http://www.realfarmacy.com/7-foods-t...ver-eat-again/
I read through this and wanted to facepalm at every point. The author threw around things like "disease in a box" and "causes diseases" and "artificial" at every single opportunity, but a few particular areas got my ire:
- By definition, white bread and refined flours in general are toxic for your body because they have been stripped of virtually all vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other important nutrients. Because of this, the body does not know how to properly digest and assimilate these so-called foods, which can lead to health problems. (their source: http://drlwilson.com/ARTICLES/BREAD.htm) lol
Since when did something lacking any particular nutritional value actually become toxic? When did something lacking vitamins suddenly become something the body isn't able to digest and lead to disease? Where is this tipping point where food magically becomes something the body can't digest properly? I understand why people should eschew bleached grains in favor of whole grains due to the speed of absorption, but it doesn't make them toxic, just less nutritionally valid.
- On top of this, microwaveable popcorn contains a chemical known as diacetyl that can actually destroy your lungs.
Not in this form it can't. Diacetyl is a compound produced naturally by fermentation and is found in alcohol and dairy products. This little tidbit of fear mongering comes from a misread study performed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Study) discussing ways to prevent lung disease in workers who have to breathe the chemical for all day, every day. Last time I checked, people to not snort popcorn for 10 hours a day (by the way, most microwavable popcorn producers no longer have diacetyl in their popcorn anyway).
- ...most frozen meals are little more than disease in a box, so avoid them in favor of fresh foods
Again, this is really being taken out of context. Even their source, at no point, says that frozen food is "disease in a box". There was only one part at the bottom that discusses Listeria contamination of Eggo Waffles in 2009 and a discussion of how supermarket freezers emit greenhouse gases, not the food itself. Their source merely points out that frozen "health" meals are usually low in calories, so low, in fact, that the fat calories take up a disproportionally large amount of the calories provided compared to a larger meal. In addition, they provide too little food overall for any one meal (as anyone who has actually tried to live on Healthy Choice meals can attest) and contain more sodium than you should want in a meal. Nowhere did they say that frozen meals are disease-causing nightmares.
While there is some truth to the statements the author makes (especially about nitrates), it amazes me that people can spout off so much misinformation so publicly and there are piles of people that just take it as gospel. They don't think critically about what they're reading and do some independent research. I had one friend already say they're "never going to have microwave popcorn again". I'm not saying that microwavable popcorn is amazing for you, but in moderation it won't have any effect on your health.
How do you guys feel about these kind of articles? Do you research the "facts" yourself, or do you repeat them to your friends and coworkers? Do you regularly share these on social sites like Facebook or do you debunk them instead?