1 MYTH: Eating celery burns more calories than you take in

 

TRUTH: Bad news for dieters: celery does not contain “negative” calories, meaning you won’t burn fat the more you eat.

 

But, with just two calories per stalk and it being a good source of fibre, it’s a great snack to munch¹ on if you’re trying to control your weight.

 

2 MYTH: Frozen and canned fruits and vegetables are less nutritious² than fresh ones

 

TRUTH: Fruit and veg that are to be canned or frozen are usually processed very quickly after they’ve been picked. This means they retain most of their vitamins and minerals. In contrast, many ‘fresh’ fruit and veg may have travelled long distances, been stored for some time, and then spent days on the supermarket shelves and in your kitchen, during which time, many nutrients³ such as vitamin C and folate (a B vitamin) will have been lost.

 

3 MYTH: Raw carrots are more nutritious than cooked ones

 

TRUTH: Cooking actually increases carrots’ nutritional⁴ value because their tough cellular⁵ walls are broken down in the process, allowing the body better access to beta-carotene, which the body uses to make vitamin A.

 

Adding a little fat to them also helps the body to absorb beta-carotene, so roasting in a little olive oil is a great way to serve them.

 

4 MYTH: Eggs should be avoided because of their high cholesterol⁶ content

 

TRUTH: For years the humble⁷ egg has been considered a health risk due to its high cholesterol content – but health experts now know that the cholesterol in food has little impact on our blood cholesterol (unless we have a genetic⁸ condition that predisposes us to high cholesterol).

 

Instead, it’s high intakes⁹ of saturated¹⁰ fats that increase the cholesterol in our blood, putting us at risk of heart disease.

 

Eggs are also a good source of inexpensive, high quality protein – great if you’re a vegetarian¹¹ – as well as many other nutrients including zinc¹², iron and vitamin D.

 

5 MYTH: Feed a cold, starve a fever

 

TRUTH: There’s no medical reason to limit foods when you’re feverish¹³ – but you might have less of an appetite meaning you can’t tolerate many foods. The raised temperature with a fever actually increases your metabolic¹⁴ rate, which burns more calories, so it actually becomes more important to take in extra calories.

 

The priority though should be making sure you drink plenty – all the sweating that goes with a fever means your losing more fluid than normal and so can quickly become dehydrated.

 

6 MYTH: Gluten free foods are healthier

 

TRUTH: Unless you have coeliac disease (just 1% of the population) there is no need to reach for the pricey gluten-free options in the supermarket.

 

In fact, a lot of gluten-free products are much higher in fat, salt and sugar.

 

Meanwhile, if you think you may have the condition, giving up gluten will simply make it much harder for you to get a proper diagnosis¹⁵.

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