There are tons of popular myths out there circulating like rumors in the world—so much so that there’s even a show in the U.S. testing these myths called MythBusters. The show covers all sorts of myths, such as whether bulls in china shops are actually destructive (they’re not) to whether roundabouts are more efficient than 4-way stops (they are), but this article is dedicated purely to myths based on food.
Bright Side gathered some of the most widely-known beliefs about food prep and cooking that had already been debunked and compiled some of the most popular into the following graphics. The information following the graphics is taken from the studies themselves that tested and debunked these myths, proving that you should take everything you hear with a grain of salt. Scroll through the list to see what myth you’ve been blindly following for years.
A study conducted by UC Davis aimed at finding a way to make wooden cutting boards as sanitary as plastic cutting boards discovered that plastic boards are actually more prone to accumulating bacteria than any wood. When wood got bacteria caught in its innards, the researchers were only able to find any bacteria when the boards were cut open, and the bacteria died off rather than multiplied.
Chemists have said that the only way for salted water to boil faster than pure fresh water is if the amount of salt in the water exceeds 20 percent, which is extremely salty.
Researchers agree: if you eat a ton of eggs every single day, yes, your cholesterol will likely increase. But if you eat just one egg per day, it can be quite beneficial to your health without raising your cholesterol.
Aluminum cookware only accounts for a small amount of the aluminum that humans are exposed to in their lifetime, and the only studies that were able to link aluminum exposure to Alzheimer’s were conducted on animals with a high propensity for obtaining aluminum poisoning.
This is widely believed by consumers, and this “myth” is a bit convoluted, but energy drinks technically do not boost your energy, it’s the concentrated sugar and caffeine in the drinks that make you jittery. Energy drinks do not boost your performance or endurance, but their ingredients help lower the threshold of exertion needed for an exercise.
Mounting research has suggested that if you use olive or sunflower oil when frying food then your chances of having a major heart attack does not increase.
Whether you eat 2,000 calories of rice in one sitting or spread out into small portions throughout the day, it has a similar effect on the body and tricks the consumer into thinking they have portion control.
Vitamin C has generally been found to have no effect on warding off colds or the flu, especially not once the illness has started. Taking a high dosage of vitamin C everyday might cut the duration of the cold for adults by about 8%.
Previous studies from decades ago showed that extra heartbeats, which can be caused by caffeine, can lead to heart disease or failure. However, studies since then have shown that regular consumption of caffeine is not a cause of heart problems and that the previous studies did not take into account people that already had a propensity for extra heartbeats.
It turns out that cooked carrots are actually better for you because cooking the vegetables helps release pockets of beta-carotene; when you eat them raw, you only get about 3% of the good-for-you substance, but when you cook them you get close to 40%.
Removing the skin from chicken only cuts about 50 calories from your 12-ounce bone-in chicken breast. Though you technically cut calories, it’s minuscule and, if you have a few calories to spare for the day, you can enjoy the crispy goodness of the chicken.
It’s not the carbonation that’s bad for your health, it’s what in the particular drinks that can be bad for you. If you drink seltzer water that’s sodium-free with a slice of lemon or lime, this can help quench hunger in a healthy way and doesn’t have adverse health effects. However, if you drink a soda or energy drink that’s loaded with sugar, this can lead to weight gain and diabetes if enjoyed regularly.
Spices aren’t capable of causing ulcers, but they can definitely exacerbate an irritable bowel, which mimics an ulcer.
Studies have shown that heavy drinkers have the same amount of brain cells that non-drinkers do, although alcoholics were shown to have damaged dendrites, which are the endings of nerve cells that deliver messages to the cell.
