Does warm milk really help when you can't sleep? We're tackling ten food myths to see if they are fact or fiction.
Myth #1: Warm Milk Helps You Sleep
Verdict: Fact, but it's not exactly biology that makes it so, it's more psychology. A warm glass of milk is comforting like a teddy bear or favorite blanket, calming nerves and summoning peaceful memories.
Myth #2: An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
Verdict: Fact-ish. While there's nothing magical about an apple, the idea of daily fruits and vegetables as part of a balanced diet is one of the most important ways to stay healthy.
Myth #3: Eating Carrots Improves Eyesight
Verdict: Fact, but specifically your sight at night. Carrots will not be able to replace your reading glasses, but the Vitamin A in carrots does help your eyes adjust to dim light. If you have trouble with night vision, try eating more carrots.
Myth #4: Fresh Produce Is Always Better Than Frozen
Verdict: Fiction. It's true that few things are as delicious as a fresh ear of corn, but when it comes to nutrition, the frozen substitute is often better unless you picked the corn yourself from the stalk. The flash-freezing process happens within hours of picking and preserves nearly all of the nutrients, much more than produce that has to travel for days by truck to reach your store.
Myth #5: Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever
Verdict: Fiction. Good nutrition is always important, and especially when you are sick. Fevers burn extra calories, sometimes an excessive amount, so restricting calories could be dangerous. Colds and fevers both deserve that bowl of chicken soup!
Myth #6: Dark Bread is Healthier Than Light Bread
Verdict: Fiction. The key for determining a healthier bread is less about color and more about one simple word: multi-grain. The more grains in a bread, the more nutrients and fiber.
Myth #7: Fish is Brain Food
Verdict: Fact. The unsaturated fatty oils in fish known as omega-3s are not only good for your heart (reducing risk of heart disease and stroke), but especially your brain. Daily servings of fish reduce your chances of dementia by up to 60%!
Myth #8: Spicy Foods Cause Ulcers
Verdict: Fiction. Ulcers are caused by a very specific bacteria in the stomach that has nothing to do with spicy food.
Myth #9: Chocolate Causes Pimples
Verdict: Fiction. (Phew!) Some very old and very poorly designed studies from the 1930s linked chocolate consumption with pimples, but that research does not hold up.
Myth #10: A Cookie Makes Everything Better
Verdict: Fact. We are the experts on this one, and even a great day is made better with a cookie. Case closed.
Does Warm Milk Help You Sleep? And Other Food Myths
Does warm milk really help when you can't sleep? We're tackling ten food myths to see if they are fact or fiction.
Myth #1: Warm Milk Helps You Sleep
Verdict: Fact, but it's not exactly biology that makes it so, it's more psychology. A warm glass of milk is comforting like a teddy bear or favorite blanket, calming nerves and summoning peaceful memories.
Myth #2: An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
Verdict: Fact-ish. While there's nothing magical about an apple, the idea of daily fruits and vegetables as part of a balanced diet is one of the most important ways to stay healthy.
Myth #3: Eating Carrots Improves Eyesight
Verdict: Fact, but specifically your sight at night. Carrots will not be able to replace your reading glasses, but the Vitamin A in carrots does help your eyes adjust to dim light. If you have trouble with night vision, try eating more carrots.
Myth #4: Fresh Produce Is Always Better Than Frozen
Verdict: Fiction. It's true that few things are as delicious as a fresh ear of corn, but when it comes to nutrition, the frozen substitute is often better unless you picked the corn yourself from the stalk. The flash-freezing process happens within hours of picking and preserves nearly all of the nutrients, much more than produce that has to travel for days by truck to reach your store.
Myth #5: Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever
Verdict: Fiction. Good nutrition is always important, and especially when you are sick. Fevers burn extra calories, sometimes an excessive amount, so restricting calories could be dangerous. Colds and fevers both deserve that bowl of chicken soup!
Myth #6: Dark Bread is Healthier Than Light Bread
Verdict: Fiction. The key for determining a healthier bread is less about color and more about one simple word: multi-grain. The more grains in a bread, the more nutrients and fiber.
Myth #7: Fish is Brain Food
Verdict: Fact. The unsaturated fatty oils in fish known as omega-3s are not only good for your heart (reducing risk of heart disease and stroke), but especially your brain. Daily servings of fish reduce your chances of dementia by up to 60%!
Myth #8: Spicy Foods Cause Ulcers
Verdict: Fiction. Ulcers are caused by a very specific bacteria in the stomach that has nothing to do with spicy food.
Myth #9: Chocolate Causes Pimples
Verdict: Fiction. (Phew!) Some very old and very poorly designed studies from the 1930s linked chocolate consumption with pimples, but that research does not hold up.
Myth #10: A Cookie Makes Everything Better
Verdict: Fact. We are the experts on this one, and even a great day is made better with a cookie. Case closed.