Busting myths on matters of health: 4 common misconceptions about food

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  Mark Coote / Bloomberg

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While it’s wise to have a good idea of the calorie content of what you’re eating, it’s more important to know how nutritious your food is. A piece of fruit may have the same number of calories as a handful of sweets, but the fruit also contains essential nutrients, fibre, vitamins and antioxidants, which are vital for good health. Sweets, on the other hand, contain virtually no nutritional value and therefore provide “empty calories”. Ranim Kaddoura, clinical dietitian at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, recommends people read food labels and understand nutrition-information panels. “Don’t just look at the number of calories. Look at what’s in the food and where those calories come from,” she says. Look at the macronutrient content – how much protein, fat and carbohydrates does it have? Are the carbs mostly sugar? Is it high in fibre? These are the clues to determining whether something is “nutrient dense” (fruits and vegetables) or “energy dense” (cakes and soft drinks). We pick four topics to sift through myth and nutritional facts.

Low-fat foods are healthier: As with calories, not all fats are equal. Some, such as monounsaturated fats found in avocado and olive oil, are considered essential for health, while others, such as saturated and trans-fats, are considered unhealthy and should be limited or avoided. Fatima Sadek, dietitian at Imperial College London Diabetes Centre in Abu Dhabi, says since the boom in low-fat diets in the 1980s, food companies have looked for ways to reduce saturated fats and replace animal fats with vegetable oils. "They had to change the structure of the vegetable oil so it could be used in place of solid fat. They used a process called hydrogenation, but unfortunately we now know that hydrogenated fats increase levels of dangerous trans-fats, which are bad for the heart and our cholesterol," says Sadek. Another factor that needed to be considered was taste and texture, because once the fat was removed, the food became less satisfying, and so sugar was usually added. "The typical low-fat product tended to be high in carbs, might contain trans-fats and a similar calorie count to the original product," she says. "When we eat foods high in carbs, especially white, refined ones, our bodies digest them more quickly. This can lead to blood-sugar swings and cravings, making it more difficult to control our overall calorie intake. A diet too high in refined carbs and sugars can also increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease and causes high cholesterol levels."

Kaddoura says it is important to read the nutritional panel “to see whether the low-fat option is better”. “Check the nutrition-information panel and compare it with the regular version. Look at the fat content, total calories and added sugars.”

It's organic, so it must be healthy: The term "organic" refers to the way in which a product is grown, not its nutritional content, and, Kaddoura warns, is often a marketing tactic used by companies to boost sales. "It refers to food that has been grown without chemicals," she says. "Organic food can still be high in calories, so you cannot just assume that it's healthy." A 330ml bottle of Phoenix Organic Cola, for example, contains 147 calories, 36 grams of sugar and nothing else of nutritional value. Regular Coca-Cola contains 139 calories and 35 grams of sugar for the same serving size. "You need to decide what your goals are – is your goal to be healthier or is it to lose weight? And make food choices based on those goals," she says. If you want to avoid chemicals and are passionate about food that has been produced in a more environmentally friendly way, choose organic. If your goal is to lose weight, look at the overall calorie and nutritional value.

Carbs are the enemy: Many people assume that carbohydrates are only grains and the food products made from them, such as bread and pasta, but carbs are also found in fruit and vegetables. To know which carbs are healthy, you need to consider whether they are complex carbohydrates (fruit, vegetables and wholegrains) or simple carbohydrates (sugar and refined grains) and understand the difference. "Carbohydrates that are 100 per cent wholegrain and fibre help you feel full because they are slowly absorbed into your system and keep your blood sugar balanced," says Sadek. "Limiting carbs will never work long-term because our bodies crave and need them." The key, she says, is to ditch sugar, white flour and white rice from your diet and cut back on refined and processed carbs. Choose a varied diet rich in fruit, vegetables and wholegrains, such as quinoa (which is actually a seed), oats and wild rice.

Eggs raise your cholesterol: Eggs have had a bad reputation as it was believed that the cholesterol they contain (212mg for a large egg) adversely affected the cholesterol levels in our body. This has been found to be untrue, says Sadek. "In fact, eggs raise the HDL cholesterol [high-density lipoprotein, the good kind] and change LDL cholesterol from small dense LDL [which is bad] to large LDL [which is good]. Additionally, eggs are loaded with high-quality proteins, vitamins, minerals, good fats and various trace minerals, and score high on the Satiety Index, which means that eggs make you feel full and eat fewer overall calories." Despite this, Kaddoura says current guidelines recommend no more than four to six eggs a week for people with high cholesterol.