67. Food Myths Debunked: 4 Food "Facts" That Are Completely Bogus

Many of us have heard a "fact" about food that we gullibly believed to be true only to discover later that it was untrue.

Nutrition and food have long been associated with myths and misconceptions.

We tend to be mindless when it comes to food as long as it satiates our hunger, as long as it fulfills our cravings.

How do we live a healthier life in relation to the food we eat? How do we avoid falling for the misinformation that surrounds products disguised as healthy intakes?

In a world where innovations come to life every now and then, it’s a must to be mindful of what our meals are made of and how each affects us.

Sit back and relax as Dr. Adrienne debunks food myths in today’s episode of Health Bite.

Dr. Adrienne Youdim is a board-certified Internist and is the host of the podcast Health Bite. She specializes in medical weight loss and nutrition, and she is aiming to transform the weight loss narrative into one that is both empowering and compassionate – inspiring people to live more physically and emotionally fulfilling lives through evidence-based strategies that actually show results.

Through her podcast, Dr. Adrienne debunks all myths in the current weight loss culture and supports people in living the life they deserve as they work on becoming the best version of themselves.

In this episode, Dr. Adrienne addresses some common bogus food claims and food myths as she shares data from numerous studies to support her claim and help people live healthier life.

What you will learn from this episode:

●       Find out about the biggest food myths we’ve been living with in our daily life;

●       Discover why a detox drink isn’t naturally needed to cleanse the body and why you shouldn’t vilify carbs; and

●       Understand how the use of coconut oil became bogus, as well as why you should be careful of products disguised as healthy foods

“Trust your gut. If something sounds super sensational or fabricated or extreme, don't be afraid to question it, no matter how adamant the preacher of the message. There is so much fake news when it comes to nutrition, to good nutrition, so don't be fooled and trust your intuition.”

– Dr. Adrienne Youdim


Key Takeaways:

“We don't need a drink to detox us. Our bodies have been created in God's glory to detox us 24/7.” – Dr. Adrienne Youdim

“I'm not saying not to eat it if you love it, but don't eat it because you think it's healthy, because it's not.” – Dr. Adrienne Youdim

“When you're eliminating the carbohydrate food group, you're invariably increasing other macronutrients like protein, and protein is highly satiating. Higher protein in the diet does curb hunger by curbing hunger hormones. At the same time, it helps prese

Ways that Dr. Adrienne Youdim Can Support You

1. Join the Monthly Free Mind-Body Workshops: Participate in engaging mind-body practices designed to help manage your stress response. Register here.
2. Sign Up for the Newsletter: Stay updated with valuable insights and resources by subscribing to the newsletter. Sign up here.
3. Freebie alert. Register for our monthly free MindBody Workshop and receive a downloadable guide on emotional labeling to help you manage your emotions effectively.

Connect with Dr. Adrienne Youdim

• Website :https://www.dradriennespeaks.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dradrienneyoudim/

Transcript

Food Myths

Hi there, Health Bite podcasters! Welcome back to Health Bite, the podcast created to provide you with small, actionable bites towards better mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. I'm your host, Dr. Adrienne, and I am so happy to be back here with you this week.

This week, we're going to talk about food myths.

I often think – how is it that something so easy is so damn hard? Why is food so hard? Why do we make it so hard? But I get it. There really is so much information and misinformation out there that it makes it hard to know what is right when it comes to food.

So today, I want to address some common bogus food claims and food myths.

Food Myth #1: Cleanses, Fasts, and Detox vs. The Natural Cleansing Powers of The Human Body

The first we're going to talk about is one of my biggest pet peeves in the world – cleanses, fast, and detox.

The word detox just sends me screaming. First of all, what is it, anyway?

Detox or detoxification is the systems in which our bodies rid ourselves of waste and toxins. And here's the truth, guys. We don't need a drink to detox us. Our bodies have been created in God's glory to detox us 24/7.

So, you know we have this organ called a liver. And every two and a half minutes, a gallon of blood passes through the liver’s complicated filtration system. The liver has a filtration system that is built to remove toxins to metabolize chemicals that we ingest, including medications, drugs, alcohol. In fact, the liver receives the first pass of blood from the intestines where nutrients and also contaminants can be absorbed before passing that blood through the rest of the body. So, it is actively involved in clearing out the bloodstream before that blood reaches the other important organs. But it's not just the liver. There are many organ systems that are involved in this work.

For example, our intestines themselves are not only involved in absorbing nutrients and food, but they themselves produce natural antibodies and enzymes that will break down toxins and kill microbes that then pass out of our body through stool.

Our kidneys filter our blood too, removing toxins that are then eliminated through the urine.

Our lungs and respiratory system has an intricate system of passageways that acts as a filtration system for the air that we breathe, removing pollutants and environmental chemicals, which we then exhale when the blood flow comes into contact with our lungs.

We also have these little hairs called cilia that line our entire respiratory system. These cilia are sticky and they literally trap and sweep away chemicals and microbes out of our respiratory tract, and therefore out of our bodies.

And then finally, our skin, which is the largest organ in our body, is actively involved in detoxing or cleansing our body of unwanted substances through sweat.

So, you see, our bodies got it covered.

But okay, I get it. I understand the lore of a detox or a cleanse. It kind of sounds good. It sounds well, cleansing. And I've heard from some patients that it feels good too. Personally, I think it's placebo. But before recording this podcast, I decided to try it for myself.

Tried and Tested: Dr. Adrienne’s Conclusion After Trying A Three-Day Juice Cleanse

So, I went out and I purchased a three-day juice cleanse, and here's what I found.

First of all, they are highly caloric. A bottle of juice was anywhere from 60 calories to 250 calories. And mind you, these calories are devoid of many nutrients that you otherwise would have received if you had eaten the whole fruit or the whole vegetable. For example, you're not getting the fiber that helps your digestive health or helps slow the rise of blood sugar in your body when you consume juice or sugar in general. What's worse is despite consuming all these calories, you're still hungry, or if not hungry, at least fixated on food. I found myself thinking about food much more than I otherwise would. Questioning myself. Am I hungry? Am I not hungry? And even if I wasn't, I spent so much time thinking about it that I would invariably make myself hungry. Also, I noticed that I was highly irritable and had a headache most of the day.

So, yeah. I definitely proved that this cleansing is not for me.

Look Out: Things to Be Mindful Of When Doing Detox

But if you decide to go and do a detox anyway, there are some things that I would be mindful of.

Make sure not only you're not going too high in calories, particularly if you're trying to use this as a weight loss strategy, but also make sure that you're not going too low in calories. Some of these detoxes and cleanses can be very low calorie and this can zap your energy, but it can also be harmful.

Also, be mindful of rapid changes in blood sugar. Drinking juice straight up is going to spike your blood sugar, which then will result in a surge of insulin and then a precipitous drop in blood sugar. So, these rapidly changing fluctuations in blood sugar can definitely make you feel crummy, but in certain cases, that relative hypoglycemia, like if you're diabetic or pre diabetic, can also be harmful. So, be mindful of that.

And then finally, given the low protein level and overall nutritional status of detoxes, these things should really not be done on a regular basis. When it comes to protein, detoxes done regularly can affect muscle mass, which then invariably results in a drop in your metabolism, which is no good for weight loss or really anything else physiologically in the body.

Finally, some of these detox concoctions have been shown to have unstated ingredients like diuretics or laxatives, which certainly can be harmful if not accounted for.

But most importantly, I would remember that the health aspects of a detox are really a food myth.

Food Myth #2: Unhealthy Products that are Disguised as The So-Called Healthy Foods

Another pet peeve of mine are this category of so-called healthy foods that are totally not healthy.

Juices is one of them, which I think we covered, but I'm also thinking about some of their near relatives like smoothies and acai bowls. I hate acai bowls as a food claim. These food items are not only not healthy, but they are huge calorie bombs and have an extraordinary amount of sugar.

In fact, a review of the nutritional facts of a popular smoothie store – I'm not going to mention any names – revealed the sugar content of their smoothies was anywhere from 30 to 58 grams of sugar per serving. So, just to give you some perspective, keep in mind that a can of Coke is 39 grams of sugar. So in some instances, the smoothie can have up to 20 grams or 2/3 more sugar per serving than a can of Coke. Nothing healthy about that.

When it comes to acai bowls, you have the added sugar from the granola, which is another major food myth. Granola is infamous as a healthy food, but is often sweetened with sugar, honey, and other sweeteners.

So, I'm not saying not to eat it if you love it, but don't eat it because you think it's healthy, because it's not.

Food Myth #3: The Use of Coconut Oil

Another major pet peeve and bogus food myth is the myth of coconut oil.

First of all, why? Just why would you ruin a perfect cup of coffee with coconut oil? And who said the stuff was healthy? Where did this data come from?

In fact, multiple health organizations including the FDA, the World Health Organization, the US Department of Health and Human Services, the American Dietetic Association, American Heart Association, British Nutrition Foundation, the dietitians of Canada – multiple organizations all caution against the use of coconut oil and caution against the bogus health claims.

A common argument that's made for coconut fat is that it's made up of MCFAs or medium chain fatty acids. Now, MCFAs are rapidly absorbed and so they play an important role as a source of energy. But the truth is that coconut fat is primarily made up of a fat named by the name of lauric acid, which chemically is defined as an MCFA, but in reality, it acts like a saturated fat in terms of how it's absorbed and how it's been shown to increase LDL, like other saturated fats, like butter and beef. So really, why not just eat the butter and beef if that's what you're going for?

There's also health claims that have been made suggesting that coconut oil reduces inflammation, improves glucose homeostasis, and body fat. Again, no data.

I mean, I know it's mind boggling, because the people who claim the health benefits of this stuff are so adamant, but really, it's bogus. So trust me, it's not a healthy food. Just don't do it.

Food Myth #4: Doing Carb Vilification Because All Carbs Are Bad

And finally, I want to talk about carbs.

Probably, the biggest food myth of all is that all carbs are bad. And carb vilification – this is a result of the many diets that eliminate carbs, starting from Atkins all the way to Keto.

So, why are these diets sometimes effective, at least in the short term? Well, think about it. Our diet or the American diet is primarily carb-based, like 80% carbs in the average or the typical American diet. So first of all, of course, if you eliminate such a huge food category from your diet, you're bound to lose weight. The other reason that these diets can be effective is because they tend to be higher in protein. So when you're eliminating the carbohydrate food group, you're invariably increasing other macronutrients like protein, and protein is highly satiating. Higher protein in the diet does curb hunger by curbing hunger hormones. At the same time, it helps preserve muscle mass, which maintains our metabolism.

But that being said, it does not mean that we should vilify carbs. It does not mean that carbohydrates are bad. And of course, not all carbs are the same.

I think we can agree that asparagus is not the same as a doughnut. A cup of lentils is not the same as pasta. These carbs are not only not bad, but they’re life saving. Carbohydrates like beans, grains, and legumes, in fact, make up a substantial part of some of the healthiest diets in the world, including the Mediterranean diet, which is by far the most studied and the healthiest dietary plan on Earth. It has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack, heart disease, stroke, metabolic disease, dementia – you name it. And in fact, the Mediterranean diet or the food pyramid shows that the majority of food intake comes from carbs, not only carbs, but carbs like cereals, breads, and grains. Of course, the high fiber kind, not the process kind that we tend to consume in the United States.

So again, let's reiterate that – that the healthiest diet on the planet is primarily consisting of carbohydrates.

Studies have also shown survival benefit of consuming carbs. And in fact, one study demonstrated that life expectancy went up for every additional half cup of carbohydrates consumed.

A Quick Reveal: The Reason behind Why Good Carbs are So Good

So, why are good carbs so good?

Well, first of all, food doesn't always fit neatly into one category. So for example, the carbohydrates that I'm really leaning in on, like beans, grains and legumes – legumes are things like lentils, soy, peas – are high in carbohydrates, but they are also high in protein. So it's giving you an additional source of plant based protein, which again is satiating and helps satisfy and curb our hunger. For example, a cup of garbanzo beans has nearly 40 grams of protein. That's more than 3 ounces of chicken, fish, or steak. In addition, these carbs have a good amount of fiber, which again is important in maintaining our digestive health, and they're a good source of other nutrients, such as B vitamins, minerals such as magnesium and iron. And finally, these complex carbohydrates will result in a slow and steady rise of blood sugar, and therefore a slow and persistent source of energy, which is important in terms of our mood, our productivity, and our overall energy levels.

So, don't vilify the carbs.

Today’s Tip: “Don’t Be Fooled and Trust Your Intuition”

Finally, I just want to add that you should trust your gut. If something sounds super sensational or fabricated or extreme, don't be afraid to question it, no matter how adamant the preacher of the message. There is so much fake news when it comes to nutrition, to good nutrition, so don't be fooled and trust your intuition.

That's it for today's episode on food myths and bogus food claims. I hope you enjoyed the podcast. For more food tips and health hacks, and that's another health term that really irritates me by the way – biohacking – but I digress. For more tips and hacks, please subscribe to this weekly podcast. And finally, if you think it would be of service, please share with someone that you love.

I hope you have a healthy and happy week, and I'll see you again next time. Until then.