6 Food Facts That Have Been Fooling Us for Years

Potatoes should be avoided, fruits should be consumed as dessert only — these are the things we keep hearing every now and then.

Bright Side collected the most popular myths about food and found out whether we should believe in them or not. Don’t miss our bonus at the end as it might change your perception of healthy eating once and for all.

Fruits and sweets should be eaten for dessert only.

Nutritionists fundamentally disagree with this established tradition. It’s recommended to eat fruits for breakfast or as a snack in the afternoon, while sweets are better to be eaten only in the morning because a couple pieces of chocolate eaten in the first half of the day won’t cause a drastic insulin spike. It’s better to stay away from consuming sugar and baked goods after lunchtime.

Rye bread is healthier than white bread.

Many people are sure that products made of white flour are highly contraindicated for those who want to lose weight and they should choose rye bread, instead. However, the amount of calories in dark and white loaves is almost the same, which makes it possible to gain weight from eating an excessive amount of any type of bread. The main difference is in the flour — dark bread is made from rye flour which contains more dietary fiber and is, therefore, more preferable for maintaining a healthy metabolism. On the other hand, wheat bread is more porous and is easily digested; that’s why it’s better to consume this type of bread if you have issues with your gastrointestinal tract.

Granola is the best snack.

A popular American snack that has been loved by the healthy eaters all over the world is the combination of baked oatmeal, nuts, and honey — all of which make granola one of the most nutritious snacks. However, in the pursuit of reducing calories, manufacturers often add artificial sweeteners to the product. The latter cause an increased appetite and we often imperceptibly eat more than we need.

Olive oil is healthier than sunflower oil because it speeds up the metabolism.

Experts claim that any seed oils are healthy if consumed in a limited amount — no more than 30 g per day. They contain unsaturated fatty acids that improve cholesterol metabolism, which in its turn, can prevent diseases of the cardiovascular system.

Cane sugar is healthy.

It does have many useful microelements but their amount is insignificant. It’s unlikely that a person will be ready to eat 4 lb of sugar in order to get a daily norm of potassium. The main advantage of cane sugar is that it can be consumed unrefined. The benefits of this product cause many debates among nutritionists because it contains 97% of sucrose and its caloric content is almost 387 kcal per 100 g.

Pasta and potatoes harm the shape of the body.

• It’s actually not as scary as it might seem. Potatoes contain potassium, magnesium, and iron. However, there are a few things that one should keep in mind. The caloric content of 100 g of a baked potato is 80 kcal, while French fries of the same weight contains 317 kcal. Moreover, if you add sauce to them, the number of calories will increase even more.
• The situation with pasta is a bit more difficult. 100 g of vermicelli contains about 114 kcal, while the calorie content of durum wheat pasta is 230 kcal. However, durum wheat pasta also contains many useful and healthy nutrients and fiber and it has less starch and fat, while regular pasta contains only empty calories.

Bonus: you don’t need to cut back on your favorite food in order to lose weight.

Very often, in the pursuit of losing weight, we start sticking to a well-balanced diet that contains only healthy elements and we forget to check the number of calories they provide. It turns out that some products that are considered healthy contain as many calories as some “unhealthy” products. For example, a handful of almonds contains 188 kcal, while a handful of Fruit Mentos or Skittles contains the same number of calories. Perhaps almonds contain more nutrients but you can easily replace them with sweets on some days of dieting when you have a sugar craving.

Have we managed to bust any myth that you used to believe in? Are you aware of any other products that have gained a wrongful reputation? Please tell us about them in the comments!