Ever wondered why you are not reaching your fitness goals despite eating “healthy”? Besides eating the correct quantity of food, we should also pick the correct type of food. There are foods that we subconsciously know that they are not healthy but decide to rationalize that they are healthier than they are. There are also foods that we have misconceptions about. Do you know that coffee creamer is not actually made from milk?
Here is a list of common misconceptions about food to help you make smarter decisions to attain your health goals.
Misconceptions About Fruits & Vegetables
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We should always eat our fruits and vegetables, however, our choice of vegetables and how we prepare them is also important. Vegetables have a lack of taste so we would like to “cheat” to make them as palatable as possible.
Starchy Vegetables
Corn and potatoes are starchy vegetables that should be considered carbohydrate sources like rice and noodles. If you choose to eat rice with potatoes, which is not uncommon when ordering caifan, you might think that you are eating healthy but you might think that you are eating your vegetables but you are actually eating two sources of carbs.
Tip: Choose leafy greens instead of starchy vegetables as your vegetable source.
Salads
Salads have low calories and are a great source of our daily vegetables. However, they can be quite tasteless by themselves. If you come across a creamy salad that is very delicious, your warning bells should be ringing.
When you add high amounts of salad dressing to your salad, the health benefits of salads are basically cancelled out or even go into negative territory. A tablespoon of some creamy dressings can range from 40 – 100 calories. They can also be filled with fats, sodium and sugar.
The recommended serving is about 2 tablespoons, however, to make the salad tasty, it can easily exceed this amount. An entire head of lettuce is only 53 calories but to make it taste good, it might take hundreds of calories of dressing.
Potato salad is a combination of the first two points. Although there is a salad in its name, it is a starchy vegetable mixed with mayo.
The worse thing is that you think that you have been eating healthy and rationalize that you deserve a cheat meal when in fact, you have eaten two unhealthy meals.
Tip: Measure how much dressing you use and use it sparingly. Choose vinegar-based dressings over creamy dressings. Prepare your own dressing using salt, pepper, lemon juice, yoghurt, or some olive oil.
Tempura & Stir-Fried Vegetables
Covered in a thick batter and deep-fried, tempura vegetables are filled with oil. Although you are eating your vegetables, you are also consuming the crispy batter. A skilful chef might be able to maximize the crispiness and minimize the oiliness but the oil is still there.
Vegetables are also like a sponge. During deep frying or stir-frying, the vegetables absorb a lot of the oil during cooking. Some stir fries also have a thick sauce to make them less dry and to let them go down easier with rice.
Tip: Choose steamed or boiled vegetables instead of deep-fried or stir-fried vegetables. If the stir fry is extremely oily, “wash” it with soup or water to minimize oil consumption. Remember not to drink the soup afterwards.
Avocado & Nuts
Avocados and nuts are filled with healthy fats, fibre and micronutrients and are seen as healthy foods. However, portion control is extremely important as they are caloric-dense. Healthy fats are still fats. A serving of avocado is only ⅓ of an avocado (about 80 calories) and a serving of nuts is only a small handful (about 160 calories). They are also very tasty so they can be very easy to overconsume. It is easy to eat an entire avocado in one go and if we eat nuts while watching tv or working, we might eat multiple servings at one go.
Tip: Set aside a serving size and consume in moderation.
Fruits
Fruits have fibre and micronutrients, but they are also filled with sugars. Natural sugars do not make them any healthier than sugar. It might be difficult to overeat fruits like apples, pears and oranges but fruits like mangoes, durians and grapes have very high sugar content and it is easy to overconsume. Making them into juices or shakes also makes them easier to drink as compared to eating whole fruits.
Tip: Choose fruits that are less caloric and sugar-dense. Set aside the proper serving size to prevent overeating. Eat whole fruits instead of drinking fruit juices.
Dried Fruits
Dried fruits like raisins, apricots and mangos are the dehydrated versions of their fresh counterparts. The dehydration process only removes water while retaining all of the sugar and fibre. They will still contain vitamins but lesser than fresh fruits as the vitamins might degrade during the dehydration process. Some of them even have added sugar to increase their sweetness.
They can be great snack alternatives. It is not inherently bad to eat those without added sugar but it is also a portion control issue. Dried fruits are caloric-dense, they have many times the calories of fresh fruit due to the removed water which has 0 calories. 100g of mango has about 60 calories while 100g of dried mango has about 314 calories (more than 4x more).
Tip: Avoid dried fruit with added sugar. Set aside the proper serving size to prevent overeating.
Misconceptions About Carbohydrates
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Carbohydrates are an important energy source. There is a myth that carbs make us gain weight, but if eaten in moderation, they will not make us fat.
Brown Rice & Wholemeal Bread
While it is true that they have fibre, we should not be eating more of them to hit our daily fibre intake. Besides fibre, they are also a carbohydrate source. They can assist us in including more fibre in our diet, however, we should be getting our fibre from a variety of sources like vegetables and fruits instead.
Tip: Get your fibre by consuming a variety of food.
Congee
Congee and porridge are seen as light and healthy meals. However, they have a high GI value which increases our risk for diabetes and heart disease. Additionally, they are digested quickly which makes us craving for more food despite already consuming sufficient calories. Congee is also eaten with fried dough sticks while the dishes and preserved vegetables consumed with porridge can be high in sodium to make it more palatable.
Tip: Consume in moderation and pick whole foods with minimal processing as side dishes.
Granola & Cereals
Cereal and granola are breakfast staples, especially for western societies. They are marketed as healthy by highlighting that they are “whole grain” or “low fat”. The packaging and ads might also showcase people doing yoga, smiling families and nature scenes like mountains and rice fields to make them look healthy. They can taste very good, almost like eating a dessert for breakfast. However, many of these cereals and granolas have a lot of added sugar.
Tip: Eat oats instead of cereals. They are cheaper, unprocessed, have more fibre and have no added sugar.
Brown Sugar & Honey
Brown sugar is less processed with additional micronutrients like calcium and iron, while honey has antimicrobial properties and antioxidants. However, they are still sugar. It might be marginally healthier to replace white sugar with brown sugar or honey, but this is not an excuse to consume more of it than normal.
Tip: Consume in moderation
Misconceptions About Meats
Meat is a great source of protein. However, we will need to take a closer look at the type of meats we consume as they can be filled with fats, turning them into a fat source instead of being a protein source.
Collagen
Some people eat pig skin and trotters for collagen. Our bodies actually produce our own collagen which can be found in our hearts, hair and more. However, our body produces less of it as we age. So how about we eat collagen to “top up” our collagen levels?
Although pig skin and trotters have collagen, they are actually mostly fats. Additionally, we cannot absorb the collagen molecules from the foods that we eat. It has to be digested first into amino acids being absorbed into our bodies. We can get these amino acids from other food sources too without eating collagen-rich foods. You don’t have to eat collagen-rich foods for your body to create collagen. Just consume sufficient protein.
Tip: Consume lean sources of protein instead to get the same effect. Try to slow down the loss of collagen by living a healthier lifestyle (quit smoking and alcohol, have enough sleep and a healthy diet).
Processed & Hotpot Meats
Having a side of processed meats and some hotpot meats should not count toward your protein intake. Processed meats like bacon, luncheon meat and sausages and fatty hotpot meats like pork belly have a high-fat content and low protein content. They taste delicious but to consume enough protein via these meats, your intake of fats would be too high.
Tip: Treat fattier cuts of meats as a fat source instead of protein. Choose leaner cuts of meat like chicken and pork collar. Avoid processed meats.
Misconceptions About Drinks
We know that water is the superior beverage but there are also some drinks that might seem healthy at first glance when they actually aren’t as healthy as we thought.
Isotonic Sports Drinks
The truth is most of us don’t train hard enough to need an isotonic sports drink to “hydrate ourselves” and “replenish lost electrolytes”. There is enough salt in our diet and we can just drink water for hydration. Some sports drinks are also filled with sugar with equivalent amounts of sugar to carbonated drinks.
Tip: Choose a sports drink that has a zero-sugar version or save your money and just drink water.
Plant-based Milk
For the lactose-intolerant, vegan/vegetarian and environmentalist, the rise of plant-based milk is great. They might look like milk but their nutritional content can be very different depending on the type of milk. For example, the recently popular oat milk has a lower protein content compared to milk and other plant-based milk like pea or soy milk. Plant-based milk can also be lower in micronutrients like calcium and vitamin B12 as compared to cow’s milk.
Tip: Plant-based milk can replace cow’s milk functionality in foods but it cannot replace cow’s milk nutritionally. Read nutrition information carefully and make up for the potential lack of protein and other nutrients from other food sources. We can also choose plant-based milk that is enriched with nutrients that are missing typically.
Fruit Juices
As mentioned under fruits, fruit juices are much easier to consume as compared to eating whole fruits. A glass of orange juice contains the juice of 4 – 5 whole oranges without most of the pulp and fibre. You can drink 1 – 2 glasses of orange juice easily but eating 5 – 10 oranges is competitive eating territory. There are 12 grams of sugar in an orange while there is 21g of sugar in a glass of orange juice. There is more sugar in a glass of orange juice (21g) than in a can of reduced-sugar coke (11g).
Tip: Eat whole fruits instead of drinking fruit juices. Infuse water with fruit slices to give water a hint of fruitiness.
Red Wine
Red wine is said to have antioxidant properties. The antioxidant properties come from a compound called polyphenols. There is little evidence that drinking red wine is good for the heart. Instead, the health benefits are due to the population drinking red wine being generally better off, better educated and having a less sedentary lifestyle. Instead of it being good for you, drinking alcohol is linked to an increased risk of cancer and liver failure. The health costs of drinking alcohol outweigh the health benefits. It’s like eating durian for its fibre content.
Tip: Avoid drinking alcohol if possible or else set aside the proper serving size (stop at one glass) to prevent overdrinking. Eat foods rich in polyphenols like dark chocolate and berries instead if you are that concerned about your need for antioxidants.
Creamer
Not technically a drink but creamers are added to drinks. Do you know that they are not made from milk? I only realised this after watching a random video on YouTube talking about bubble tea. There is bubble tea that is made with fresh milk and there are those that are made with creamer.
Creamer is a white powder and adds a milky texture to drinks. I did not think to question my assumption that creamers are milk-based. It is not in my imagination that creamer can be made from stuff that is not milk. Creamer is actually made with vegetable oil instead of milk.
Tip: Use fresh milk to prepare your drinks instead of using creamers.
Refreshing Sour Drinks
Sick of creamy, sugary, fattening drinks? How about a refreshing citrusy fruity drink instead? It doesn’t taste sweet so it must be healthy right? Wrong.
These citrusy drinks are full of sugar and might even contain more sugar than sweet drinks. To make these citrusy drinks more palatable, more sugar than normal is usually added. Without the additional sugar, the tartness will not be acceptable to most people. Go squeeze a lemon into your water and taste the difference between that and the citrusy drinks outside.
Tip: Place citrus slices or squeeze them into your water instead.
Other Misconceptions About Foods
Here are other misconceptions about foods.
Vegetarian Food
Ever heard someone say “Wa, eat so healthy ah?” when you are consuming vegetarian food? Maybe you are guilty of it yourself. Maybe because they think that it is filled with vegetables and there is no meat, therefore making it healthy.
The common vegetarian food that we see at hawker centres is vegetarian beehoon with side dishes we can order. The side dishes are usually oily, deep-fried and/or processed.
Even at vegetarian restaurants, the food is usually prepared in the same way as in non-vegetarian restaurants, with the only difference between the absence of animal products.
Tip: Not all vegetarian food is healthy and all non-vegetarian food is unhealthy. Picking the right dishes is key. Avoid deep-fried and processed foods and keep to whole foods.
Organic Foods
Organic foods might have fewer pesticides and antibiotics than non-organic food, but that is all to it. They are nutritionally similar. The cooking method is more important. A deep-fried piece of organic food is not healthier than its non-organic counterpart.
There are also many different definitions of organic foods which all mean very different things. Organic foods can also contain high sugar, salt, fat and calories.
- 100% Organic
- Organic
- Made With Organic
- Organic Ingredients
Tip: Wash your produce properly. Consume a variety of foods to minimize exposure to the same pesticides used.
Sushi
Some of us have the impression that Sushi is healthy. There is fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids and are usually made with whole ingredients. However, some varieties include a lot of mayonnaise and processed and deep-fried ingredients. Additionally, sushi rice also has added sugar and salt. Additionally, we can be quite liberal with the soy sauce too, increasing our sodium intake.
It can also be easy to overeat sushi as they go down so easily and each sushi is bitesize. Each sushi is about 50 – 80 calories depending on the ingredients. According to a survey, individuals eat 15 – 20 pieces of sushi on average. This is about 1,000 calories just in a meal.
Tip: Stick to sushi that has whole ingredients with minimal sauce and processing. Control portions.
Olive Oil & Other Healthy Oils
Although olive oils and other oils are a rich source of monounsaturated fats which can lower our bad cholesterol levels, they are still fats. A tablespoon of any oil is about 135 calories which can stack up fast. We should only consume about 25% -30% of our daily calories from fats. This is only about 3 tablespoons for females and 4 tablespoons for males. If you exclude natural occurring fats in meats and fish, there is not much quota left for added oils.
Tip: Consume in moderation.
Highlighting Benefits On Packaging
You must have seen “Low Fat” or “No Cholesterol” on products. Companies like to highlight the benefits of their product on the packaging. They are not lying, but they can be misleading to the unsuspecting consumer.
For “Low Fat” yoghurt, they might add additional sugar to maintain consistency and taste, resulting in the product having more sugar than normal versions of the product.
For products with “No Cholesterol”, do you know that only animal-based products have cholesterol in them? Plant-based products like peanut butter or vegetable oil do not contain cholesterol. It’s like saying there is no sugar and fats in mineral water. They are technically not lying but it is very misleading.
High-fibre products might have high fibre, but they might also include added oils and sugar which does not make them healthy anymore.
Tip: Learn how to read nutritional labels.
Tips To Eat Healthier
Here are some tips to improve your diet
- Keep to whole foods and avoid processed foods
- Learn to read nutritional labels to know what you are eating
- Avoid sauces and dressings. If possible, have it on the side and use it sparingly
- Choose acidic dressings over creamy dressing
- Prioritize cooking methods as follows. Steam > boil > grill/air fry > stew/stir fry > deep fry
- Eat out less
- Avoid eating snacks straight out of the bag. Take out an acceptable serving and only consume that.
- Don’t have to skip all unhealthy foods. It creates huge cravings and you will binge once you get stressed or depressed and lose self-control.
- Eating in moderation. Eat too much healthy food and gain weight. Eat less unhealthy food and you won’t gain weight.
TL, DR
Here is a list of common misconceptions about food that some of us might have. There are some assumptions that we have that are false. It is important to learn how to read nutritional labels and know what are we actually consuming. Moderation is also key to making sure we don’t overconsume a certain food, even if they are good for us.
If you can think of any other common misconceptions, do drop a comment and send me an email at consumelesslife@gmail.com.
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