Have you fallen for these 10 food myths?

Published: 27 March 2018

Healthy eating should be simple. But with so many food and nutrition facts and myths around, it’s hard to know who and what to believe.

Behind most food and nutrition myths, there is sometimes a little bit of truth. We separate the science from the silliness.

You may have heard some of the following food myths over the years and maybe thought they were true. Let’s bust ten of these myths, placing you on the right track with just the facts.

10 food myths

1. If you do exercise you can eat whatever you like and lose weight and stay healthy – FALSE – Exercise is really good for us and our heart but if we want to lose weight we need to look at what we’re eating as well.

2. It’s cheaper to get takeaways than to eat healthy – FALSE – There are ways to food shop smarter. In fact, we’ve got a blogpost dedicated to healthy food shopping on a budget and lots of healthy recipe ideas to inspire you.

3. Rice is healthier for you than taro – FALSE – Both are good for you, but again in moderation. Not sure how much to eat? Clench your fist, that’s the amount of rice or taro you should have with a meal. Easy enough to remember, right? Learn more about food portion sizes.

4. Eating carbohydrates makes you fat – FALSE – Carbohydrates provide energy and vitamins and are an important part of our diet. Eating too many carbohydrates can make you put on weight.

5. Fasting is the best way to detox your body – FALSE – Eating healthy is the best. Our kidneys and liver are there to clean out our bodies of toxins, we don’t need to fast or go on detox diets because our organs detox for us.

6. If you drink a hot drink after having fatty food, it’ll wash the fat away – FALSE – It may make you feel better but it won’t stop the grease and fat from building up.

7. Don’t eat after 8pm if you want to lose weight – FALSE – It comes down to what and how much we’re eating and not when we’re eating.

8. Olive oil contains less fat than other oils – FALSE – Olive oil has the same amount of energy as any other oil. It is a really healthy oil for our heart though.

9. Honey is better for you than sugar – FALSE – Honey still has the same amount of energy as sugar but should be eaten in moderation, as part of a healthy diet.

10. Frozen or canned veges are not as nutritious as fresh – FALSE – The veges are canned/frozen at peak freshness and are a great, budget friendly, easy alternative to fresh veges.

Want to know more about healthy eating? We’ve got plenty of information on food myths and nutrition facts on our website.

Find out about our Pacific nutrition courses