MovieChat Forums > Food Revolution (2010) Discussion > Food Myths

Food Myths

posted 14 years ago by jwilcox154
30 replies | jump to latest

There are many misconceptions about the substances we consume and even how they are prepared. While I can somewhat understand the reason for the skepticism on frozen foods, after all there are some that are heavily processed with nutritionally poor fats and carbohydrates. Does that mean all frozen foods are unhealthy? No it doesn’t. Some businesses are actually improving the nutrition in all of their prepackaged foods. Today there is Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Kashi, and other packaged foods that are quite healthy.

What I don’t understand is the phobia of microwave ovens. Sure there are horror stories about a nurse microwaving a package of blood before a transfusion to warm it. Although the story is true it does not mean it is the microwave technology itself. Rather the microwave oven cooked the blood rather than heating it. If it were in the oven the nurse would have received the same results. Microwave ovens are not only good for heating prepackaged foods, but they are also good to reheat leftovers and cook some frozen vegetables.

Now the real question about frozen foods: Is it economical? Well it all depends on how many people are in the household and how often they are consumed. The smaller the household the more economical frozen dinners are. On the other hand, the healthier frozen dinners are much too expensive for a large household to eat every day. Although the cheaper foods are economical and convenient they are the least healthy with the exception of soda.

Soda is by far the unhealthiest substance around. It doesn’t matter whether the sweetener is high fructose corn syrup or cane sugar it is filled with empty calories and sodium. What people don’t know is there are two different types of HFCS. I have read the science about HFCS and it is not much different than sugar. That is why I do not consume too much sweeteners no matter what kind they are. Aspartame is another sweetener vilified by those who are unwilling to use critical thinking skills. Aspartame has been cleared of causing problems. The study that allegedly “proved” the dangers of aspartame was actually quite inaccurate. In this study the rats were fed more aspartame when compared to human body weight. In other words, for aspartame to affect a human in the same way as a lab rat one would have to consume more than is actually possible in one day. At one time I was skeptical about aspartame. What changed was the use of critical thinking skills. As for diet soda the problem isn’t the aspartame, it is the amount of sodium in one service with no other nutrients to support it.

One thing I whole heartedly agree with Jamie on is the children were eating foods with one colour, brown. If the families were eating the healthier prepackaged foods then Jamie Oliver would have needed to explain to them it is too expensive to serve single serve prepackaged meals to several members of the family. When a large household is involved it is far more economical to prepare dinners from scratch. A small household, on the other hand, is more likely to benefit from small, single serving prepackaged meals. No matter what, one crucial thing to remember is to use critical thinking skills.

Sources :
http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/scitech/aspartameQA.cfm

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=585

http://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/HEALTHbeat_081606.htm

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/microwave-radia tion-ovens-460709

[–] branenj001 14 years ago

About soda and diet soda.. It's a hard habit to kick for me, but I was warned by my dentist that in addition to it being empty calories it's also very acidic to the teeth, which isn't any new information since i'm sure many of us have seen the experiment where someone takes a tooth and places it in a cup of coke overnight. For me, and this is just me, i've found that as I get older, if I drink to much diet soda I get major headaches. I'm trying to drink mostly water and get away from the diet soda.

[–] TheAdlerian 14 years ago

There's nothing wrong with soda.

It has been bizarrely focused on since it was invented. Soda is a variety of spice and fruit oils in water mixed with Sugar or an artificial sweetener. It was originally sold as a digestif (alcohol)replacement to aid in digestion.

On a hilarious note, I saw ABC news attempting to make a catastrophe out of drinking one soda, then the next story was about how great drinking wine is. Alcohol does damage your brain, and of course people get addicted to it, so that makes no sense to promote wine over sugar water.

Most of this food nonsense is based on ignorance.

[–] otter 14 years ago

There's nothing wrong with the occasional soda, I myself will give up my Diet Coke when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.

However, drinking soda whenever you're thirsty is ALL KINDS OF WRONG (same for wine). I swear some kids these days drink a liter or two of soda in a day, instead of water, which is over a thousand empty calories a day and as unhealthy as you can get. It's become a huge public health issue in the US, especially among kids, which is why there's a campaign to get it out of the schools entirely. Let them drink water!

PS: If there's water available, of course. I live in a hot area and there's a college near me with no water fountains, but a million machines selling soda and bottled water. Bottled water that costs a dollar for 12 ounces! That's jus evil.

* * * FedEx just took NINE days to send me an "overnight" package. * * *

[–] TheAdlerian 14 years ago

Otter,

I generally agree with you. But, as I've said in other threads about French Fries and other such foods, there's little wrong with the foods themselves and everything wrong with the users of the foods. Being a "pig" is not the fault of the "flavored water" (soda) industry.

Also, water isn't always the best thing to drink if you're into exercise as long bouts of it can deplete your stores of sugar and salt. Just last week I ran out of "glucose" from exercise and got pretty sick. Had I had a couple of sugar sodas, that wouldn't have happened. I was going on bike rides and burning around 1600 calories and could easily have had two or three sodas with zero negative effect.

Also, I'm 43 and have been hearing about proper eating my whole life, as the health food craze started in the 70s. It's promoted in school and TV nonstop since then and so all parents at this point KNOW about calories in versus calories out and what causes weight gain, and what is generally healthy to eat. Thus, most people don't require training about food, they need psychological help to figure out why they don't use the information that has been dwelled upon for over 30 years.

That's the problem.

[–] jwilcox154 14 years ago

Excellent points Otter. Even though soda does have empty calories those who can enjoy a soda once in a while will see no negative health consequences from soda. It doesn't matter what is used to sweeten the soda the end results are basically the same. However, drinking soda after a workout is just as bad as water IMO as it has carbohydrates and only one electrolyte, sodium. Sports drinks have carbohydrates along with electrolytes(potassium, calcium, sodium) and even B vitamins. After a workout those need to be replenished. Unfortunately there are those who think this was meant to be consumed, like soda, in the place of water without working out.

As for myself I prefer to drink mainly water with a daily 8 oz serving of 1% milk and V8 V.Fusion. The only time I drink a sports drink is when I walk quite a distance. There was a time I did drink a lot of soda, which was the biggest contributor to my weight gain.

[–] TheAdlerian 14 years ago

Sugar isn't an "empty calorie" it's a calorie. The problem is it's quickly used as compared to complex carbs. Sugar is helpful if you need quick energy.

All of this nonsense about food reminds me of a religious discussion.

[–] jwilcox154 14 years ago

I know sugar is a calorie, what I did say was soda is filled with empty calories. In other words when someone drinks soda they have wasted over 100 calories on something that has no vitamins and only one mineral, sodium. Like I had stated before an occasional soda is not going to hurt anyone. But where it gets to being a problem is when soda is no longer a treat, but a part of someone's daily dietary plan. If someone were to try to stick to consuming calories to lose weight then those calories were wasted so they would either have to forgo nutrients, or increase his or her caloric intake. In other words the only four choices are:

1. Lose weight and yet lose out on meeting the daily goal for vitamins, minerals, and protein.
2. Maintain the weight and lose out on meeting the daily goal for vitamins, minerals, and protein.
3. Gain weight and get the proper nutrients
4. Gain weight and yet lose out on meeting the daily goal for vitamins, minerals, and protein.

If you can keep soda as a treat then by all means go ahead and enjoy a soda. There are, however, those who have become addicted to soda. These people would be better off to simply stay away from all sodas.

[–] TheAdlerian 14 years ago

JW,

As I said, sugar is not an empty calorie, it's a type of energy (a calorie). No matter what you want to call it, that doesn't change what it is and sugar is a nutrient. What matters is how that nutrient fits into your overall calorie and intake and output for the day. If you got your daily requirements at other meals, then you can have all the soda you want, as long as you don't exceed your calories for the day.

The rest of your post describes a mental problem, not a food problem. Unless it's poison, there's no food on Earth that's "bad" or "empty" if eaten by a person who doesn't have psychological problems. All food has energy in it and your body need both energy producing foods and foods that it can store, like protein.

[–] jwilcox154 14 years ago

I agree that sugar is a simple carbohydrate. Simple and Complex carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram. There are other nutrients that contain calories. Fat is one nutrient that contains 9 calories per gram while protein contains 4.

My point was about foods with "empty calories." Stating that food has empty calories is another way of saying the food is energy packed yet yields little if any nutritional value. Soda is one example of an energy-rich, nutritionally poor beverage.

http://straighthealth.com/pages/qna/empty-calories.html

BTW you had better be careful, otherwise you might be accused of encouraging others to eat nothing but junk food. ;)

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] TheAdlerian 14 years ago

jw,

I know what you said and I contradicted it by pointing out how a sugar soda could be used to gain energy. No need to deny facts.

[–] jwilcox154 14 years ago

And again, the term empty calories refers to food that has little or no nutrients beyond calories and fat. Even the Mayo clinic uses the term "empty calorie." Since soda falls within the definition it has empty calories. The consumption of so many empty calories is why Americans are so obese yet so malnourished.

So again, what were you saying?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empty_calories
desertmedctr.staywellsolutionsonline.com/Wellness/Nutrition/Basics/Too ls/1,2965
www.cudahychamber.com/gym_Glossary.htm
www.lucyburney.co.uk/glossary/index.html
http://healthletter.mayoclinic.com/editorial/editorial.cfm/i/215/t/Gro wing%20on%20empty/

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] McQualude 13 years ago

"There's nothing wrong with soda."

There's nothing wrong with arsenic... unless you intake too much.

|Statistics show that 100% of people bitten by a snake were close to it.|

[–] annaeliese 14 years ago

Sometimes I'm glad I have an eating disorder and that I restrict so much, you never know what you're putting inside you're body nowadays. But I think a lot of it is just media hype, and people shouldn't blame the food itself, you're the one who should make sensible choices not the food companies.

Trang Pak is a grotsky, little byotch

[–] McQualude 14 years ago

While I can somewhat understand the reason for the skepticism on frozen foods, after all there are some that are heavily processed with nutritionally poor fats and carbohydrates.

Some? About 90% of my local grocery frozen section are processed foods.

Sure there are horror stories about a nurse microwaving a package of blood before a transfusion to warm it.

Weird, I've never heard any horror stories about microwaving blood.

Now the real question about frozen foods: Is it economical?

No, the question is are they frozen raw food or frozen processed food; if the latter then care has to be taken to read the labels as the majority of processed food is garbage. The average consumer likely lacks the education on how to evaluate labels so it's just much better to steer them clear of processed food in general.

Soda is by far the unhealthiest substance around.

Yeah, it's pretty bad. As much because of the amount consumed as the inherent unhealthy aspects. Flavored milk actually has more sugar.

|Statistics show that 100% of people bitten by a snake were close to it.|

[–] SupaChupacabra 14 years ago

Just as a completely off topic comment to make a point, studies have shown that people that "go green" tend to use more electricity than those that haven't upgraded appliances and lighting fixtures. In other words, once they begin to save electricity, they waste it assuming a sudden bounty of surplus. Point being, moderation is the more important lesson... too often people hear "this is bad, no this is bad" and continue behaving like retards. Soda is bad. But you know what? Fresh homemade pasta is bad if you overeat it. Like the saying goes, guns don't kill, people do. Food doesn't kill, poor eating does.

If anyone needs me I'll be in the lab.

[–] McQualude 14 years ago

studies have shown that people that "go green" tend to use more electricity

What studies?

|Statistics show that 100% of people bitten by a snake were close to it.|

[–] soltar76 13 years ago

Statistics say that 100% of people will die. So, do what you want and enjoy life.

[–] jwilcox154 13 years ago

Some? About 90% of my local grocery frozen section are processed foods.

Ahh yes, once again we have an idiot that wants everyone to believe that ALL frozen foods=unhealthy and naturally the idiot quotes me out of context. Remember, Healthy Choice, Lean Cusine, and Kashi =/= Swanson and banquet. Swanson and Banquet is highly processed and most of the nutriends have been leached out.

Weird, I've never heard any horror stories about microwaving blood.

Why don't you do a google search on Norma Levitt and hip sergery and you will see plenty of "stories" on it passed on by other idiots that feel the microwave oven is somehow "evil".

No, the question is are they frozen raw food or frozen processed food; if the latter then care has to be taken to read the labels as the majority of processed food is garbage. The average consumer likely lacks the education on how to evaluate labels so it's just much better to steer them clear of processed food in general.

Once again idiot if you would have read the whole post instead of cherry picking the damned thing you would have seen it in it's entirety. Nah, that would detract from your propaganda that is supposed to make everyone think all frozen foods are evil.

Yeah, it's pretty bad. As much because of the amount consumed as the inherent unhealthy aspects. Flavored milk actually has more sugar.

And your point is what exactly? Even if it does it doesn't mean that it is worse than soda as flavoured milk still has nutrients in with it. Soda, on the other hand, only has calories and sodium.

But please keep proving how intellectually bankrupt you are troll.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] jwilcox154 13 years ago

If you would have read what I have wrote I had said that soda is worse as it really has no nutritional value. Flavoured milk at least has nutritional value to it. Point to where I even said flavoured milk is healthy? I imagine you can't because I have not said that.

[–] McQualude 13 years ago

Nah, that would detract from your propaganda

The internet is a place for exchanging ideas, if you can't handle a little valid criticism without being a whiny baby then you should not post.

|Statistics show that 100% of people bitten by a snake were close to it.|

[–] jwilcox154 13 years ago

Valid criticism? Ah, you mean "responses" based on quotes taken out of context is "valid criticism?" The only time people quote out of context is when they are dishonest or stupid. As far as whining I think you are looking in the mirror as I have been laughing all this time, at you. Your latest post merely shows you never really have any valid points to begin with. Looking at your history I can honestly say it is dishonesty as you try to start fights online.

[–] txsiimk 13 years ago

sugar tastes better than hfcs

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] jwilcox154 13 years ago

Well let's see what else has change from the 1980s on. Oh, the usage of computers, home video games, and television all have increased significantly as well while activity has decreased significantly. High fructose corn syrup really is not much different than sugar. Too much sugar of any kind is not good. Then again, people like you also believe heating food in the microwave oven causes problems.

[–] txsiimk 13 years ago

i don't give a fk about whether sugar is healthier or not healthier than HFCS ok?? Calm down, cause your starting to sound like you work for the corn lobby.

What I am TRYING to say is that, regardless, real sugar tastes better, and products made with real sugar taste better.

[–] jwilcox154 13 years ago

Actually too much of any of the sugars whether cane, beet, or corn is unhealthy. Even honey is unhealthy if too much is consumed. No I don't work for the corn lobby. I am, however, sick of people just parroting what they hear others say without using critical thinking skills.

I have to admit Coca-Cola does taste better with cane sugar than HFCS. As a result I don't think I would last long as a corn lobbyist.

[–] MycroftHolmes 13 years ago

Aspartame makes my ears ring.

What we have here is failure to communicate!