Every time I scroll through Instagram nowadays, the internet either tells me that one of my regular habits is totally wrong or one of my favourite foods will lead me to an early grave. I put my phone aside to avoid this doomsday scenario and go to the dining table where my mother and Maasi sometimes are ready with their gyaan, sometimes from WhatsApp, but mostly from what they have heard in their workplaces.
From your family members treating green tea as a magic potion for all the cholesterol they thuso at the shaadis to your mum snatching the water bottle away from you while eating, we know these theories are irritating. Hence, we searched for the most common myths so that you can have a peaceful time ordering food or just scrolling through tempting reels.
1. A detox diet will clean toxins out of the body
Don’t insult your liver, kidneys, skin, lungs, and digestive system by having detox products available in the market inside your body. Poor things are working 24/7 to get waste out of your system. You can’t detox your body by consuming anything, especially not the ones claiming to ‘cleanse your body’. Eat more whole foods, drink water get enough sleep. If you still think the products worked for you, it’s because of the ‘eating less’ part of your diet.
2. Maida sticks to the gut
I heard it for the first time in my 1st year of college when one of my friends ordered rolls made of atta instead of maida. I was genuinely scared, but a simple Google search made me enjoy my ‘tastier’ maida roll guilt-free.
3. Heating food in microwave will cause cancer
No, it won’t. With the advancement of technology, people manage to find newer myths and misconceptions around them. I remember once reading in a local newspaper that drinking hot tea would also cause cancer. Next time I will put the person saying this nonsense into a microwave.
4. Green tea helps you lose weight
Sometime back, all the uncles and aunties around me, including my mother started sipping several cups of green tea to, apparently, lose weight. Unfortunately, it is just a myth. It was supposed to be one of my proudest myth-busting moments, but did my mom listen? Nope, absolutely not.
5. Egg yolk is bad for health
It’s time people stopped villainizing the cute sunshine in the middle of the omelet. For a long time now people have been treating the yolk as the most despicable metabolic waste in the universe. Guess what, it’s not bad for your health.
6. Fresh fruits and vegetables are healthier than frozen or canned types
Whenever you mention frozen food, people nowadays instantly start making excuses for not consuming it. In the age we are trying to increase human lifespan using cryo techniques, it’s sad to see people’s skepticism towards every food frozen. Freezing keeps the nutritious elements intact. So no, sometimes frozen or canned types are not less healthy than fresh ones.
7. Heating honey is poisonous
The honey you are buying from the supermarket, it’s already pasteurized, so how will heating it further make it poisonous? We have been putting honey into our tea, our food for centuries now. Enjoy your honey-chili potato without any fear.
8. Whey protein is bad
Recently, there has been an outcry by some fitness influencers that whey protein is not good for health. On the contrary, whey protein is natural and it is safe for most users. Its documented benefits include its ability to support muscle growth and improve health and fitness levels.
9. You shouldn’t eat milk and fish together
How often have we been forbidden from having milk or dairy products after having fish, which our grandmothers said would lead to some serious skin diseases? Well, it turns out it was a myth too. Scientifically, there is only one reason to avoid this food and that is if you are allergic to either of these foods.
10. Pressure cooker destroys more nutrients than a regular vessel
It doesn’t. To put the mechanism of a pressure cooker simply, it uses a sealed lid to build up pressure so that water stays liquid at temperatures over 100 degrees Celsius, which in turn makes the food cook faster. All cooking destroys some nutrients but makes others available that we couldn’t derive from raw food. Pressure cooker doesn’t do any better or worse than open vessel cooking.
Show this list to your mummy and thank us later when you’re having swad ki Diwali in your mouth guilt-free.