Food Myths

Did ya hear…? Did you know…..?

So much of our information has been spread through informal processes and over the last 20 years, through places on the Internet that may or may not really know the deal. Because of this, myths develop and persist. For a number of myths you can check certain sites to see if they are urban legends. But for food related myths?

Luckily I’m here and have my own questionable source to quote, Mental Floss. They recently tackled 8 food myths.

1. WHITE MEAT IS HEALTHIER THAN DARK MEAT – White meat is lower in calories, but dark meat generally has better nutrients. (Plus, it tastes much better!)
2. WASHING RAW MEAT BEFORE COOKING GETS RID OF BACTERIA – If you want to spread bacteria all around your sink, wash your raw chicken. The only way to kill the bacteria is through certain chemicals (rendering your meat inedible) or through heat (i.e. cooking).
3. EATING LATE AT NIGHT LEADS TO WEIGHT GAIN – A Twinkie has 135 calories. It has those calories at noon. It has them at 5PM. It has them at 11PM. You know what? It has them at 3AM too.
4. AVOIDING GLUTEN HAS HEALTH BENEFITS – You may be one of the few that has gluten allergies and if you do, avoid the stuff. If you don’t, eliminating gluten does not provide health benefits per se, but some of the gluten-filled foods you are now avoiding may have been bad for you for other reasons (empty calories, etc…)
5. ALL PRESERVATIVES ARE BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH  – Formaldehyde? Bad. Salt? Essential to a properly functioning body. Not all preservatives are bad, even if they have four or more syllables.
6. BROWN EGGS ARE HEALTHIER – Some species of chickens lay white eggs. Some lay brown. No difference. Chicken diet is a bigger determinant of the health of the egg.
7. “MULTIGRAIN” AND “WHOLE GRAIN” ARE INTERCHANGEABLE TERMS – Multi means more than one. Whole means the entire grain is used, not just certain elements of it.
8. MICROWAVING YOUR FOOD REDUCES ITS NUTRITIONAL VALUE – Microwaves excite the atoms in your food, heating it up. A roaring fire excites the atoms in your food, heating it up. Nuff said.

Check out the Mental Floss article here.

Douglas’ Summer Potato Salad

I don’t know Doug but his recipe for potato salad is pretty good.

Your typical potato salad ingredients.

Boil the taters.

Delicious!

Douglas’ Summer Potato Salad

Ingredients:

3 lbs red potatoes
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup dijon mustard
2 stalks fresh celery with leaves
1/2 white or yellow onion
3 fresh green scallions
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 fist full kosher salt
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh thyme leaves

Directions:

Quarter and boil the red potatoes for about 20 minutes, until tender to a fork or paring knife.

Finely chop the celery, onion, scallions, and thyme leaves, and mix together with mayonnaise and mustard in large mixing bowl. Add salt, pepper and paprika.

When potatoes are cool to the touch, dress them in the mixture and cover. Let ingredients set up together for an hour. Eat.

Source: http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/05/30/best-potato-salad/