Food myths debunked
Jul 16, 2003
SPINACH, our parents would have us believe, is the best source of iron. This myth is partly due to a typing error by a food analyst
SPINACH, our parents would have us believe, is the best source of iron. This myth is partly due to a typing error by a food analyst who, many years ago, put a decimal point in the wrong place when listing iron content, resulting in a tenfold overestimation.
In fact, spinach has only 1.7mg per 100g, whereas kale (sukuma wiki) has 2mg. The other problem is that spinach contains oxalic acid, which actually leaches iron out of the system. Says Brigid McKevith,a nutrition scientist.
*******
Fruit we are told should be at the end of a meal. But according to Ian Marber, founder of the Food Doctor, the sugars from a post-prandial piece of fruit can ferment in the colon while your main meal is being digested. This can lead to “bloating and wind.†Fruit, Marber says, is better eaten alone, separate from your main meal.
*******
‘Sealing in’ the flavour of meat: This is what people think they are doing when they are simply browning meat for a casserole or ‘locking in,’ all those juices and flavour. The surface caramelisation you get from frying the meat comes from the ‘Maillard reaction.’ This is caused by a reaction between carbohydrates and proteins on the meat surface. But there’s no ‘sealing,’ and locking in of flavour going on – all that sizzling is in fact the water being driven out and boiling off on the pan.
Guardian
In fact, spinach has only 1.7mg per 100g, whereas kale (sukuma wiki) has 2mg. The other problem is that spinach contains oxalic acid, which actually leaches iron out of the system. Says Brigid McKevith,a nutrition scientist.
*******
Fruit we are told should be at the end of a meal. But according to Ian Marber, founder of the Food Doctor, the sugars from a post-prandial piece of fruit can ferment in the colon while your main meal is being digested. This can lead to “bloating and wind.†Fruit, Marber says, is better eaten alone, separate from your main meal.
*******
‘Sealing in’ the flavour of meat: This is what people think they are doing when they are simply browning meat for a casserole or ‘locking in,’ all those juices and flavour. The surface caramelisation you get from frying the meat comes from the ‘Maillard reaction.’ This is caused by a reaction between carbohydrates and proteins on the meat surface. But there’s no ‘sealing,’ and locking in of flavour going on – all that sizzling is in fact the water being driven out and boiling off on the pan.
Guardian