the market a few years ago. You can find agave as a sweetener in most products found in health food stores... but is it really a health product?
Using high-fructose corn syrup is a cheap way to sweeten foods. It was developed to help food companies cut costs. Whereas real sugar is 50 percent glucose and 50 percent fructose, high-fructose corn syrup is approximately 45 percent glucose and 55 fructose, and not the natural kind like in fruit. With agave, the percentages are altered more significantly -- the syrup is 85-90 percent fructose and 10-15 percent glucose. When you consume a large percentage of this type of fructose, it gets processed directly by your liver, which not only increases your triglyceride levels, but causes fatty liver, increased hunger levels and a plethora of other health issues you would rather avoid. The agave plant goes through heavy processing in order to concentrate it into a sweet syrup. Rather than being natural, as we've been led to believe, it is actually a processed food, often with few quality controls.
As with everything diet-related, moderation is key, but don't be afraid to add European-style cheese, eggs and avocado to your shopping list. Drop the juice, add some fruit instead, and use honey instead of agave to sweeten your morning beverage. The result? A delicious, satisfying breakfast and a healthier you!

[gourmetsue]

Very interesting. I wasn't aware of the agave issue.

We have a friend who drinks cranberry cocktail because it has 2 servings of fruits/veg. Never once has he bothered to look at the sugar content. It is staggering. Same goes for greek yoghurt. The single servings with "fruit" on the bottom has so much sugar in them. Scary!

I wish we could go back to a time where glasses and plates were smaller and eating was so much more natural.

[lekate]

Very interesting. I wasn't aware of the agave issue.

We have a friend who drinks cranberry cocktail because it has 2 servings of fruits/veg. Never once has he bothered to look at the sugar content. It is staggering. Same goes for greek yoghurt. The single servings with "fruit" on the bottom has so much sugar in them. Scary!

I wish we could go back to a time where glasses and plates were smaller and eating was so much more natural.

It's unfortunate that the juice industry has such a hold on people! At least the full fruit has the 'whole package' of healthiness, the juice just has the taste and (so long as there's no added sugar) natural sugars.....

[Zonny]

I eat two eggs nearly every day, and have great cholesterol, I'm totally with you there! And on the juice too - I'm a water drinker myself, but DS and DH could drink it all day (if I bought it!).

Cheese may not be as bad as some folks may think, but I still wouldn't consider it healthy. I love the stuff, but it's full of fat and salt.

Avocados on the other hand, you couldn't pay me to eat one of those! I have an aversion to green, slimy foods that taste bad! Even my DS, when he was a baby he'd eat anything - until the first time I tried giving him a bite of avocado. That was the first food he spit back out at me!

[lekate]

I eat two eggs nearly every day, and have great cholesterol, I'm totally with you there! And on the juice too - I'm a water drinker myself, but DS and DH could drink it all day (if I bought it!).

Cheese may not be as bad as some folks may think, but I still wouldn't consider it healthy. I love the stuff, but it's full of fat and salt.

Avocados on the other hand, you couldn't pay me to eat one of those! I have an aversion to green, slimy foods that taste bad! Even my DS, when he was a baby he'd eat anything - until the first time I tried giving him a bite of avocado. That was the first food he spit back out at me!

I don't like avocados either! The texture frightens me!

[anisa]

good list!

you know i was talking to hubby a few days about juice. what an evil product! it's just taking the water and sugar of the fruit, and tossing out all the actual nutrition of the fruit in the garbage!

the juice industry must have some evil hold on ppl in power. deep pockets i guess, and no wonder. you can buy frozen juice, there is usually half a whole aisle dedicated to canned and plastic bottled shelf juices. then another aisle that is half full of tetra pack and lunch size bottles of juice. last there is the fridge aisle that has more juice than milk.

ppl pay a heck of a lot of money just to drink sugar!

i love my cheese, mmmm. i have a nice wedge of dutch gouda beckoning me from the fridge!

[dawn_sweety]

Not a fan of juice but love smoothies and I agree about greek yogurt, it's so good but I like it plain or with fresh fruit. Avocado's are sooo good, i absolutely love them but I recently discovered I am allergic to them, it's only worth a sore tongue and swollen lip sometimes lol

[lekate]

good list!

you know i was talking to hubby a few days about juice. what an evil product! it's just taking the water and sugar of the fruit, and tossing out all the actual nutrition of the fruit in the garbage!

the juice industry must have some evil hold on ppl in power. deep pockets i guess, and no wonder. you can buy frozen juice, there is usually half a whole aisle dedicated to canned and plastic bottled shelf juices. then another aisle that is half full of tetra pack and lunch size bottles of juice. last there is the fridge aisle that has more juice than milk.

ppl pay a heck of a lot of money just to drink sugar!

i love my cheese, mmmm. i have a nice wedge of dutch gouda beckoning me from the fridge!

It's definitely the power of marketing. Never believe an ad 100%, they want your money. Even the dairy industry has scared people into thinking they'll die or live a super unhealthy life if they don't consume milk/cheese/yogurt, etc.

I like juice occasionally, but everyday? nope. Not worth the calories to me. I do have smoothies often, but they have all the fiber still, so still healthy!

[walkonby]

wonderful post lekate! I saw that agave sweetener in the health food store and just shook my head??
I use Stevia to sweeten things ( IF I actually need a sweetner, most times I don't), I do buy both the syrup kind with a syringe dropper top, and the powder packets form.

[anisa]

i'm really confused about sweeteners.

i have ever tried agave, it's just expenseive. there is always a story about the latest not-so-greatest sweetener that will kill you.

i use honey in my herbal teas, no sugar in my regular tea with milk, white sugar in my coffee (raw if it is available) and the odd can of diet pop when i have a pizza.

i'm mostly scared off by artificial sweeteners.

[kashkoush]

i feel bad after i got two bottles of organic blue agave nectar from costco i was so happy thinking that i got a wonderful product, and then too late that i read here about it and then did some research found out the painful truth revealed , i do use it now when i bake but when i finish the bottle i wont buy it again.

[kashkoush]

i remember watching dr oz show and how he promoted it like it is a product out of this world, and on doctors tv they brought chef Rocco and how he introduced it as a health ingredient , oh well i think alot of people got swept away with the tide!

[lekate]

i remember watching dr oz show and how he promoted it like it is a product out of this world, and on doctors tv they brought chef Rocco and how he introduced it as a health ingredient , oh well i think alot of people got swept away with the tide!

Yea it definitely happens, and those shows really latch onto things of the 'moment' it's hard for many people to understand...

[jessep13]

i have a friend that gives her daughter juice 24/7 its crazy! i tend to stick towards water and for a special treat ill put a peice of fruit in the water to make it like juice for my daughter ( ie orange slice) I was def not aware of european cheese being better. examples of those would be like a brie and what not correct?

[lekate]

i have a friend that gives her daughter juice 24/7 its crazy! i tend to stick towards water and for a special treat ill put a peice of fruit in the water to make it like juice for my daughter ( ie orange slice) I was def not aware of european cheese being better. examples of those would be like a brie and what not correct?

I think for the cheese, the way that dairy is produced in North America (and they're probably talking about US dairy anyways) isn't the greatest. Lots of antibiotics and hormones go into it. Grass fed cheese is healthier since the cow ate it's 'natural' food, it may seem odd to say this, but that makes a great deal of difference between the cows. Corn fed cows are higher in fat (and their milk), but it's not a healthy fat, just fats from a low nutrient high calorie dense food stuff. Brie is a European type of cheese, but it can be prepared anywhere. Most of the stuff sold here would probably be produced in North America.

I can imagine your friends daughter will have ridiculous dental problems....And I wouldn't be surprised if she has a weight problem (or grows into one), or possibly worse, develop behavioural problems because of the constant sugar highs and lows.