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We have already mentioned food myths on a variety of lists – but until now we have not made a food-specific misconceptions list. This list explores some of the most common myths we have about food and (no-doubt controversially) debunks them. In the case of the more controversial topics, I have included sources.
The Myth: Fat free food is calorie free
This is a very common myth – so common that food manufacturers market to it. The misconception that fat free is better is the reason that so many products are labelled “fat free,” “low in fat,” “fat reduced,” etc. So many people who want to lose weight will chow down on all of these “low fat” foods thinking they are going to lose weight – even worse, they often tend to eat more of the low fat food than they would have if it were full fat. What really matters when trying to reduce weight is calories – eat fewer calories than you burn and you will lose weight. When fat is removed from food a lot of the flavor is removed as well – consequently extra sugars and chemicals are often added to give back the flavor – fat free food can therefore be far worse and fattening for you than regular full fat food.
The Myth: Fast food salads are the “healthy option”
A 2005 report by the Independent said: “[a]n investigation of the food sold by the “big four” – McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut – found that [...] five out of eight of the salads used as “evidence” of their embrace of healthy eating had “high” salt or fat content.”1 It is all too common to see dieters who crave a little something naughty, ordering salads or other “healthy choices” from fast food joints – but what they usually don’t realize is that the salads can be as bad as the regular food and they would be more content if they just ate a Big Mac. For the sake of comparison, I looked it up: 1 Big Mac has 540 calories and 1,040 mg of salt; 1 premium southwest salad with crispy chicken and dressing has 530 calories and 1,260 mg of salt. The Mac is healthier.
The Myth: When trying to gain muscle, you should eat copious amounts of protein
According to the Mayo Clinic, 10 – 35% of your daily dietary intake should be protein – whether trying to gain weight, lose weight, or maintain weight. Most of this comes from our regular food and we seldom need to take protein supplements. Even more damning for this myth are two recent studies by independent sport medicine journals in which various people (including bodybuilders) were given varying extra quantities of protein each day; summing one study up, Dr Richard Krieder from the University of Memphis said: “Although it is important for athletes to get an adequate amount of protein . . . consuming additional amounts of protein does not appear to promote muscle growth.”
The Myth: Fresh fruit is better than dried fruit
This myth is true in only one regard: if you are looking for vitamin ‘c’, then fresh fruit is best, but other than that, dried fruit contains just as many nutrients and sugar for energy as fresh fruit. If you subscribe to the notion that you should eat 5 fruits a day, then you only need one tablespoon of dried fruit per portion – so five tablespoons of dried fruit fulfills your daily need. The same is true of canned or frozen fruit. Fruit juice is also able to be used as a daily fruit portion but only one per day should be made up of juice only.
The Myth: It is better to eat six small meals during the day instead of three larger meals
First off, this can be okay – but only if you are extremely good at controlling your portion sizes; it is all too easy to turn six small meals into six large meals. This myth again comes down to the whole “calories per day” rule. If your three large meals contain as many calories as your six small meals, there is no difference at all. For the majority of people it is easier to put the time aside for three meals – so this is still the best choice for most. As we have discussed on a previous list (item 1), the time of day that you eat does not have a bearing on weight gain or loss.
The Myth: It takes more calories to eat a stick of celery than are contained in the celery itself – making it a negative calorie food
This one is so popular that even Snopes believes it – and it is rare for Snopes to be wrong. But the problem is, the numbers don’t add up. One stick of celery contains around six calories2. A female weighing 150 pounds, aged 35, and 65 inches tall, burns 30 calories per hour3 eating whilst sitting. In the interests of science I ate a stick of celery (which is no mean feat considering I hate raw celery) to see how long it would take: 2 minutes and 14 seconds. If the female described above takes as long as I do, that means she can eat just under 30 sticks of celery in one hour – totaling 180 calories. That leaves an excess of 150 calories still not burned. Granted, there is some calorie burning involved in the digestive process as well, but there is no way these numbers allow for negative calories; on average you burn 62 calories an hour just existing4 (this includes digestion) – that still leaves an excess calorie count of 88. No matter which way you look at it – celery does not result in negative calories.
The Myth: Decaffeinated coffee contains no caffeine
International standards require decaf to be 97% caffeine free (EU standards are a little stricter at 99.9%). The process of removing caffeine is a long one and it also means that many other chemicals (up to 400 in fact) that are essential the taste of coffee are lost. If you have an allergy to caffeine, you should probably keep away from all forms of coffee – decaf included. But for those who can cope with caffeine – unless you really can’t stand the slight “high” produced by it, you will have a nicer tasting drink if you just opt for regular coffee. And if that hasn’t convinced you – the chemical often used in decaffeinating coffee beans (dichloromethane) is also used as a paint stripper.
The Myth: Craving is your body telling you it needs something
When we get a craving for certain foods – such as fruit juice, we often think it is because of a lack in our body of a certain nutrient. Interestingly, scientists who put this to the test found out that it wasn’t true at all. In the study, a person who craved chocolate, was given a cocktail of chemicals that contained all of the essential components (minus taste) of chocolate, and another cocktail containing chocolate flavor but no components of chocolate. The craving was satisfied when they took the chocolate flavored cocktail – but not the essentially flavorless chocolate. This strongly suggests that cravings are simply emotional. We crave certain foods because of the memories and emotions relating to that food in our lives.
The Myth: Excess salt increases your blood pressure
This is a myth that originated in the 1940s when a professor used salt-reduction to treat people with high blood pressure. Science has since found out that there is no reason for a person with normal blood pressure to restrict their salt intake. However, if you already have high blood pressure, you may become salt-sensitive in which case you should reduce salt or increase your potassium intake as it is the balance of the two that really matters. Furthermore, people who suffer from hypertension should be careful with salt as it can have an impact there. Ultimately, eating more potassium is probably more important than reducing salt. Potassium rich foods are spinach, broccoli, bananas, white potatoes and most types of beans.
The Myth: Fast food is bad for you
A very wise man once said: “all things in moderation”. This ancient phrase applies to most things in life – including fast food. A moderate amount of fast food is no worse for you than a moderate amount of home-cooked meat and vegetables. A constant diet of nothing but fast food may not be the healthiest choice you can make, but then again, eating macaroni and cheese every night is not very healthy either. Variety and moderation are the key to good eating and health. If you feel like a cheeseburger, eat one.
Sources:
1. Healthy options still full of fat
2. Calorie Count Food Nutritional Calculator
3. Fitday Calorie Calculator
4. Basal Metabolic Rate Estimation Forumlas
Contributor: JFrater
March 19th, 2009 at 1:12 am
I think I know most of these…
March 19th, 2009 at 1:13 am
i eat as much as i want and nvr get fat
March 19th, 2009 at 1:17 am
Great list!
March 19th, 2009 at 1:19 am
nobody likes you Anonymous
March 19th, 2009 at 1:19 am
1st time commenting on listverse
March 19th, 2009 at 1:20 am
Lulu…i know you will read this one. I have decaf all the time
March 19th, 2009 at 1:21 am
Good list, I think i’ll go eat some McDonalds now.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:35 am
i like list #1. i feel relieved.
Once in our class, our history teacher said that fast foods are also known as “FUNERAL FOODs”. Then it was nailed to my mind that they are really unhealthy!
tnx Listverse for the info.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:36 am
first time commenting on listverse, but you didn’t comment anything…
March 19th, 2009 at 1:41 am
Hmmm….. In the case of number 6, I would like to argue a lil on that. Yes the calorie intake may be the same but it is actually a good eating habit. Having 3 meals a day will mean that you have to wait a good few hours for the next. The body tends to want something in between. Therefore most people snacks. I have read an article on this once, and it said that going without food for a long period of time ( more than 3 hours ) will trigger the body to store food as fats. The idea of having 6 smaller meals is a way of always having food in the stomach thus minimizing fat storage in the body. I read the article a long time back and i cant recall the site. Had anyone read about this before?
March 19th, 2009 at 1:42 am
I knew that fast food salads were not healthy, but the calorie comparison with a big mac shocked me !
March 19th, 2009 at 1:44 am
Wow…this list makes me feel hungry…I wonder why Jollibee is not on the list of fastfoods…they are the least health-friendly fastfood coz they offer a lot of high-cholesterol diet such as chickenjoy, burgersteak and shanghairolls…
March 19th, 2009 at 1:52 am
Anonymous@2, I think just about all the women reading that (and a lot of the men) now hate you.
My doctor seems to take the salt thing (#2) seriously, but my blood pressure is a little high.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:10 am
That’s it … i am going to get my whopper with chips, bucket of chicken legs & buffalo wings, the standard 1/2 liter coke, a large cheesecake for lunch ….:)
Thanks JFrater ….
March 19th, 2009 at 2:12 am
Wow, this list contradicted most of what I learned in my Nutrition and Biology classes. O_O
March 19th, 2009 at 2:12 am
Nah I agree with that
Fast food salads are disgusting…
It’s still a lump of processed greasy chicken just on a load of saggy lettuce…
But wow I actually believed a lot of these things
Gotta love KFC though
March 19th, 2009 at 2:14 am
@Rorschach: probably because it’s not as famous as the others?
I didn’t know foods from Jollibee has more fat than what McDo has to offer. :p
I miss the palabok, though.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:29 am
Yup!
Two of my friends eat about 3x the food that I eat and I’m still fatter than them.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:30 am
Nice List.
Hey guys, I’m 172 cm and weigh 100 pounds.
Can you suggest me what to eat?
March 19th, 2009 at 2:36 am
ow common Meg that can’t be true.. maybe they dont eat at jolibee or mcdo as usually as you do.
maybe they usually eat more at their local turo turo..
March 19th, 2009 at 2:37 am
Whoever wrote this one- get some bearings man.
Second one regarding ’salt’ is totally wrong .
check this : ” If Americans halved their salt intake, as many as 150,000 premature deaths could be prevented each year, according to the American Medical Association. ”
From recent TIME mag : http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1884864,00.html
-
March 19th, 2009 at 2:37 am
Lots and lots of burgers
March 19th, 2009 at 2:38 am
@ #9 you stated that fastfood salads have high salt content and that makes it unhealthy, but there was a previous list in this site saying that eating lots of salt is not bad after all…just cant remember that list
March 19th, 2009 at 2:41 am
nice list
i knew most of this stuff except about the macdonalds salad.
i eat and eat and i’m still 18 pounds underweight. the doc told me that i should concebtrate on getting calories in and nutrients would take care of themselves. i still eat loads of fruit and veg tho. and i have just remembered why i started typing this, my tescos have a a whole load of low calorie, low carb, low fat food its getting hard to find normal food.
i’m on decaff coffee after being toldto cut down on caffiene, its not anywhere near as nice as normal coffee.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:44 am
another ‘myth’ list, debunked..ü
March 19th, 2009 at 2:50 am
Anonymous has aneroxia nervosa. His daily meal consists of:
Rice and Alternatives: A grain of brown rice.
Fruits: Apple seed.
Vegeable: One coriander leaf.
Fats, Sugars, Salt and oils: Half a tic tac.
Other: 5 2-litre bottles of diet pills.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:50 am
awesome list, now I can convince my mom to let me eat more TGI Fridays than salad
March 19th, 2009 at 2:59 am
In my case I can never eat too much. More than my body can take will result in:
* Throwing up / barfing / vomitting / puking
* Little Men’s room
And instead of tip number 6, in the case of an all-you-can-eat buffet, pick very small servings. Go for many rounds.
For people desperate to lose weight, Stop when you do not feel hungry instead of when you feel full.
This tip of taking bit by bit is handy in case of classy restaurants charging for every 100 gram left uneaten.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:09 am
wow, that insalata caprese picture at #6 looks so delicious! how will i make 4 more months ’till real garden tomatoes and basil? at least it’s motivating me to work on my garden soon.
interesting list JFrater, i won’t even argue with anything on it
March 19th, 2009 at 3:28 am
@Lostagent: Yup, you are correct. I was going to comment on that one as well but you beat me to it
Also by having 6 small meals a day your body will also burn fat for energy.
Also, regarding the 8# point; for the sedentary person, eating up to 35% protein of their meals will put a lot of pressure on his/her kidneys, pancreas and liver. On bodybuilders though that is different.
P.S Anonymous must be an ectomorph
March 19th, 2009 at 3:32 am
lo: yay! Victory at last
Choosilicious: excellent dieting tip – thanks
March 19th, 2009 at 4:00 am
My dad had a heart attack just over a year ago and his doctor has him on a super restricted salt diet, like less than 500 mg (or maybe less than 250 I can’t remember off the top of my head). He excercises everyday now and is doing well. He’s not on blood pressure medication, but now his blood pressure is like 90 over 65, which is approaching dangerously low levels, and his pulse is only 45 on average. He’s going to the doctor to get a 24 hour harness monitor, but is it possible that too little salt with the potassium levels still normal causing the reverse of what too much salt would cause? Just curious.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:07 am
Hungry now >_>
I heard eggs were negative calories rather than celery, does the same apply?
March 19th, 2009 at 4:23 am
actually, eating fresh fruit is BETTER than eating dried fruit. eating fresh fruit will make you fuller, and thus decreasing the tendency to eat more. it’s all about the calorie density. dried fruit is denser and it won’t make you full.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:37 am
A list of possible negative calorie items:
Asparagus
Apple
Ice
Cinnamon
Beet root
Blueberries
Diet soda
Broccoli
Cantaloupe
Cabbage
Cranberry
Carrot
Grapefruit
Cauliflower
Honeydew
Celery root
Lemon
Lime
Chicory
Mango
Hot chili oil
Orange
Papaya
Garden cress
Peach
Garlic
Pineapple
Green bean
Raspberry
Lettuce
Strawberry
Onion
Tomato
Radish
Tangerine
Spinach
Turnip
Watermelon
Now I’m just wondering why you are one of the few people to find celery bogus, when almost every diet site has it on there. Not saying you’re wrong, but I’m also not saying you’re right.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:37 am
What? Who honestly thinks “no fat” = “no calories.” That’s just sad. I think the reduced fat crackers taste better because they are crispier. Holla.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:44 am
I have one little issue with #1, and maybe it’s just my IBS that causes it. I don’t eat fast food often, maybe once every two months. But when I do, I suffer tremendously for it, as though I’ve just ingested poison. That can’t be good for me!
March 19th, 2009 at 4:47 am
Dan: A quick Google search turned up thecaloriecounter.com, which estimates the average small chicken egg (37g) to have 54 calories — 9 times as many as the celery stalk. And that’s just the smallest size of egg. So if you can’t burn calories eating celery, there’s no way you’re going to pull it off eating an egg.
Frankly, I doubt there’s anything that it would be true of. Using the above estimate of 62 calories burned per hour, and let’s say an average of 3 minutes for small foods, this gives us 20 identical food items that can be eaten in an hour. For those to come in under 62 calories, they would each have to have fewer than 3.1 calories per serving. At this low level, your options are pretty much limited to leaves of lettuce (boring, ungarnished lettuce) and diet soda.
But even then, it is probably not negative calories — that average of 62 calories, including digestion, factors in higher activity levels than just sitting and eating, which is about the most sedate thing you can do other than sleep (unless, of course, you’re dealing with a particularly tough steak). In other words, you’re burning those calories anyway if you’re walking around and doing things. Eating lettuce or drinking soda is not going to cause you to be burning more calories than you would have burned had you opted to do something else — pretty much anything else — instead.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:51 am
You got a few things wrong here. First of all six small meals a day are better than three larger ones even if the caloric intake is the same. The reason is when you eat more often your blood sugar is controlled (Its not just diabetics that need to thin abou this). When you control your blood sugar you don’t have spikes in insulin and thus your metabolism speeds up. Next the dried vs. fresh fruit thing is way off base. There may be the same amount of nutrition in each, but in fresh fruit much more of it is absorbed into the body. You can have all the damn vitamins you want, but if your body does not absorb them they do you no good.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:54 am
And another thing…The celery thing is based on how long it takes to digest the food, not how fast you can shove it in your mouth. I don’t know what the stats are on this, I just know you aren’t figuring it correctly.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:56 am
When looking at what is healthier than others, doesn’t one need to look at the overall value of a meal? As per the example of #9: yes, the calories are more or less equal, but what of the saturated vs. unsaturated fats? What of the intake of necessary vitamins and proteins?
I personally would get the grilled chicken salad if I were craving a fast food salad, but just stating that one food is less healthy (or equally unhealthy) as another without looking at the whole picture and concentrating solely on the caloric intake seems to be a little esoteric to me.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:04 am
@Dan 35. Eggs = negative calories?!? Try an egg only diet and see how you do
JFrater: As for celery having negative calories, it’s not about chewing or your base metabolic rate – it’s about the body consuming calories during the digestion process. The celulose compounds are hard for the body to break down. See http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/negative-calories/24381.html
or http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/celery
for a discussion. Lettuce is the same. Not pineapple and all that stuff suggested above though.
The myth is that you can lose weight this way – plus or minus 2 or 3 calories won’t make a big difference. You’d need to eat around 1400 sticks of celery to burn off the 3500 calories in a pound of fat.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:25 am
Also that’s the idea behind a high protein diet for weight loss. Protein and carbs have about the same number of calories per gram, but 7% of the calorie content of carbs is used in digestion compared to about 25% for protein. So the amount of available calories is quite different.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:33 am
This list should be read for entertainment purposes only. Most of the items on here are wrong. Decades of research and studies by Doctors, nutritionist and dieticians are not wrong.
March 19th, 2009 at 8:03 am
I’m confused. If I feel like a cheeseburger, am I supposed to eat myself?
I don’t ever remember feeling like a cheeseburger, I suppose it could happen. I felt like a woman one time, but I was drunk and in love. But I’ve never felt like I was a flame broiled patty of hamburger topped with gooey cheese, pickles, ketchup, onions and stuffed between two buns.
On second thought, I have been stuffed between two buns, but I was in college and I needed the money.
March 19th, 2009 at 8:49 am
zimmers:
Let’s not be so quick with this “negative calorie food” business, okay? And stick to the science.
And for this we go to our beloved Cecil Adams of THE STRAIGHT DOPE, who addressed this very question thusly: (Cecil essentially says that both sides have merits in this question)
“There’s no easy way to determine how much more energy you expend chewing and digesting celery than you would if you were just sitting there. However, it’s fair to say that when eating celery, you’re using more energy than you’re taking in. Bear in mind that you burn roughly 60 calories per hour while asleep, 85 while eating, and – I think this is interesting – 130 while doing “computer work.” (I was tapping away at the keyboard while munching my celery; obviously whoever figured these things out understands the intense concentration required to produce this column.) According to one calorie calculator I found, I need 78 calories per hour just to support my body weight. The unavoidable conclusion? If I did nothing but eat celery and write the Straight Dope all day, I’d waste away to a twig.
Does that mean there’s something to this negative-calorie business? Yes and no. Some advocates expound a vague and fanciful theory that neg-cal foods ramp up your metabolism by stimulating surplus production of some sort of enzyme, the idea apparently being that you’ll blast calories into the void like a Bessemer converter. This is clearly nonsense. If it were that easy, everyone would be thin already. On the other hand, the calorie content of many vegetables is pretty low. Chinese cabbage, cucumber, and lettuce are all about the same as celery; asparagus has 20 to 23 calories per 100 grams, depending on who’s counting, carrots 25 to 43, broccoli 26 to 34. By contrast, even 95 percent lean hamburger has at least 170. Except at the bottom of the range you won’t have a net loss of calories while eating vegetables, but you won’t gain much either. On the other hand, if you start loading up your celery with peanut butter or French onion dip – even no-fat dips run about 25 calories per two-tablespoon serving (oops, 30-milliliter serving), which where I come from might get you through one stalk – sorry, pal, all bets are off.”
The entire column can be found here:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2507/does-chewing-celery-consume-more-calories-than-it-provides
In short, while an all-low-cal-vegetable diet is no doubt beneficial and healthier than fat-laden diets, it’s not an easy-fix path to shedding pounds. There’s the simple practicality involved–not all vegetables are that great raw, and cooking them leeches away nutrients and can add fat and salts and other goodies. And how many of us, REALLY, could manage an all-raw-vegetable diet—or even one focused enough on them to tip the scales in favor of drastic weight loss?
No. Certainly vegetables are healthier and should form the nexus of one’s diet (I myself follow a fairly strict Mediterranean diet, which means lots of veggies and greens, olive oil, but very little meat) but to pretend that consuming them can be some magic path to shedding pounds copiously is just silly.
March 19th, 2009 at 10:25 am
40. chris1372002
What is youri expertise in human anatomy and biochemistry, out of curiosity?
March 19th, 2009 at 10:28 am
“check this : ” If Americans halved their salt intake, as many as 150,000 premature deaths could be prevented each year, according to the American Medical Association.”
Well duh!. But what the list is saying is that salt doesnt increase blood pressure. Too much salt is bad for you in other ways.
March 19th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Hi all. Just to add to the debate, I too am a naturally thin person (ectomorph). I used to eat very poorly and could eat all day long – and all that happens is a big fat belly for an hour or two. And then nothing. This also means I don’t put on big muscle tone either – which is a bummer seeing as I used to run a very popular weight training and bodybuilding web site.
Just to clarify No.8. The human muscular system is made up basically of strands of protein. So yes, in theory, eating lots of protein may help the body store it as extra muscle mass; IF the body was being forced to build more muscle mass as part of an exercise regime. As the list points out though, most bodybuilders can get what they need quite adequately by consuming eggs and chicken etc. So yeah, you can eat loads of protein on its own and it won’t do anything, except perhaps help you lose weight and eventually keel over as part of the aweful Atkins Diet.
No.7 – I have to disagree with which-ever ’science’ says that fruit drinks can only make up one of the five a day. If I ate 2 apples, 1 banana, 1 peach, 1 serving of grapes and a portion of gojiberries a day, that would be way over my 5-a-day right? If I drank a pint of multifruit juice, it may contain the exact same quantities (and qualities) of these ingredients. Smoothies? Case closed.
No.2 – I think salt exaserbates high blood pressure if you already have it, but doesn’t cause it per-se. High blood pressure is caused by the narrowing or the arteries – forcing the heart to pump harder. Number 1 cause of this narrowing? – cholesterol.
No.1 – Correct. I now eat steamed veg probably 70% of the year. I can be quite creative with ingredients but sometimes my body just craves something different. Having this ‘no fat’ diet leaves me craving chips (fries) and cheese; so I have some, and enjoy it, and then go back to the veg (which is also much cheaper here in the UK).
March 19th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Randall, stop being loquacious. Your comment is longer than the post itself and not as fun to read.
March 19th, 2009 at 10:53 am
The entry about the salads is misleading. When you buy the salad, that’s pretty much your meal. But almost nobody gets a Big Mac without fries. And suddenly you’re way over the amount of calories (not to mention sodium!) in the much maligned salad.
Are fast-food salads healthy? Not be a long shot. But is a fast-food salad worse than a Big Mac? Nope, because you’re almost always getting fries with that.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:06 am
As for #6 – Six Mini Meals Are Better than Three…if you are currently overweight, the chances that you will increase those meals to large ones, will double. I know this because it happened to me. As long as you have the willpower to do this in moderation, it won’t work. I certainly don’t have the willpower…I seem to lack that ability.
As for salt…if you already have issues with your heart, stay away from salt. It can irritate your condition.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
40. chris1372002
JFray wasn’t discounting the benefits of a six mini-meal day; he was stating the possibility/likelihood of overindulging six mini-meals into six regular-size meals. You reiterated what was listed by saying “same caloric content”. The only difference is that J said it’s easier to set time for three rather than six. I have no idea what you were attempting to correct in this correction.
53. oouchan
If the willpower’s the problem, then portion it out before you even think about eating it! Split it up in serving-size sandwich bags or grab a plate, put some chips there and put the bag away again! Out of sight, Out of mind, right? In my case, it works doubly well for me (being on the short side of average) since I’d be too lazy to go through the extra effort to stretch and strain and reach in vain and try the acrobatics to get a second serving.
I think this calorie thing is going to be the biggest controversy in this list. I’ve laid it out in a couple of the past comment boards but no one seems to be willing to acknowledge it.
I do like the debunking lists, though! I think they’re my favorites.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
1 Big Mac has 540 calories and 1,040 mg of salt; 1 premium southwest salad with crispy chicken and dressing has 530 calories and 1,260 mg of salt. The Mac is healthier.
first things first – only a moron would think this particular salad is healthier – even by reading the name i just got fatter.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
“eating lots of protein may help the body store it as extra muscle mass;”
Wrong. The body cannot store protein. It is excreted in urea (pee). If muscle fibres are damaged (ie through exercise) then protein available in diet is used to rebuild them larger, but this is not storage in the same way as we store fat.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
I dont think chris actually understands the human body, gabi
March 19th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
and i don’t get why your talking about eating 30 sticks of celery in an hour totalling 180 calories…i thought the myth was ONE stick or stalk or whatver its called, not 30 or however many in an hour.
I’m not saying your wrong….but all that extra math doesn’t have anything to do with just one stick of celery
March 19th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Joe mama:
Eff off, asshole.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
chris1372002: as far as I have been able to gather from researching the celery thing, this is the only site that actually looks at the numbers involved in the digestion process – snopes agrees with everything I say then says “but the energy used in digestion makes it negative calorie” – that is a cop out – why don’t they work out how much energy is used in digestion like I did? When you factor it in, it is still nowhere near negative calories.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
What is also misleading about the salad point is that the excess calories and salt is almost always found in the dressing. Buying light dressing or only using half of the packet can alleviate this, as well as eating grilled, not fried, chicken. #9 is totally bogus, as well as #6. When someone diets and has a set caloric intake, say 1,200, wouldn’t it be easier to graze through out the day than starve in between meals?
This list totally deserves a thumbs down.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
57. cymraegbachgen87
Figured it was a possibility…I wasn’t even going to attempt a lengthy lecture on Chris’s dried v. fresh fruit if it was going to be too complex. Basically Chris’s part-way right in that fresh is better IN SOME ASPECTS but not for the reasons he thinks, which is why there was nothing to refute in J’s approach in item #7.
59. Randall
Well now you put Joe mama in a predicament. She wanted you to write less, which you did, but how can they be happy with quantity when it’s that kind of quality? You can’t please them all, I suppose…
March 19th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
“This one is so popular that even Snopes believes it”, It is a dangerous game that you play here. Two conflicting arguments each with it’s own science. Is it Really debunked?
I think that you should write a book, “Dieting in the List Universe” featuring chapters on calorie counting, Wine, and “Body by Adonis”
I’d buy it. Where is that cookbook anyway?
March 19th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Strongly disagree with #7. Fresh fruit IS better than dried fruit, because it has more fibre and water, and is more easily digested. It also has more fibre than juice, which can often have added sugar or flavourings.
Still, dried fruit is a lot better for you than a fast-food salad!
March 19th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Blitzen: If you are that health crazed, then you would have a bottle of water in your hand too. Fiber? It seems pretty hard to remove that when dehydrating.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
61. Freya
What did I just write?! comment 64 discussing possibility/likelihood of overindulging. What was in item six?! First off, this can be okay – but only if you are extremely good at controlling your portion sizes; it is all too easy to turn six small meals into six large meals.
So where is the bogus in that?
and FYI, diets in the way you are thinking of them (i.e. temporary food restrictions) are bad because they tempt you to binge on the “bad food”. A permanent change in food habits is what works.
March 19th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I once saw an article of a list of food items that were like 3 times the calories of a McDonalds Big Mac. It was stuff like the Double Bison Burger at Ruby Tuesday’s and stuff like that.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Do people realize jamie could start a cult. People blindly believe him over their doctors. But such an informed cult it would be that i would join it
March 19th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
RambleRon: He’s not a cult leader, That would be too Scientologesque. Really, He’s closer to Jamie Escobar, seriously. This place is like a drug. Sweet Sweet Brain Candy.
…Why does my nose itch?
March 19th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Decaf: Let’s put this one to rest. Water-processed decaf is no better than the old-fashioned stuff using dichloromethane. It’s simple. Sure, DCM is nasty crap, but take note that the beans are treated while still green, and so every last trace of DCM, being a typically volatile organic, is driven off when the coffee is roasted. That said, I agree with your evaluation. Decaf is, as Letterman put it, nothing but “useless warm brown water” and is best avoided unless caffeine screws you up.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
I love the lists that claim to debunk myths. They lead to the most amusing and interesting comments/debates. My favourite is Randall’s brilliantly worded “Eff off, asshole.” That made me giggle.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Blitzen,
Dried fruit has the same amount of fibre as non dried fruit. Do you know how I know this? Because dried fruit has had water removed. Thats it. Just water. No fibre removed. Are you with me here?
Eugh how i mourn for people who understand science.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
#3 Ridiculous!
Of course FOOD cravings weren’t satisfied by tasteless replicas. This doesn’t prove an “emotional” craving, but more proves that when your body is craving a certain food, its craving the TASTE of it, not the underlying flavorless ingredients. Which makes perfect sense, considering taste is the #1 sense associated with EATING!
Of course many cravings would be emotional, like when you see somebody with a Starbucks and suddenly enviously want one, or when you drive by a Outback Steakhouse and the smell makes you want a 3,000 calorie meal started with a Bloomin’ Onion!
BUT, the random cravings out of no where, like when I’m sitting on the couch, watching TV, eating Doritos and suddenly I’d kill my own mother for a dill pickle, those cravings go beyond emotion!
March 19th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
i just looked up ectomorph after reading it on here. i didnt really understand the explanation.
i also tried to look up ways to gain weight and all i got was “want to stop gaining weight?”. sucky!
March 19th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
cymraegbachgen87,
Actually, a lot (I daresay ‘most’) of the dried fruits always come pealed. In the case of apples, pears, peaches, apricots, and other ’skinned’ fruits, lots of their fiber exists in these skins which are usually consumed when devoured fresh.
So while you’re generally right – there is no process during drying to remove the fiber from the fruit itself, the fact that the skin is usually removed first is enough to validate Blitzen’s point concerning the lackluster amounts of fiber in dried fruits compared to fresh fruits.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
#56: Perhaps the use if the word ’store’ was incorrectly interpreted – but “If muscle fibres are damaged (ie through exercise) then protein available in diet is used to rebuild them larger” – is just about what I wrote in my comment.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Interesting list, interesting comments.
Randall, cym, Lifeschool, lo, bucslim, gabi, Crimanon all have have valid points of view…there may be some others I missed, but I doubt it.
I have always been of the opinion that fresh, natural foods are best for the human body. I also believed (after reading the fact sheets)that “fast food” was essentially “slow death”, and prepared all of my families food at home, from scratch. I never put salt on the table. The salt I cooked with was sea salt. I still cook that way. I have never used a prepared package (just add water!).
I had the healthiest kids in school.
March 19th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
#4 – In fact, dichloromethane is not universally used these days for decaffeination. Instead carbon dioxide in a supercritical state (scCO2) can be used to extract 97-99% of the caffeine instead, with no toxicity or loss of flavour.
Given that plenty of chemicals which are harmful in greater quanities are used in our food and are natural in our body (iron, potassium, etc.) in any case means that the idea that simply because dichloromethane is used in paint stripper means it is a problem in decaf is laughable.
Cheers,
Richard
March 19th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
75. Matticus
Dunno where you shop, but much of the dried fruits I’ve seen (peaches, prunes, apricots, the like) come with skin since the insides are pretty sticky. To clarify, these are the partially to mostly dehydrated snack fruits usually sold in grocery stores. The totally dehydrated stuff (similar in appearance to freeze dried) does or doesn’t have it – depending on the company making the goods. Apples are usually peeled before drying because the skin can get pretty tough but some people can and will eat dehydrated apple with skin.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
i did a very basic dietician course at college. the instructer was subsitusting, she told my class that chopped and dried fruit has little nutritional value as the nutrients oxidise within hours of being cut. she also said frozen fruit and veg is not as good because low tempretures “kill” nutrients.
i always wondered about that instructor tho. her main subject was excersise, nt diet and she seemed very unsure of what she was saying.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
#74: Ectomorph just means ‘naturally slim’. “The words endomorphic, mesomorphic and ectomorphic are still sometimes used to describe body types, as for example in association with weight training aimed at gaining muscle”. – From Wiki.
Today its just a name to describe people in very broad steriotypical body-type terms – just as we may choose slim, plump or stocky. I believe I picked it up during my weight training days.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Myth about Fast Food Salads are bad for you is both right and wrong.
The Salad is healthy.
The Dressing is not.
Bottom line. Skip the dressing.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Caloric content of food substances is determined in the lab with a calorimeter (caloric bomb). A sample of the substance is put into the instrument and the temperature stabilized. A reaction (burn) is introduced to make the sample give of its heat, meaning the breaking down the chemical structure, and the energy released is measured. It is then assumed that 10 to 15% of the energy is consumed in the digestive process and subtracted. That is how they come up with food calories.
Now how well that approximates to the real human digestion and metabolism, I would think, is a matter of debate. I doubt digestion is as efficient as these measurements, and obviously it varies from person to person, vand definately does not consider the differences in the way fat is converted and stored from individul to individual.
As for diet, like JF said, I am a firm believer – burn more calories than you take in – you lose weight – vice versa you gain weight.
I read in a nutritionist’s book that an RN loaned me, and it definitely works. But you do need to learn how to estimate your resting metabolic rate, estimate how much additional energy you use in regular activities and exercise (or not), and learn your basic food calorie chart well enough that when you have a meal or a snack you know what and how much to eat. ITS NOT THAT HARD.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Lifeschool – thanks! such a simple explanation with none of the latin and long words!
does that mean i am an ectomorph? i mean i’m as skinny as a rake but have long arms and legs for me bein so short (5foot!), i eat like a horse and makes no difference to my weight or size (25 inch waist). i been trying for years to gain weight, but the only thing people have to say is “you should consider yourself lucky, loads of women would kill to be as thin as you”…. yeah i love looking like a skeleton. there is so litte help to gain weight.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
@ crossAnonymous
you may have a tape worm.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
@ buclim, # 46
Allow me to clarify. When you feel like a cheeseburger, you should indeed eat yourself. You will go straight to your hips and you will be your guilty pleasure. After a while you will get sick of yourself and start eating other cheeseburgers. When this occurs, and you feel like eating a cheeseburger… eat one.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
I am going to have to disagree with the logic on #1. Thats like saying cigarettes aren’t bad for you if you only smoke one a month. Fast food is always bad for you. Whenever I eat a fast food meal I can always tell. I am more lethargic and my endurance while playing sports is greatly decreased.
The protein thing is a little misleading too. It’s true that after so much protein, any more is superfluous but for many guys a regular diet may still be 20-30 grams shy of optimal protein intake. Hense the muscle milk.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Fast food does not make you fat, you make yourself fat.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
I think #9 might depend on what country you’re in. I just checked the new zealand mcdonalds site and they list the big mac as 492 cals and 1080mg of sodium per serve. The most cal heavy salad was the premium chicken salad with 220 cals and 412mg of sodium per serve. So the salad is healthier…in nz anyway!
Also I don’t think you can claim #5 as a debunking. Both snopes and straight dope seem to agree that you do burn more calories than you take in when you eat and digest celery. I think where you’ve gone wrong is you haven’t taken into account the time and calories taken to ‘digest’ the celery, which is a lot more than that involved in the actual eating bit. Also you based your calculations on being able to eat a stick in just over 2 minutes, and then saying that means you could eat nearly 30 in an hour. Straight dope did a similar test and Cecil was only able to eat 12 sticks in an hour which = 72 calories consumed. He then says that you burn roughly 85 calories per hour, thus you’ve burned 13 more calories than you’ve taken in.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
54. gabi319….true but since I am missing the willpower and am lazy, then portion size becomes a problem. Basically, I try to find fillers. Lots of veggies that I can go crazy on the portion size. They have nothing added to them so its just natural. It’s helping. as a side note…i hate most fast food. Its always tasteless and swimming in grease. I’m ok with chinese when going out but will avoid Mcdonalds like the plague.
Just to add, dried fruit is as good as fresh fruit. It’s also easier to handle and take on trips. I’d rather enjoy fresh when I can get it, but am ok with dried. I also know it comes with the skin on…at least with the products I buy. I also make my own as well and the skin is still on there. Apples make the best dried fruit, IMHO.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Just few thoughts re: #3
While pregnant, I craved peanut butter, eating it straight of the jar with a spoon and going through a jar a week. Before falling pregnant I simply could not stomach it, to the point where I had to stand several metres away from anyone who’d recently eaten it or else I’d feel nausesous and start gagging. Since giving birth, I’m still unable to stomach it, not as badly as before, but the smell of it still makes my stomach turn.
Anyone got any thoughts on that?
March 19th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
36 zimmers: Ice? Really? No calories? No kidding. Water doesn’t have calories, frozen or not.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
ChickyBee – must be something in the peanut butter your baby needed for growth. i craved burnt toast, midwife told me that was for carbon, but she had no explanation why i craved dark choclate bars dipped in custard, i went right off milk chocolate and i couldnt stop eating ice. ever since my boy was born milk chocolate has tasted like vomit, dark chocolate i now love and couldnt stand before. i cant face the thought of eating ice in any form now. weird!
March 19th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
eugene – i thought water had 3 calories per glass? am i wrong?
March 19th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
90. oouchan: When going on a car trip, I always have a big bag of those baby peeled carrots along to snack on. I love them. I always have a bag full in the fridge, too, for quick pick-me-up’s at home.
Another great snack is frozen grapes. I buy whatever grapes I like (usually the red or black ones) wash them and remove them from the stems. Then I’ll put them in a freezer bag and into the freezer. During the summer it’s like a grape flavored sorbet. When traveling, I’ll put them in a small travel-container with a “blue-ice” and they remain frozen until they’re gone. I’ve also found out (by accident), that they’ll last in the freezer at home for months, if properly packaged.
91. ChickyBee:…Anyone got any thoughts on that?
****
Chicky, I’ve had 3 babies and in my experience the hormonal changes during pregnancy make for all sorts of craziness in your taste, emotions, reactions, just about everything (I couldn’t stand even the slightest whiff of coffee)…post pregnancy everything gets back to normal eventually. If you are still breast-feeding some of the hormonal changes will still be somewhat active, but if not, they will leave your system soon.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Unless I am out to lunch, I have to disagree with the salt not causing high blood pressure comment. Excess salt causes the body to retain more water then necessary, this in turn causes the volume of blood to increase, thus increasing blood pressure. I believe that’s the reason why some people with high blood pressure take diuretics.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER KNOWN IS WRONG!
March 19th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
6twistedbiscuits: Yes, you’re wrong. You can gain “water weight” because water has weight, but it does not have any calories. None.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
eugene – thanks
but when i’ve bought plain bottled water, it has a calorie content on the label, are they added in or something?
March 19th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I’ve always been a great believer of everything in moderation. If you don’t allow yourself a but of what you like every now and then, chances are one day you will go crazy and completely wreck your diet/healthy eating plan. I speak from experience!
March 19th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Aww, I knew all this stuff:(
Guess my teachers are pretty good=D
March 19th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
91. ChickyBee: its the hormones! I was so excited when I was pregnant because I heard I could get the weirdest cravings…so I waited to see what I got. I was hoping for chocolate covered sardines or something but I craved carrots. I craved them so much that I turned orange. Whites of the eyes, between my toes and fingers and my tongue were all orange.
95. segue: so because of that story, I love carrots even today. You would think I wouldn’t be able to stand them. Before that I couldn’t but now I can. Never tried frozen grapes before. I will give that one a try.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
96. My faith in education has just been shattered by your understanding of homeostasis.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
oouchan and segue or anyone really – you have kids, do you have any potty training tips? all the health visiters i have seen have all said the same thing, at 2 years old my boy is TO YOUNG to potty train and they wont help. so i looked online and was innundated with useless tips!
March 19th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
104. 6twistedbiscuits…got one that works. Does your little boy have a favorite toy? You use that to show that its not scary to go potty. You take the potty into a bright area (if the restroom isn’t) and then play with your son. Wait about 10 minutes and say, “I think (insert toy name here) has to go potty”, then proceed to show him how its done. Then wait about 15 more minutes and repeat the process but this time have him put the toy on the potty. Repeat and ask after each time if he as to go. Takes about 1 day. All you need is persistance and patience.
Lucky for me, my daughter decided she was ready and did it on her own. Been independent since day one when she held her head up by herself without support from me.
The tip above I used with my best friends daughter and it was featured on one of those nanny shows.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
oouchan – he doesnt really have a fave toy, but i will give that a go with his action man. so far i have basically shoved the potty at him every time he starts to go and given him a treat to encourage him to thnk potty is good, he is slowly getting the idea but he is to lazy to go to the potty, he still expects it to be pushed to him. he did well once yesterday tho, he went to the potty on his own
. he wont poop unless he has a nappy on, he will hold it i all day until he gets one on for nap and bed time. just he really needs to be going into the bathroom and not peeing where he stands. hehehe nice subject for all other readers.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
104. 6twistedbiscuits: At 2 he probably is too young. I got a book when I wanted to train my first, at a little under 2, called something like “Toilet training in Less Than a Day”. It had a series of tests to give your child to see if he or she was ready to be trained.
When she finally passed all of the tests, she was 2 1/2, and she was completely trained in 8 hours.
My second, a son, was 3, and he took 10 hours.
My third, another girl, was just over 2 and took about 5 and a half hours.
I don’t remember the tests. But the training took one on one complete involvement, including prizes (like a single m&m) for every successful potty use. No punishment for failure.
Passing the tests was key, though.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Fastfood is bad mmkay
March 19th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
segue – i’m thinking he is old enough now because he knows when he needs to go and he takes his nappy off when he has been. he can even hold it in when he hasnt got a nappy on. i’m thinking he just wants the comfort of nappies?
real quick learners
my mum tells me i was potty trained at 9 months old, one of my cousins was at 8 months old, in fact most of my family were trained before they were one. the only one who wasnt was my aunty, she has downs sydrome. so they are all telling me he should be on the potty by now
cool with your kids tho
March 19th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
The picture for #6 looks delicious!!
March 19th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
6twistedbiscuits, segue, oouchan – thanks. It just seemed completely odd and it shocked the friends who had seen me in my ‘get that peanut butter away from me’ mania.
As for the toilet training stuff, I’m still struggling and my son is nearly 3. He knows all the theory, just won’t do any of.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
never knew number 2…
March 19th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
sorry, twitchy post finger.
He knows the theory, won’t put any of it into practice and I’ve tried everything I can think of. Perhaps he’s just not ready to let go of nappies yet?
March 19th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
ChickyBee- its a comfort thing with kids, nappies, dummys and bottles. my boy is completely off bottles but he wont let go of his dummy he really is to old for it now, and his nappy, well he’ll have to find another comfort. like when he was being weaned off the bottle, he went to bed with a teddy instead. i’m struggling to find a replacement comfort for nappies and dummy.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
99. 6twistedbiscuits-
what brand of bottled water’s label claims calories at more than zero? that’s pretty weird.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
104. 6twistedbiscuits
My sister learned at less than 1 and me at less than 2…meh, probably close to 2 but still not quite. My goddaughter started learned a month or two after the age of two. It’s slow going but she’s getting into the habit. They gave her books and an Elmo Goes to Potty DVD (Elmo’s her thing) that seems to help.
There’s also supposed to be some kind of mini-urinal that helps boys learn faster? It’s called the Peter Potty and seems to be what a lot of new mommies are talking about. I’m at that age where a lot of my friends are getting married and/or poppin out kids…it’s making me even more of a commitophobe, but I still can’t avoid the mommytalk even though I’d probably prefer to eat paste with the 2 year olds.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
112. Xthye “Never knew #2″ in the middle of potty training talk. Funny. And enough of the potty training, ladies. Take it to the forums. No one else cares.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
lo – im not sure now, and thinking about it i’m pretty sure it was flavoured water. sorry!
gabi319 – my boy loves thomas the tank engine, but dont know if there is a thomas goes to potty dvd! ive never hear of the peter potty, i will have a look for it. theres nothing wrog with being a commitophobe or with mommietalk
March 19th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
The weight problem: Fat people don’t excersize. They’re too lazy to do it. Don’t just rely on “fat free” and “lite” foods, get off your heaving asses and take a goddamn walk. I see obese people at my work drinking a coke and taking an elevator to go up one floor, when the stairs are right next to them. I can’t get fat yet myself but I never will because my daily calorie burn will always outweigh my intake. Start seeing food as fuel for your body and not as a luxury.
And everything is bad for you if you eat too much of it. That’s why Morgan Spurlock is a dipshit. He was proving a point non-retarded people already knew.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
oouchan:
I can’t can’t can’t stand Chinese takeout! …or McDonald’s, haha…or pizza…or pretty much everything in #1 except fried chicken. In college, I had a Chinese international student as a roommate who could make REAL Chinese food (meaning not greasy, the vegetables were still pretty crisp, etc.). I wasn’t a fan of take out before and after learning what real Chinese food tastes like, I definitely avoid the take out!
March 19th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
“wrog”? Yes, there is. Completely off topic.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
lately i’ve been craving salt/salty foods (and i’m not pregnant). i grew up in a home that kept the salt shaker in the spice cabinet to use sparingly in cooking, and i never want to salt things at the table.
i know most americans get their salt (more than required) in processed/fast/restaurant foods even if they don’t salt at the table. i don’t eat much of that stuff (i love to cook and i’m broke), but do eat some.
think it means anything?
March 19th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
96. VikingBerserker – “Unless I am out to lunch, I have to disagree with the salt not causing high blood pressure comment.”
…so when you’re staying IN for lunch, you agree with the salt not causing high blood pressure? color me confused….
March 19th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
sorry for the typos! my keyboard is not the best in the world.
it might be off topic eugene but then you dont have to read it do you?
March 19th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
I don’t eat fast food EVER. Maybe once every 4-5 years. It’s nasty. I don’t like sweet things either. Even fruit is too sticky. Love veggies tho. Make my own pizza and my own Chinese. I’m a great cook. My downfall (overindulgence) is steak and/or lasagna. I eat fish/seafood almost every night. Salmon, tilapia, shrimp, scallops are the best!!
March 19th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
124 6twistedbiscuits: Live and learn and then get Luvs. Talk all you want. Just take it to where we don’t have to subjected to it.
Oh BTW I have jock-itch and athletes foot. Any ideas?
My eczema is driving me crazy!! Any ideas?
My dandruff is acting up. Any ideas?
My psoriasis is getting really bad. Any ideas?
See how annoying it is?
BTW: I don’t have any of these issues. I’m fine.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
125. Eugene-
i feel sorry for you if there are no fresh fruits you enjoy. fresh fruits, grown yourself or from a farmers/local market and just picked in their prime are some of the finest things in the world!
March 19th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
and Eugene-
in their defense, the progression from cravings (on list) to pregnancy cravings, babies, then a baby raising issue isn’t really out of line the way things seem to go here.
but it was a bit gross ladies!
March 19th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
eugene – have a go at me if you want to and try imagine how much i care, if you are going to have a go then have a go at every one with the “got any ideas?”, i’m not the only one, but i’m the one you’ve singled out. bit of a bully, are you? like to pick on a person, but not a group of people? theres nothing that irritates me more then a bully. BTW, if you dont like a conversation, dont join in. simple as.
lo – thnks for the defense, apologies to anyone who did find it gross,but then like i said, you didnt have to read it.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Blah blah blah.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Eugene…guess you havn’t been here long enough to know we always go off topic. ignore it and move on.
Its not annoying…its fun. You need to get out more.
6twistedbiscuits…don’t give up. He will do it when he is ready. My girl was 1 year old at the time.
gabi319 – not chinese take out…that’s gross! I am talking about the REAL stuff. I have a hole in the wall family resturant that serves all the best and fresh food. They go to the asian market across the street daily. I love their stuff! Because of them, I have managed to mimic some of their dishes so I can have it at home. I am getting pretty good at it too!
122. lo…are you getting enough water? I ask because that was my issue. Went to my doctor about it because I hate salt! Its so nasty. So when I started to crave salty items, he said more water. It worked for me.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
such a witty, intelligent retort eugene. your not even a very good bully. i dont think i’m going to waste anymore of my time on you.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Canteloupe, bananas and berries are OK. I was talking more about oranges and the such. Frozen grapes (segue) sound good in theory. But they are too cold and make my teeth hurt in reality. I do like watermelon but only if it’s already cut up. Oh and cherries may be my favorite.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
6twistedbiscuits: “simple as” Simple as what?
March 19th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Simple as you?
March 19th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
D.B.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Eugene: You need some of those little fish… http://www.psoriasisfishcure.com/
March 19th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
I should learn to read All of a comment before replying.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Crimanon 137: Touche!! I didn’t even need to look. I know the reference. Quite the wit. That’s very cool.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
I thought that they were temperate.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Good night ladies. It’s a long, dark, cold night here. Until tomorrow! More fun to be had. No hard feelings 6twistedbiscuits. Very interesting nik BTW. I admire your (sp?) hutzpah.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
“A moderate amount of fast food is no worse for you than a moderate amount of home-cooked meat and vegetables.”
Not sure how did you end up with this statement, but if you take grams by grams and compare it, you can definately see/feel the “worse” b/w eating fast food and home cooked meals. If “worse” by your definition means you won’t die from both, then most is true and the comparison scale is weak.
“A constant diet of nothing but fast food may not be the healthiest choice you can make, but then again, eating macaroni and cheese every night is not very healthy either.”
This is like saying constantly eating A or A are not very healthy. If your second “A” was a “B” (vegetables), then your equation falls apart.
“Variety and moderation are the key to good eating and health. If you feel like a cheeseburger, eat one.”
It is true that variety and moderation are the key to good eating but it is the misconception of the word “moderation” that can be misleading. So if you feel like a cheeseburger, think about when did you last eat one, then decide to eat one.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Eugene sounds like it`s her time of the month.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
ugh gross, bigski. I’m a girl but ‘time of the month’ references gross me out that toddler poo.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
*gross me out more than toddler poo
March 19th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
It’s about time for the Laker game to begin. I’ll be off.line in a nonce.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
I was trying to be clever because it`s a guy and he`s arguing with all you girls.
Get it ?
Someone gimmie a rimshot. ta ta tish.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
129. 6twistedbiscuits-
no apologies needed for the gross factor, i’m okay with gross
but i don’t have any kids and i never even baby-sat in my youth, so when i stopped and thought about the posts causing Eugene’s complaint (which i hadn’t given a second thought until then -ironic, no?) i saw how it could be gross on a food themed list.
anyway, the 60-some% of readers who answered the poll love “the bizarre” and must be no strangers to “gross factor.”
131. oouchan- i think i’m good on water, it’s my main beverage, i think i drink about 1.5-2 liters a day. thanks for the suggestion:)
March 19th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Yo if you want to lose weight move more and eat less! Simple as shit
March 19th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I love these myth killing lists.
March 19th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
General- I agree with you,but if you also listen to death metal while you move more and eat less it`s more effective.
March 19th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
also if you have kidney failure or if your on dialysis
salt is very very bad it really needs to be watched
i should know :/
March 19th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
haha @ bigski (151)
I was kinda disappointed that GenTits didn’t have any death metal references in his comment. Thanks for picking up the slack!
March 19th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
“However, if you already have high blood pressure, you may become salt-sensitive in which case you should reduce salt or increase your potassium intake as it is the balance of the two that really matters. Furthermore, people who suffer from hypertension should be careful with salt as it can have an impact there.”
Kind of redundant, isn’t it? High blood pressure and hypertension are the same thing, JFrater.
March 19th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
@ 151
The head banging must burn of extra calories huh ?
One myth that could of have been addressed here is whether cooking food leads to a loss of nutrition. Eating it raw I’ve heard is healthier, as the food retains all its nutrition. Though steaming apparently doesn’t affect food.
March 19th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Having a fast metabolism can be bad. It might seem good to eat everything and not gain weight, but I am slightly underweight, and I can’t gain weight. I could eat one trillion calories, and still not gain one pound. If I exercise to gain muscle, I don’t gain muscle, I lose fat only. What do I do?
March 19th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
underweight, and the other “too slim” posters-
your best bet is to find a registered dietician/nutritionist and work with him/her to find a program of strength training (muscle building) exercise and healthy diet with appropriate calories for your goals.
there are people who study this very thing (every hospital has dietitians on staff to plan meals appropriate to each patients needs) they can help you
March 19th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
You got most of these from here: http://health.msn.com/nutrition/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100215779>1=31036
You didn’t cite it in the sources either.
Even if you would have, it would still plagiarism. Write your own material and don’t just get it from other websites.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
redbull has some 100k cals or sumthing..
will that make u VERY fat then???
March 19th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
akilla: God, I hope you’re joking. Have you even read a can of the stuff?
March 20th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Nick: Jamie is actually pretty good with the not plagiarizing. I see a few of the same topics being discussed here as on the site you linked, however I don’t see any direct copy/pasting of the exact same wording. These are all incredibly common food-related myths & misconceptions, so it’s very unsurprising that some of the topics overlap. There is no plagiarism going on here that I can see.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:22 am
I totally agree with #1.
That is why that movie supersize me is total bull crap. No one eats 4000 Calories a day (unless your Michael Phelps.) So of course your gonna gain weight. Don’t blame your obesity on McDonalds, blame it on your own stupid self
March 20th, 2009 at 12:30 am
Thanks for the No.1 post -woo!
March 20th, 2009 at 2:20 am
its irresponsible to say that salt doesn’t increase your blood pressure…it does so however indirectly. simply put salt causes fluid retention, the increased fluid puts more pressure on ur veins resulting in an increased blood pressure. THERE IS A REASON UR DOCTOR TELLS U TO WATCH UR SALT INTAKE WHEN U HAVE HIGH OR BORDERLINE BLOOD PRESSURE!!! To the person whose father has borderline low blood pressure: the blood pressure you mentioned is not dangerous low it’s actually just about perfect, however the pulse shouldn’t be below 55-60 at complete rest. A very slight increase in salt intake shouldn’t be harmful as it can correct the problem. however he needs to talk to his doctor before changing anything considering his history.
March 20th, 2009 at 4:10 am
Lol Im really sorry jfrater, but you should really stop making these lists. You seem to know almost nothing about nutrition. 8 and 6 are complete bullshit. If you want to gain muscle, you should eat 1-2 grams of protien per pound of bodyweight, which is a lot.And it should be a lot more tham 10% of your diet.
And 6 is even more bullshit than number 8. There is a lot more to nutrition than calories. When you eat 6 small meals, your body has an easier time absorbing nutrients and burning the fat. It is much better for your body anabolically(I probably spelled it wrong lol). And by the way just eating less calories will constitute weight loss, but some of it could be muscle if all you focus on is calories.
March 20th, 2009 at 4:36 am
treasg:
“What is the effect of cooking on digestibility of various foods? Clearly, a food can have a nutritive value only if it is digested. Hence, it is necessary to investigate the effects of cooking on digestibility. We’ll see that there is no general rule, and that there are many examples of foods for which cooking improves digestibility, and many examples for which it does not.
Postulated effects of dietary “food enzymes.” One of the main arguments of raw versus low-temperature cooking is that heating above 104°F (40°C) results in progressive enzyme damage; hence, even if you steam your vegetables, your food is “dead.” However, we will contend that such arguments are invalid, and that dietary enzymes have a very minor role in our health, if any.
Degree of vitamin and mineral losses. It is well-known that cooking may result in some vitamin and mineral losses. We try below to give an estimate of these losses. Not all vitamins are lost by heating; other factors (such as exposure to air or light) may result in vitamin loss; and heating by itself doesn’t destroy minerals (however, some minerals may be leached in water). In short, we try to determine how much vitamins and minerals can be lost by heating a food.
Evaluating the pros and cons. As with the question of toxicity that was assessed in Part 1, the consideration here cannot be reduced to black and white. Instead, the various factors must be weighed against each other. We conclude that cooking does not represent huge nutritional losses, but of course, when the choice is given, it is best to eat raw whatever is palatable in that form, and to cook as little as possible when heating is necessary to improve digestibility or to improve taste.” -http://www.beyondveg.com/tu-j-l/raw-cooked/raw-cooked-2a.shtml
Also the salt thing…believe it IF you don’t tells you to cut back or watch it, otherwise don’t think about it that much. Everything is fine in moderation, unless of course you have other health problems where salt could potentially worsen it.
March 20th, 2009 at 5:15 am
Very well written and summed up with a great message in the number one slot.
March 20th, 2009 at 6:00 am
This obsession with fat reached its peak in my observations when I heard a fellow elementary school teacher teaching the class that fat was BAD for you. It instantly reminded me of the book “The Nazi Doctors” which states that the early Germans learning that the doctors were killing their own selected German “less than desirables” with injections, began refusing to take their necesssary inoculations. The Nazis merely shifted to a NO FAT diet (mostly saurkraut)for their targets killing them off in about three months.
So remember folks -fat is not bad for your -it is good for you -even necessary for life -just don’t over do it or under do it like the Nazis.
March 20th, 2009 at 6:13 am
Lol, I’m really sorry Ryan but you seem to know nothing about the human body. That volume of protein cannot be constituted into muscle in a single sitting, therefore most of it will merely leave the body in your pee as protein cannot be stored.
Get over yourself – these lists are for fun. Who cares if they are not academically accurate? What you just said isnt. Why do body builders think they know more than scientists?
March 20th, 2009 at 6:16 am
Unless of course anabolic steroids are used. Then a larger quantity of protein can be constituted into muscle of course.
But if you are using steroids, protein intake is the least of your problems.
March 20th, 2009 at 8:12 am
5. Mixglorios – please dont make a second comment!
12. Jollibee? Maybe noone cares about a Philippine fast food franchise – thats why!
36. Zimmers – you just wasted 30 minutes of your life
47. Randall – you just wasted an hour.
As for list item #7, fresh fruit is better because you dont eat as much. A handful of grapes has fewer calories than a handful of raisins.
Everything after #83 until this comment is a waste of life. Potty training? Struth! Isnt there somewhere else to discuss this?
March 20th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Hey Jfrat, what is that a picture of in #6 because whatever it is I want some. It looks sooooo goood!
March 20th, 2009 at 8:27 am
i still maintain that McDonald’s and Co. purposely put out the premium salads and chicken, knowing that a Big Mac was healthier as a way to “punk” everyone after the ‘Super Size Me’ hysteria.
March 20th, 2009 at 8:29 am
eugene – no hard feelings.
….Very interesting nik BTW. I admire your (sp?) hutzpah….
i dont understand what that means?
March 20th, 2009 at 8:36 am
Where is the thing about the gelitan???
i swear i seen it somewhere and now i can’t find it???
help please
March 20th, 2009 at 9:14 am
171. Wally:…Everything after #83 until this comment is a waste of life.
****
Well, well, well. Some noob thinks he can waltz right on in and start telling the old guard how to run everything.
It seems to me, with all of his criticisms (4 by name, including Randall, and dozens by implication), that it isn’t the 88 posts that are a waste of life, but his 1.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:03 am
The problem with #5 is that who eats celery without cheese or peanut butter all over it?!?!
The picture for #4 is adorable!
March 20th, 2009 at 11:10 am
“As for list item #7, fresh fruit is better because you dont eat as much. A handful of grapes has fewer calories than a handful of raisins.”
So…eating too much fruit is bad for you?
Seriously Wally that comment was a waste of time. If you knew LV at all you would ALSO know that its fun when lists go off topic
March 20th, 2009 at 11:38 am
JFrater-
“For the sake of comparison, I looked it up: 1 Big Mac has 540 calories and 1,040 mg of salt; 1 premium southwest salad with crispy chicken and dressing has 530 calories and 1,260 mg of salt. The Mac is healthier.”
Okay, you’re trying to hit us with shock-value statements here for the sake of making a point. “LOOK GUYS, A BIG MAC IS HEALTHIER THAN A SALAD.” In doing so, you’re creating a need for another list to debunk the so-called “facts” in this one.
Calorie intake in itself is not a bad thing. Yes, to the average overweight American, calories are something to avoid, but they are by no means a measure of healthiness for any given food.
Yes, sodium is bad, and that’s a lot of sodium for a salad…which is easily avoided by simply NOT using their Ultra Butter Salt-Flavored Southwest Ranch Dressing. How are you gonna take the sodium out of a Big Mac? I never eat at McDonalds, but I see that they also make salads WITHOUT chicken and probably offer different types of dressing. It’s irresponsible to lead people away from the salad option like this.
You’re also forgetting about all the saturated fat, carcinogens, and god-knows-what-else in McDonalds’ “meat,” as if only the calories and sodium matter in this comparison. Even that salad has some redeeming nutritional value when compared to a Big Mac.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
i love how in the “fast food is bad for you” myth, you compare “unhealthy” fast food to (seemingly) “healthy” mac n cheese??? (which by the way is not that healthy, or should i say..no more nutritional than fast food…good way to legitimize your point there
but it’s true everything in moderation. even freaky fast-food preservation chemicals i guess..
March 20th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
that’s why the paleo diet is better than any diet in the world.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
1: “If you feel like a cheeseburger, eat one.”
Next time Ill feel like a cheeseburger Ill be sure to eat one, thanks!
March 20th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
adrian – what is the paleo diet?
March 20th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Who eats 30 stalks of celery in one day ?
March 20th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
it’s a food regime based on the way hunter gatherers eat about 2.5 millons years ago until the agriculture revolution started. It’s now a fact that caveman were tall, muscular and overall in great physical shape, it was not until that agriculture started in civilization that health begin to decline, let’s take and example, modern hunter gatheres (mostly found in africa, greendland, new zealand and rural mexico) who’s primary source of energy is lean meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, roots, and nuts; and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, and processed oil have a virtually 0% of “western” illnesses like diabetes, blood pressure, cancer etc…Exercise is a HUGE part of the equation also.
So basically is too eat a lot of meat, but and this is a BIG but, try for grass feed beef instead of regular beef, the meat we eat comes from disease animals, fed with grains, hormones, anabolics etc.. go for the healthy option, i had followed this lifestyle, and i feel great, i have lost about 30 pounds, making no sacrifices (once you leave the sugar, funny you dont miss it that much) i dont wanna sound like a cheesy commercial, im not selling anything, but this has work wonders for me. i leave you with this link, that show that studies are founding that the paleo diet, has great health benifits.
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ejcn20094a.html
March 20th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
adrian – how does that lifestyle affect your wallet? i dont often buy meat its far too expensive
March 20th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
177. Mabel: The problem with #5 is that who eats celery without cheese or peanut butter all over it?!?!
****
Me. I happen to like the flavor of celery.
I know that’s weird, but there it is…my kids all like it too.
March 20th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
123. gabi319: Dammit, my English teacher said this would heppen to me one day……..
March 20th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Noob? Ive been waltzing on here with a nice dose of reality for a good 18 months or so. Randall enjoys my refreshing quips and often awaits my frank assessments to his usually good, but sometimes drawn out comments. As for old guard running things, you dont run things, and not so much a guard, but perhaps just old.
March 20th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Wally: How about you show some respect to the LV regulars. It’s really not our fault you haven’t been here long enough to know the humor. You’re not even in the forums so you Really have no room to talk about hierarchy among users.
“Everything after #83 until this comment is a waste of life. Potty training? Struth! Isnt there somewhere else to discuss this?” If you’re so insistent on keeping to the subject, then Why are you still going on about this?
March 20th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
“and it is rare for Snopes to be wrong”
Snopes is often wrong when they try to do political debunking. With non-political stuff you are correct, it is rare for them to be wrong.
March 20th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Strange thing, Wally, I actually went back and checked your posts on LV. Do you know that I could not find a single example of Randall asking for your opinion or congratulating you on a brilliant quip or snappy reparté.
I do know that you have inaccurately named certain arachnids, and been brought up short by Anon and lo. I know you’ve put your foot in your mouth more often than you ought for the few times you’ve posted.
But then, I realize you have your supposed rep to take care of, so I’ll cut you a bit of slack.
Now, STFU and watch your words.
March 20th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
segue-
wally is being a big jerk on this list, but he was correct over on spiders that the pictured beastie is not a sydney funnel web, something anon and i agreed with him on it.
just showing that i’m for the facts, not just my LV friends
March 20th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
174: 6twistedbiscuits: Very interesting NIK. You have a cool nickname. What does it mean? I mean c’mon, 6 twisted biscuits? That’s out of left field.
And the fact that I admire your (sp) hutzpah: Hutzpah is guts, daring. Not taking shit from another. Being able to defend yourself. I admire that. Be strong. Women need to be strong and make sure they can defend and take care of themselves.
March 20th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
AGGGHHHH the wrath of segue strikes again
March 20th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
189. Wally
192. segue
Wally, dont mess with segue. She’s the best of us. Not old guard, just a font of info. I admire her. We all do.
March 20th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
So… it is a myth that soft drinks (soda) must not be taken at all?
Fact about me: I have never taken a drink of soda and eaten an entire bag of chips (I do eat chips in small amounts though) since birth. (yup, it’s true.) Really, I don’t like soda because it ruins the taste of the food. The sweetness overtakes the supposedly delicious savory taste of the food.
Come to think I believed in all of these, and my parents had brainwashed me never to take soda and chips at all. The only exception is that I know that item no. 10 is a myth.
Low fat= enjoyment of consumer= more consumption… therefore making the fat content more than just one full-fat food. Logical enough.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
197. Denzell-
if you know you find the taste of soda too sweet you must have had a drink of it at some point!
like anything else, soda is fine in moderation. regular soda has a lot of sugar/corn sweetener in it, so you should think of it like eating candy, and not over do it.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
The section about eating 6 meals is inaccurate. First, you are right about the daily caloric intake. However, when you just eat 3 meals, say, 5 hours apart, your body shifts into preservation mode between meals because it thinks it is starving. So whatever meal you eat after a 5 hour period, your body will store as much as it can as fat rather than use it for energy, since it does not know when the next meal will come. Eating every 3 hours (6-7 equally sized but smaller meals) provides your body with constant fuel so that it will more readily use what you eat as energy instead of storing it. But you are right about if people cannot keep the 6-7 meals appropriately sized, it could be counterproductive.
About the protein: Weight gain (muscle gain) comes from a caloric excess. Nothing else. Just how weight loss comes from a caloric deficit. Protein’s role is to repair and replenish the muscles after they are broken down from resistance training and stop catabolism.
My Credibility: Exercise and Sports Science Major, Nutrition Minor, Personal Trainer, Collegiate Football Strength and Conditioning Coach.
March 20th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
198. lo….I almost pointed that out myself, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Denzell had to have tried it to know how it tastes.
March 21st, 2009 at 12:36 am
I Can Has Cheezburger?
March 21st, 2009 at 2:38 am
… Yay got being an ectomorph?
March 21st, 2009 at 5:32 am
Thankyou lo. segue, I think you may have misread the comments from Anon and lo. I believe they are concurring with me. Why all this hostility? I think you may have a crush on me!
March 21st, 2009 at 6:17 am
eugene -cheers
6twistedbiscuits came from a dream i had about biscuits that twisted. i have odd dreams.
March 21st, 2009 at 10:41 am
cym, hahaha! I love to be able to do that.
lo, unless I misread big time, not my usual habit (but possible), it had nothing to do with funnel web’s…whole different spider entirely.
Anyway, it was his attitude and manner I took issue with.
March 21st, 2009 at 3:32 pm
196. Eugene: Thank you. I’ve been off.line so much of yesterday & today that I just saw your post. How lovely.
March 21st, 2009 at 8:44 pm
206. Segue. Im not who you think. I pulled an “Anon” Remember when he was Spanner? Shh. Don’t tell. Glad you’re well.I like celery too, but sometimes too hard to chew.”Careful with that axe, Eugene” is a fave Pink Floyd song of mine.
March 21st, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Eugene -
but i’ll not ‘out’ anyone. 
not w/out permission.
i know.
*sigh* such a community this has become. such history. such melodrama. the personality mix is so varied & intriguing. this community of commentors could become their own site…….
March 21st, 2009 at 9:13 pm
208. Cyn Thanks girlfriend. I appreciate it more than you know. I just felt a need to be another. Wanted to be a bit more disguised. Your understanding and grace are welcomed.
March 21st, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Eugene -
np.
altho ..no one has ever mistaken me for graceful.
ROFLMAO!
March 21st, 2009 at 9:25 pm
210. Cyn. Don’t laugh woman!! Having Grace is different than being Graceful. You have always had grace. Being graceful is just moving with confidence (and not bumping into things). I venture to guess that you also are graceful. If you insist not, How many bruises do you have?
March 21st, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Eugene -
LOL atm i have a scratch on the back of my hand where i hit the edge of the counter in my way too narrow kitchen. back of the hand apparently is rather sensitive. ouch! i’d just bandaided my finger i cut on opening a package too. so i am a bit klutzy.
but yeah, i know what you meant. so ty for that.
March 21st, 2009 at 9:49 pm
207. Eugene: I think that was a pretty clever clue, Eugene.
Your secret is safe with me.
All of my former comments stand. More than that, I should not say.
March 21st, 2009 at 10:02 pm
212.Cyn
213.segue
You are the best. The whole reason I stay here. If I may segue, what gave it away?
March 22nd, 2009 at 1:13 am
This list sucks. Real fruit is better for you since it does have vitamin C. Look how much bigger a fast food salad is than a Big Mac. At least make a list that doesn’t bother with facts like that crappy death metal list.
March 22nd, 2009 at 3:03 am
214. Eugene:..If I may segue, what gave it away?
****
Pink Floyd, of course
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:05 am
Shut your face, Rhymenocerous. Flight of the Conchords sucks. Stop complaining about lists. If you dislike this one so much, you shouldn’t have read it.
March 22nd, 2009 at 4:12 pm
@Rhymenocerous, 215. If I’m reading your post correctly, you’re insulting the author of the list for using facts. This, quite possibly, is the most lolworthy thing I’ve read today.
March 22nd, 2009 at 6:07 pm
The thing about myth debunking is it helps us feel clever, mainly because we will be among the few wise ones who know the truth, and the unfortunate majority will continue in their ignorance much to our glee.
March 22nd, 2009 at 6:15 pm
jajingna, that is if your facts are indeed “truthful” or else you would be on the same boat or WORSE. Trying to debunk a myth, when your ones themeselves are myths.
March 22nd, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Good point Tommy. There are many holders of “truth” and in many cases all of them are wrong. Maybe the most stubborn are the religious.
March 22nd, 2009 at 8:53 pm
218. Gary Busey Is God : No, I think he was trying to say that this list is a bit ambigiuous, which I must say isn’t too far off. “Fresh fruit isn’t better, well except for the Vitamin C of course, but who needs that?”. I think that sort of attitude is only going to perpetuate more myths, like that dried fruit is just as good for you – which it isn’t. And Rhyme has got a point about the Big Mac, they’re puny compared to the salad. It would be better if we had a better comparison… And the salt and fast food ones are a bit iffy…
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:40 am
Not sure if someone else mentioned this in the comments … there are so many to read – but #10 Lostagent is right – I work with a few personal trainers and they are all nuts about eating 6 meals a day rather than 3. It’s just better for you – blah blah blah – for lots of reasons that I don’t know anything about. Anyway, but Jfrater is right too – it’s also a matter of portion size . . . if you eat a huge portion 6 times a day, uh – you’ll get fat. It’s simple.
Maybe that’s my problem????
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:13 pm
#2 is plain WRONG!
salt causes high blood pressure. it’s the number one cause for it.
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:42 pm
For the debate about the pulse being 45 beats/minute at rest and the blood pressure being slightly low at 90/60 this is not necessarily a bad thing or an abnormal thing. If the pulse is less than 60 beats per minute this is bradycardia. In some cases (such as athletes in peak cardiovascular shape) there hearts beat lower than 60 beats per minute. This just means that their heart is more efficient at pumping blood and that less strokes are needed to maintain perfusion. As for the salt with blood pressure salt does have an effect as explained above due to fluid shifts inside the body and water volume. In the case of the low blood pressure and the salt “adding a little salt” will not fix this or is necessarily a good idea. Follow your doctors advice. If he is restricting salt there is a reason. It could be that the heart is not pumping effectively thus the pressure is not high. Salt is not the ultimate factor in controlling blood pressure. There are lots of different reasons for blood pressure fluctuations, while salt can contribute it is not the number one cause of high bp.
March 24th, 2009 at 8:11 am
225. Yoyo : the blood pressure being slightly low at 90/60 this is not necessarily a bad thing or an abnormal thing.
****
My normal b/p ranges between 80/60 – 110/75. That’s just my normal normal. In fact, when it gets as high as 110/75 they usually wait a few minutes and take it again, to see if I was just stressed out for the first one.
March 24th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
okay i just said it was the number one to alert people that salt isn’t good. there are a lot of factor but in terms of food salt is one of the worst. salt makes or blood “hipertonic” wich makes our cells add water to our blood wich in turn makes the fluid increase wich makes our blood pressure higher.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:42 am
While this most likely won’t get seen, the southwestern has 430 calories not 530…
March 26th, 2009 at 8:15 am
228. SnowKid32: I see it fine, I just think it’s absurd that a salad has 430 calories!
I make a perfectly delicious salad at home with under 100 calories…WAY under 100 calories.
March 27th, 2009 at 4:13 am
Even a homemade cobb salad will have a ballpark 300 calories…depending on proportions of bacon, egg (particularly yoke part), cheese, and ranch or similar dressing among other toppings.
March 27th, 2009 at 10:30 am
While your conclusion in #3 is not necessarily untrue, it doesn’t follow from that study. Here’s how cravings would work, theoretically:
1. You eat some food X.
2. You do/don’t get sick after eating food X.
3. Your body associates food X with sickness/non-sickness (sickness being poisoning or malnutrition).
But the only way for the body to identify a food is through senses, including taste. So if your body is searching for a non-sickness-causing food, it will look for the taste rather than for the nutrients themselves.
March 27th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
All things in moderation. Seriously?
I have minor issues with the protein and fruit sections but I’m going to have to call a giant load of steamy bullshit on #1. It’s like communism. It sounds great, and even sometimes looks good on paper. But that’s about it. I mean really… ALL things in moderation? First off, this saying doesn’t even mention food. So if it’s really ALL things in moderation… how about a bullet to the face or a swift kick in the junk. Not a whole bunch of bullets or kicks, just one. You know, in moderation. Yeah, no thanks.
But if you want to stick with edibles, how about arsenic? I’ll pass on moderation there too.
But even if you remove that stupid saying, the point of #1 still doesn’t work. Simply put there is food that is good for you, bad for you, or indifferent. Quantity makes no difference if something is not good for you. I don’t know why people like to spread the fact that a little junk food is okay now and then. Actually it’s not – it just doesn’t have as observable an effect than a large amount of junk food. But that doesn’t mean it’s good for you.
So if you ever hear someone say ‘all things in moderation’ give ‘em a swift kick in the junk. Male or Female.
Other than that – great list!
March 28th, 2009 at 1:28 am
86. MHogan
No, it’s like saying that something that isn’t that bad for you isn’t that bad for you. It’s not about eating rarely, say once a month (as you suggest with your smoking analogy), but about eating a sane amount. Calories are by far the most important issue in the Western world, and 500 calories is 500 calories, whether you get it from a Big Mac or something else. There is no need for any sort of arbitrary limits like “once a month,” just use a bit of sense.
Oh, and if you react that badly to fast food, then you’re either lying, or there’s something seriously wrong with you.
March 28th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Nice list.
#1 doesn’t make sense though. Of course, if you compare ‘always fast food’ to ‘always other unhealthy food’ you won’t find much diference. However, if you compare a cheeseburger with a healthy meal, there is really no comparison.
For starters:
the white bread is bad for you
cheese is so so
the meat ? Well, it raises the risk of cancer considerably; it destroys forests essential to our survival as a species; it is a bigger source of air pollution than traffic; ethically it is a bad choice both because of the scarcety of food and becasue the way the animals are treated, and spiritually it is a bad idea because it heats the system and so tends to strengthen the ego.
I won’t go into the things that you don’t want that are in the meal and the things you do want that are not.
Look, also I am bored with people that go on and on about healthy eating. However, to think that because of them terrible food in some magic way becomes sort of fine, is total nonsense.
March 28th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Right, sorry, now I read #231 and see what I say is not new.
March 29th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Sorry, but I don’t buy it that a Big Mac is healthier than a salad.
You’re only looking at calorie counts and sodium. Compare the southwest salad with the big mac and compare for ALL aspects of nutrition (fat grams, vitamins and nutrients, cholesterol, etc) and the salad has won. Not to mention that very few people get only a big mac…..usually they order the meal which includes a drink and fries.
I also don’t agree with #10. Yes, some people do eat more of the “low fat” foods thinking it’s low-fat so they can go nuts. But if someone makes a recipe with low fat cheeses or something and eats the same amount of that item than they would normally, then yes they are saving fat and calories.
April 10th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
A lot of other posts I’m too tired to read right now… so if it’s been said, apologies.
#6; Are you taking into account the starvation mode your body will go into if it is not fed when hungry? The worst possible thing a dieter can do is refuse to feed their body when it wants fudz. Your body goes “what, nothing to eat? Fine, I’ll just have to start storing EVERYTHING you put in here in case this starts happening more often.”
Give it little, but often and it’ll keep burning up calories. Or is this a myth too? *perfectly willing to accept as myth is evidence is provided*
#4; I read a different way if decaffeinating coffee beans; http://www.stumblerz.com/fun-facts-about-coffee/
#3; did they try that with other cravings? I get very strange cravings; milk, protein (not just meat, because a variety of proteins will quench it), carrot, apple, sugar, greenery.
April 14th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I just want to say something about ALL of these top 10 “myth buster” post that I’ve been reading through.
So far I have not seen any links going to supporting facts about these ideas and I am speaking for every one of these top 10 list. To me they are nothing more than open minded, suggestive, premature deductions.
No offense to the writers, but word of advice to the reader. Don’t take these seriously.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
ok this is weird
April 20th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
The last one is brilliant.
As you can see, most thin people are not healthy food enthusiasts, they basically eat what they feel like eating in healthy portions.
April 21st, 2009 at 12:15 am
I dunno about you all, but my home cooked meals are definitely much healthier than fast food. Could be cuz I’m a vegetarian that also avoids processed foods as much as possible!
April 25th, 2009 at 12:07 am
90% of you facts are incorrect and are pulled from the deep abyss of your anus. Go read a medical journal or book before posting these useless bits of incorrect information on the internet. Go get a degree in dietetics and then start making bold statements such as this.
April 27th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
The celery thing bugs me. You forgot that the act of chewing also burns calories. I would say considerably more calories than just setting around, which is the figure you use. I’ll trust snopes on that one.
April 27th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Redneck: did you read the item – I included the calculation of “eating while sitting”.
May 3rd, 2009 at 4:07 am
No mattter what anyone says I will never eat mcdonalds. EVA!
May 5th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Celery DOES “burn” calories. You are putting it the wrong way.
This is the correct way: You eat 1 celery. It has for example 10 calories (dont know the real number). But your body uses perhaps 20 calories to burn it. Hence -10 calories. It’s true. It’s a nice snack… if you like celery!
May 23rd, 2009 at 4:41 am
The list seems like it was made by someone who just googled all the information than by someone who new what they were talking about, like a dietician.
May 23rd, 2009 at 4:41 am
The list seems like it was made by someone who just googled all the information than by someone who new what they were talking about, like a dietician.
June 6th, 2009 at 9:59 am
In my opinion, this was not the greatest list of all time. Not a lot of facts to back up the 10 points, and I still don’t agree with a few of them. Much more research would have to be done before we can say for sure on a couple of these, ie. #6 and #8. Love the website, not this list though. To vague.
June 7th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
The reason the 6 meals a day is effective is because it reduces ‘binging’ or over-eating at meals. If you wait for dinner and you’re starving by the time it arrives, it’s more likely you’ll over-eat just because you’re freakishly hungry.
Excessive salt IS bad for you. Don’t put that stupid ‘myth’ up there saying it’s not true. Not only that, sodium causes bloating from excessive water retention and it does effect the heart. The reason fast food is bad is from the high fat (aka high calories) and high sodium each meal has. You can make the salad healthy by cutting out all ‘fried’ components and reducing the amount of dressing. Most health conscious people who look up calorie information knows that majority of the calories from salad comes from the dressing and fried meat toppings. Without those, the amount of calories in salad would be almost nonexistent.
Fresh fruit is better than dried fruit, and much better than orange juice. Let say you have an orange (30~60 calories depending on size). That’s one fruit serving. A glass of OJ typically has around 120 cals and that’s still only one serving. OJ and dried fruits usually contain added sugar, and dried fruits contain added salt, making the alternative to real fruit hefty in calories.
Don’t be so forward to claim fast food isn’t bad for you. IT IS. But, like everything else, it isn’t bad in moderation. I know you clarified your reasoning after the bold statement, but it would’ve been better had you not had placed such an inaccurate statement as a header.
June 8th, 2009 at 6:09 am
The celery math is wrong, but nice try.
You’ll have to do more research anyway. The calories that people eat are actually kilocalories.
July 1st, 2009 at 4:29 pm
McDonalds paid Listverse off for that #1 spot
July 6th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
if i’m craving a candy,it’s probabaly skittles or swedish fish. skittles cuz theyr freaking great,swedish fish cuz my boyfriend would buy me swedish fish at the skylark( a sort of teen dance club in my area) if i told him i didnt care what he got me if he asked me.
July 6th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
solution to 1: eat different fast food every nite
July 17th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
I was under the impression that celery has negative calories because it takes more calories to breack down the cellulose than you gain from the celery. This wouldn’t be included in any calculations of calorie content though.
August 15th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Uh cool, i didn’t know these weren’t ture
August 27th, 2009 at 1:43 am
Fast food isn’t bad for you? Are you kidding me? They use table salt — which you said in previous lists is incredibly unhealthy. Also, they add preservatives to maintain the freshness food — in reality the fast-food isn’t fresh at all. They don’t even use real ingredients, and through processing the food loses much of its nutritional value. Not to mention the high calorie count, and the sources of fat they use.
You’ll have to eat more food to make up for the nutrition that you didn’t get from the fast food.
Also, why is it that the calorie & fat count is the only consideration when calling foods healthy? You have to look at the source of fat — olive oil fat is healthier than bacon fat. Calories are a measure of energy. This is why the “fat-free” or “low-calorie” foods are scam, because people think that those are the only two considerations to look at when dieting. Occaisionally cholestrol too.
If you go, “Oh, I’ll diet by eating only 1000 calories a day by eating fast food, candy bars, and soda”, you’d better off be eating the regular 2000 calories by consuming veggies, fruits, meats the more natural way.
Fresh fruit IS best — the companies who manufacture canned fruits, dried fruits, fruit juice add copious amounts of sugar & syrup that you’ll be needing to exercise a whole lot to burn them off. I’m diabetic so because of lack of sugar in my diet, I’m very sensitive to the cane sugars. Cane sugar tastes a whole lot different from fruit sugar, and when it goes through your digestive system it feels different; I can taste that they’ve added plenty of sugar.
What I don’t understand why people want to eat low-fat foods to lose weight, but seldom pay attention to the sugar intake.
Dieting shouldn’t just be fixated on burning more calories than you eat; you should focus where you’re getting your calories from, and focusing on proper, more natural ways of getting nutrition.
September 5th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
1. A fat free product is better for you than the same product containing fat.
2. 540 calories of Big Mac is considerably worse for you than 530 calories of chicken salad (the extra salt isn’t that bad).
3. Body builders drink protein shakes because of the type of protein they deliver, not necessarily the quantity. They also contain other nutrients that aid in building strong muscles.
4. This is retarded, you say that fresh fruit isn’t better than dried but then offer no reason WHAT SO EVER as to why dried is better. The lack of vitamin C clearly makes fresh fruit better.
5. Smaller meals are better NOT because of the ‘calories per day’ rule, but because eating smaller portions throughout the day keeps your body satisfied. This prevents you from becoming hungry and eating until you feel full, at which point you’ll have likely eaten far too much food.
6. Eating 10 sticks of celery an hour will result in negative calorie burn. If you eat an equivalent of just about anything else, you’d be eating a ton of food and gain some serious weight. FYI, it’s entirely possible to consume too much of ANYTHING. Heck, drinking too much water can kill you!
7. Drink Tea, it’s better all around.
8. There are different types of cravings and I have never heard of anyone that had a craving for ‘chocolate’. People are craving the SUGAR in chocolate and those people just happen to like chocolate more than other confections. This is why the people in the study had their cravings satisfied when fed the substitute.
9. Salt does in fact increase blood pressure temporarily, however it does not cause high blood pressure. The reason it’s bad to eat a lot of salt if you have high blood pressure is thus; the water retention caused by excess salt can cause your (already) high blood pressure to soar to dangerous levels, leading to a stroke or heart attack. Listen to your doctor, mmmkay?
10. This is just plain ridiculous. Any amount of raw vegetables is infinitely better for you than an equal amount of fast food. A ‘moderate’ amount of fast food over a long period of time is quite unhealthy, as almost every type contains corn and corn byproducts (high fructose corn syrup, etc…). Seriously, why would you advocate the consumption of ANY type fast food?
I’m seriously starting to hate these kinds of lists. People will believe any amount of nonsense if you itemize it.
October 1st, 2009 at 10:24 pm
I’m sure with all the comments here someone has mentioned this already, but I’ll say it anyway, #6 is absolutely not a myth.
“It is all too easy to turn six small meals into six large meals.”
That would be irrelevant to the fact that 6 SMALL meals would be better than 3 LARGE meals. I’m not going to argue that people may end up doing this, it’s their own personal issue if they don’t follow their diet properly. It does not debunk the fact!
The Myth: It is better to eat six small meals during the day instead of three larger meals
“This myth again comes down to the whole “calories per day” rule. If your three large meals contain as many calories as your six small meals, there is no difference at all.”
False, it is not about the calories. Actually,I don’t even count calories when cut back to my weight class. I cycle my carbohydrates and eat. Why? Because frequently eating small meals will prevent blood sugar levels from rising. This causes the body to release insulin, insulin is an anabolic hormone. Therefore, it will cause you to gain weight/slow down weight loss. Bigger meals = Bigger insulin spike.
Controlling insulin levels is one the most important parts of a diet. That’s why sugars are a huge ‘No’!
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/7habits.htm
There is a great link.
Chuck Rudolph and Tom Venuto also preach this, check out their books. They debunk all the myths surrounding weight loss and gives you the scientific truth.
To add to it the ISSA, who I am certified by also agree.
“For the majority of people it is easier to put the time aside for three meals – so this is still the best choice for most. As we have discussed on a previous list (item 1), the time of day that you eat does not have a bearing on weight gain or loss.”
I do agree, having 3 meals is more convenient and it is easier, but it is not the best choice.
The night time myth is very annoying, I agree on that one.
“According to the Mayo Clinic, 10 – 35% of your daily dietary intake should be protein – whether trying to gain weight, lose weight, or maintain weight.”
Also you mentioned something about protein shakes. Doctors/Clinics will always recommend a healthy diet/food pyramid style. This is not the most effective way to lose weight, it’s a great way to maintain a healthy lifestyle and gain/maintain lean body mass coupled with working out. Losing fat, lots of it will require carbohydrates low on the glycemic index, lower carbs, clean fat sources, lower fats in general.(not lower on fats if you decide to follow a ketogenic diet, I am not a fan of this, but it works) Well? Now you don’t have that large percentage of your calories coming from fats or carbohydrates. So now your protein intake has to make up for the rest of it.
BUT, you are correct about the whole weight gaining part. Ridiculous amounts of protein will not allow you to gain any more muscle mass. Whey protein is good though, it absorbs quickly post workout.
I could keep on going on this, but I think I’ve already rambled on enough.
October 15th, 2009 at 11:20 am
does the one about the giant woodlice that eat you count because if it does its quite a good one