Somos FCC - Nº11

Eating is the voluntary act by which we choose food. This generates a clear interest in society not only for its relationship with health, but also for what it repre- sents in our social, cultural and family life. As it is something that we do daily, almost automatically, we all have an opinion about food, which means that we are exposed to a large volume of information, which in many cases can question some consolidated food practices, creating doubts about food: these are the food myths. Bread, pasta, rice, legumes and potatoes are fattening. There are no foods that make us fat or make us to lose weight because the balance between what we eat and what we spend is one of the basic keys to body weight. Foods rich in carbohydrates, such as bread, legumes, pasta, rice and potatoes, are a sour- Food myths legends and ce of energy and provide vitamins, minerals and fibre (especially whole grains) as well as high quality pro- tein in the case of legumes. The caloric contribution of dishes based on these foods depends on how and with what we cook or consume them, and the amount and frequency with which we eat them. For example, a baked potato has about 175 kcal, while fried potatoes provides 500 kcal. Are potatoes fattening or does it have to do with the way we cook them. The same goes for bread (and the foods that go with it) and pasta and legumes (and the different types of sauce or ingredients we use). Therefore, we must include them in our daily diet but we should con- trol what we use to accompany them and the number and size of the portions. Whole-grain breads and whole-grain cereals are low in calories. The difference between cereals or whole grains and refined, is not in the calories they provide, but in the amount of certain nutrients such as fibre, vitamins and minerals, in addition to other bioactive substan- ces. Because of this, whole-grain breads and cereals are a healthier and more nutritious option, but, in no way can we consider them light food or low in calories. This is why it is necessary to adapt the number of servings and their size according to our needs. Mo- reover, there are breakfast cereals which, even thou- gh they are whole-grain, have significant amounts of added sugar and/fats. The fruit should be eaten on an empty stomach or between meals, and not for dessert. This myth is based on the fact that the fruit after ea- ting would ferment in the stomach and its nutrients would not be taken advantage of, its sugar would become fat, besides making digestion difficult. This rule is present in many miracle diets, but there is no scientific basis to support this practice because foods Recommendations of the Spanish Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics W E L L N E S S W E L L N E S S 36