Myth busting

Food myths debunked by chemist and food advocate Yvette d’Entremont:

If a third-grader can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it! Not true. “We don’t ask third-graders for advice on nuclear physics, driving, politics or music. Could somebody explain when they became treasure troves of dietary information?” says d’Entremont.

GMOs are bad. Sorry. “One of the reasons that this rumour has so readily sprouted up is that foods that contain products derived from GMOs are often highly caloric and heavily processed. However, the process by which we genetically modify a crop has not been shown to cause harm to the crop, the environment, the animals who eat it as feed or humans, either short or long term,”says Scibabe, adding GM crops in general reduce the use of pesticides.

Superfoods are scientifically proven. No, she says, superfoods are not a thing —“Food is food and none of it comes with a bright red cape.” There’s no consensus on what foods are super foods, it’s just a marketing term and there is no science to it.

Certain foods have“negative” calories: Not true. “No foods take more calories to digest than the foods actually contain.”

You need a detox for health. No! Your body is detoxing all the time, stresses Scibabe.“Your body’s own natural detox system is called your liver, kidneys and, of course, your colon.”

Carbs are bad. Nope. All the macronutrients have their place and carbs are a great source of fuel, says d’Entremont.