Dear Readers, Our question this week comes from Maya who asks if she should eat breakfast or skip it because she’s heard fasting is good but she always thought breakfast was super important. In light of this and similar questions I get all the time, I want to run through the top 10 food myths we need to be savvy to. This week I’ll tackle five and next week five. Let’s get right down to it.
Top 10 Food Myths:
10) Oats are a healthy food
Many people have learned about the damage gluten does to our digestive systems over time, especially as it is now being produced. This is because this grain has got a lot of exposure, as more and more people trace their health issues back to an intolerance to it. Thus more gluten-free products are being made and more people are talking about it. It’s understandable, then, that a lot of people think oats are a great replacement grain. After all, it’s a whole grain, and it can be purchased organic and unprocessed.
There are several problems with oats when we’re talking about optimal health, however. First, they are often processed in facilities that also process wheat and are often found to be contaminated with gluten. Second, oats often contain added sugars or sweeteners and even when they don’t they can spike blood sugar. Eat a large bowl and watch your blood sugar and see. And fourth, they are very heavily sprayed with the known carcinogen, glyphosate.
For a consumer’s look into who sells the least sprayed grains, go here. For a list of grains that are sprayed in Canada and to what degree, go here. FYI, the government is in the process of increasing these levels as we speak if we do not get vocal about it.
9) Veggies are the healthiest food you can eat
Veggies are often touted as the God of Foods: the one thing we can’t get sick eating. And many studies support increased health from eating more of them. So what on Earth am I talking about? Well, the logic is flawed. The reason vegetables are hailed as so healthy isn’t because of all the nutrients they contain. It’s because they do not contain the things we have been told are bad for us - namely fat or sugar. By elimination, then, they are deemed the Gold Standard. But food isn’t just what it isn’t. It’s also about what it actually is.
A side-by-side comparison of nutrients shows that animal food is far more nutritious than vegetables. And we know that over time a diet that excludes the more nutritive foods can be very hard on both physical and mental health. Look at these charts to better understand the nutrients in both meat and veggies compared.
In addition, some vegetables contain lectins that make them difficult on the digestive system and a provocateur of symptoms in a growing number of people. Lectins are more common in grains and lentils, but they are still found in some veggies. When we only get a bit of them we usually are fine. It’s when we get too much that we become sensitive to them. It’s not uncommon for me to get calls from vegetarians who don’t understand why they can no longer tolerate vegetarian proteins. To better understand lectins and their role in health, go here.
Vegetables also contain oxalates. This is a far more serious problem, in my opinion. Some people are really symptomatic from oxalates and it’s difficult to determine unless you know what to look for. Essentially, these are naturally occurring compounds in some foods that bind to calcium and minerals in foods we digest. The crystals that form when this happens are what cause kidney stones. And they can also cause sharp, glass-like shards that can circulate in the blood and form in tissues throughout the entire body. For more information on this issue, go here.
My analysis is simple: we should eat food based on the nutrient density of the food and for certain people, veggies should not be eaten in abundance.
8) If it’s natural sugar it’s better for you
If you’ve read my column long enough I am sure you already know this statement is patently untrue. Even organic, whole, raw sugar cane is still sugar. It is still going to do the same damage to your blood sugar regulation systems. Ditto raw honey. Ditto molasses. Ditto maple syrup. Ditto date sugar. Ditto fruit sugar. Ditto fruit syrups and fruit juices, even if unsweetened. These natural sugars can be benign in very small quantities on rare occasions, but taken regularly they are still going to fuel diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
The exception to this is whole, unprocessed fruit, in small quantities as part of - or after - a meal so the blood sugar does not spike so high. This is because fibre and nutrients in the whole fruit and proteins and fat in the meal offset the metabolic damage from the sugars in the fruit.
Dr. Robert Lustig discusses this far better than I ever could here.
The takeaway: eat your fruit with or after your meal when you want fruit. Skip the sugar, no matter how pure it seems. Try monk fruit or stevia or a blend of them to help curb your sweet tooth. These do not spike blood sugar at all.
7) Complex carbs are better for you than simple carbs
This myth was perpetuated by the nutrition industry for a long time so you’re sure to have heard it. The logic goes like this: complex carbs/ starches take longer to break down into sugars so they don’t do as much damage because they don’t spike blood sugar as high.
While this analysis is true, it’s missing some other information. It turns out that polysaccharides feed the ‘bad’ bacteria in the gut and are very difficult to break down in the absence of a healthy gut microbiome. This leads to all sorts of health problems. And many many people have an unhealthy microbiome, most especially those with mental health issues of any kind. For these people and those with Autism Spectrum Disorders, these seemingly healthy starches can do a lot of damage and create worsening symptoms. The best break down of this issue is in the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD.
Essentially, these complex carbs are not digested easily and if intestinal permeability is a problem, as in the case of an altered gut microbiome, the improperly digested particles of complex carbs get through the gaps in the intestinal barrier and cause mayhem in the bloodstream. This is most certainly related to ASD self stimulating behaviour and carbohydrate cravings. Studies from Caltech are now supporting Dr. Campbell-McBride’s visionary work, so if this issue affects you I encourage you to read her books.
6) Eating eggs causes high cholesterol
Before we talk about their cholesterol, let’s get into what else eggs contain. A medium egg contains about 5.5 grams of protein and all nine essential amino acids. They also contain choline - a very important B vitamin that as much as 90 per cent of the population are deficient in. Choline is brain protective and is essential for brain function and health in the young and old alike.
Eggs also boast selenium (a potent antioxidant), lutein and zeaxanthin (carotenoids important in eye health), and natural vitamin D. And most of these nutrients are in the yolks.
I know we have been taught to fear eggs because of the cholesterol the yolks contain, but cholesterol is tightly regulated by the body. The liver makes more whenever we are low, and dietary consumption has very little impact on this.
Then, of course, there is the idea that cholesterol is bad for us. This is a myth of epic proportions, but don’t take it from me. Read the definitive guide to cholesterol by health writer, Mark Sisson, to get the complete picture. Mark is by far one of my favourite health and wellness writers.
The takeaway here is that not all the health information we get is accurate. Tune in next week when I go into the top 5 food myths and look at breakfast as the most important meal of the day. Thank you, Maya for writing in! As always, if readers have their own questions they can reach me at [email protected] and they can find me online at hopenotdope.ca.
Namaste!
Nonie Nutritionista