You will stumble upon various dieting myths while surfing the internet or reading a magazine. All the weight loss experts seem to have different opinions which hardly ever seem to be on the equivalent wave length. Many harmful diets are great at disguising themselves as nourishing. Here are only 5 dieting myths than can create serious health problems:
1) Virgin olive oil has fewer calories than other cooking oils: far from being true. All oils have almost the same caloric contents in spite of their source: olives, sunflower seeds, nuts, peanuts, corn, soy…Virgin olive oil contains about 900 calories and it is made completely of fats. What differentiates virgin olive oil form the other oils used in cooking is the fact that it is much healthier because it reduces the level of the bad cholesterol and preserves the good cholesterol. You can also use olive oil to clean your mouth, keep your teeth white and strengthen your gums. All you have to do is keep a spoon full of virgin olive oil in your mouth.
2) All the vitamins and minerals are found in the peel of the fruit: it is a widespread idea that the best part of vitamins and minerals found in fruits is concentrate in their peel. The truth is that the highest concentration of vitamins and minerals is found in the pulp of the fruit not in its peel. This doesn’t mean you don’t waste valuable minerals and vitamins if you throw away the peel.Also usually the peel is super rich in fibers. Dietary fibers help your digestive system work better and prevent constipation.
3)You get overweight because of salt: Salt isn’t fattening if you consume it alone, but it leads to water retention. Your body needs about 4 grams of salt each day, but the majority of us consume about 10 grams of salt daily. All those highly processed foods contain lots of salt. Only 2 grams of salt form the 10 grams you usually eat daily come form the food you cook at home. Now you don’t need to stop eating anything salty. Your body needs salt to function properly and it has its own means of getting rid of all the excess salt you give it. After eating salty foods you get really parched. The water you drink is used by your body to wash out out all the excess salts it doesn’t need. You can still add salt in your food to make it taste good.
4) The top source of vitamin C are lemons:it is true that lemons contain loads of vitamin C, roughly 75mg per 100 grams, but there are other fruits and vegetables that give you even more vitamin C when you eat them: cabbage, dill, blackberries… Rose hips contain the largest quantity of vitamin C, especially their pulp which contains more than 200mg of vitamin C per 100 grams. Another myth related to this one is that the fruits must be green and sour to contain loads of vitamin C. On the contrary they have to be as ripe and exposed to the sun as possible to contain heaps of vitamin C.
5) Margarine contains less calories than butter:if you are on a diet you should avoid eating them both.The truth is that 100 grams of butter or margarine both have about 360 calories. There is almost no difference when it comes to the amount of calories. What differentiates butter from margarine is the quality of the fats they have. Margarine contains vegetal unsaturated fats which are unhealthy while butter contains only saturated healthy fats. Saturated fats are more easily assimilated by your body. If you like margarine you can still consume it because it has the same amount of calories as butter.
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