10 common food myths

[Gifted Gourmet]

the article

Everything you eat after 9 p.m. turns to body fat

read on ...

Gelatin helps you grow stronger fingernails maybe more info please ...

Eating high-acid fruits, such as grapefruit or pineapple, speeds up your metabolism and causes weight loss. ... see what you think after this ...

yet more myths in this article ...

Anyone have a myth he or she cherishes but can't actually prove? or perhaps can prove? This is not the thread about food superstitions ... more scientific than that, hopefully!

[Carrot Top]

Gosh, it is exhausting reading all the stuff about what I should and shouldn't eat.

Here's my myth. Try it and see if it works.

Taking a nice long bubblebath with a good glass of wine and a book nearby (NOT a book about food!) will make you forget about all these worries.

At least till the next time you look in the fridge...

[Carrot Top]

And one more...drinking endless cups of coffee all day will keep you thin.

I am going off now to try both of these.

I'm not sure the coffee one is working....

[jschyun]

"Greasy foods and chocolate cause acne"

They say in the article that foods will not have an effect on acne, but I disagree. I know that the moment I eat a piece of meat, 5 days later, I will get acne. If I don't eat meat, it doesn't happen. when I have eaten meat without realizing it, I have gotten acne. Other people may react to other foods. I suspect in my case it might have something to do with hormones, possibly the hormones in the meat. But I have nothing to back that up.

[LEdlund]

I have to take all of this with a grain of salt (so to speak) because according to

The World's Top Nutritionist discussed here

Eat early. Late-night eating is a recipe for weight gain because the body stores more food during sleep. Eat the last meal of the day at least a couple of hours before bedtime.

[kiliki]

I agree with jschyun that certain foods can cause acne. For me, it is dairy products. Small amounts are fine, and certain dairy products (ie yogurt) don't seem to have much effect, but if I eat a generous portion of blue cheese or three pieces of pizza it will show up on my skin a day or two later.

[aliénor]

my question on eating myths.... if i eat a pint of ice cream will i gain a pound. if this is not true i am heading to ben and jerrys to eat a pint or pound of the yummiest flavor

so let me know if i can indulge....javascript:emoticon(':biggrin:')

aliénor

[viva]

You're gonna gain a pound if you eat 3600 more calories than you burn, no matter if it is ice cream, an Atkins-approved ribeye, a truckload of carrot sticks or whatever.

(IMHO, this is the only reason to exercise - you get to eat more! )

Now, the average pint of ice cream does not have 3600 calories...Chubby Hubby, the most calorific (and yummy) ice cream in the freezer aisle, I think, is about 350 Kcal per serving, with 4 servings in the pint(?), giving a total of about 1400 Kcal in the whole pint. So how could you gain a pound by eating 1 pint of ice cream?

In college, a roommate & I did manage to finish our respective pints of Chubby Hubby in one day... no weight gain that day, but it was a helluva sugar rush.

[Alex]

There was a study in which participants ate all of their calories (a moderate amount, I don't remember exactly how much, perhaps 2000) in one meal, either in the morning or in the evening. On the average, the morning group actually lost a little weight; the evening group gained.

[ladybugseattle]

how about searing your meat to "seal" in the juices?

[andiesenji]

how about searing your meat to "seal" in the juices?

Harold McGee debunked this years ago.

[andiesenji]

I do not get acne from chocolate, in fact I never had acne as a teen either.

What I do get is a blinding headache, not a migraine as it is on both sides of my head, visual disturbances such as double vistion and slurred speech because my tongue seems to be partially paralysed and I have difficulty swallowing.

Needless to say I do not consume chocolate.

Oddly, I have no problem with cocoa, it seems to be something in the cocoa butter that causes the problem.

[origamicrane]

Eating at night myth 'exploded'

here an interesting news aricle just to show eating at night is no different to eating at any other time if you are a female experiment monkey in the USA.

[ladybugseattle]

how about searing your meat to "seal" in the juices?

Harold McGee debunked this years ago.

Yes I know, the point being it won't go away. Its a classic example of the power of Myth.

[mrsadm]

how about searing your meat to "seal" in the juices?

Harold McGee debunked this years ago.

Wow and I keep seeing this everywhere in recipes and cookbooks!

[johnsmith45678]

The link in the first post no longer works - here are some more:

http://www.pgacon.com/KitchenMyths.htm

I recently heard the 'searing meat seals in juices' myth perpetuated by an executive chef that hailed from J&W.

Didn't sellers of baking soda tote its ability to absorb odors?

It looks like arrowroot is the thickening agent of choice.

I'm surprised that so much alcohol remains in food! I always thought that after the flames dies down, most had burned off.

I still like gas stoves better. Fire!

I remember one of the contestants on Hell's Kitchen US state the cold water boils faster myth (Gordon Ramsay replied 'Whaa...?').

Looks like mayo is safer than we've been led to believe (ever see that episode of Good Eats?).

[FabulousFoodBabe]

I recently heard the 'searing meat seals in juices' myth perpetuated by an executive chef that hailed from J&W.

[snippity snip snip]

Looks like mayo is safer than we've been led to believe (ever see that episode of Good Eats?).

←

Ahem. What would you expect from a J&W grad? ::ducking::

I love the mayo thing. People frankly don't believe it when I tell them in class. To them, eggs = spoilage. Low acid + high moisture = Nasty, nasty stuff. Worse yet is when it grows in an oxygen-free environment. Most of the people I teach think that garlic cloves in oil at room temperature is okay, but to make your own creme fraiche is "dangerous." Ditto mayonnaise. (A preemptive strike to all the scientists who will find technical fault with the wording here: You know what I mean! )

The site is down for maintenance, so I didn't get to read all of it. I do believe in glycemic index affecting the bacteria that can bring on acne, though, in some people. I never had acne as a teenager, and have had a sweet tooth forever. I think our mothers told us that chocolate gave us acne so we wouldn't "get fat."

edit to add: I just went to the link that johnsmith gave (thankyousomuch!). Sushi snots love to say that California Rolls are "not sushi." And I always thought you cooled the rice before vinegaring it ... if you hit the hot rice with more liquid, especially acid, it makes it gunk up even more.

Edited June 2, 2006 by FabulousFoodBabe (log)

[Sugarella]

how about searing your meat to "seal" in the juices?

Harold McGee debunked this years ago.

←

Uh-oh.

See I always sear my meats for stews and such and I really do think there is something to this one. If you roll cubed beef in flour then sear it before adding liquids and stewing, it does seem to turn out a lot more tender than if you just added the raw meat to liquids and started boiling. I get that you all disagree with this one, so what am I missing?

2 myths to add..... washing mushrooms causes them to absorb water and taste funny (wrong) and washing strawberries causes them to start weeping (also wrong). I think both of those were started by people with an aversion to washing stuff.

Edited to add: oops never mind about the searing meat thing...I just read johnsmith's link.

Edited June 2, 2006 by Sugarella (log)

[maggiethecat]

The Mayo as Weapon of Mass Detruction myth is incredibly ingrained. I have preached the sermon about the relative harmlessless of mayo weighed against the proteins it enrobes for years. People listen, express amazement and ignore me.

[johnsmith45678]

I remember hearing about the dangers of garlic and oil - can somebody refresh my memory?

Yeah, I recently made some sushi and added the vinegar/sugar/etc. to the rice before completely cool - wow, what glue it turned into. In Alton Brown's 'Wake Up Little Sushi', he says to let it completely cool to room temp. Oops.

[Sugarella]

I remember hearing about the dangers of garlic and oil - can somebody refresh my memory?

←

It has something to do with the bacteria, or rather the toxins the bacteria secrete, being able to fester in an oily environment. Something acidic like acetic acid or citric acid added helps prevent this, but I believe even then the garlic and oil should be kept refridgerated.

[dockhl]

The Mayo as Weapon of Mass Detruction myth is incredibly ingrained.  I have preached the sermon about the relative harmlessless of mayo weighed against the proteins it enrobes for years. People listen, express amazement and ignore me.

←

So now I am really confused. I have a jar of Best Food Mayo---it clearly says "refrigerate after opening" AND I have a squeezable "Restaurant Package" of the same stuff (also Best Foods) that says "no refrigeration needed" !!

[adegiulio]

I remember hearing about the dangers of garlic and oil - can somebody refresh my memory?

←

It has something to do with the bacteria, or rather the toxins the bacteria secrete, being able to fester in an oily environment. Something acidic like acetic acid or citric acid added helps prevent this, but I believe even then the garlic and oil should be kept refridgerated.

←

Botulism grows in an anaerobic environment. The garlic is "sealed" from oxygen by the oil, and the botulism that exists naturally in the garlic thrives. Though botulism itself isn't harmful, the toxins it puts out can kill. Or at least that is my understanding....

[glossyp]

Yeah, I recently made some sushi and added the vinegar/sugar/etc. to the rice before completely cool - wow, what glue it turned into. In Alton Brown's 'Wake Up Little Sushi', he says to let it completely cool to room temp. Oops.

←

The key to doing superior sushi rice is first to use a short grain high-quality Japanese rice, place the freshly cooked hot rice into a sushi-oke (wooden bowl specific to making sushi rice), using a wooden spatula turn the rice while sprinkling the vinegar mixture all the while fanning the rice. This works best with two people, one to turn and mix while the other fans. Fanning creates the glossy sheen that good sushi rice should have. Labor intensive but yields excellent results.

[racheld]

Not having read the first link, I can only suppose it may have debunked my first SIL's absolute truth: Chewing celery and carrots burns more calories than contained within.

And that "cold water boils faster" thing always sounds like the Bunsen version of a Moebius strip.