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    Food Folklore: Tales and Truths About What We Eat
    Food Folklore: Tales and Truths About What We Eat
    Food Folklore: Tales and Truths About What We Eat
    Ebook161 pages1 hour

    Food Folklore: Tales and Truths About What We Eat

    By The American Dietetic Association

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    Separate food facts from fiction with this handy guide from America's nutrition experts. Do carbohydrates cause weight gain? Will taking zinc help you recover faster from a cold? Does extra protein make muscles stronger? As long as people want quick and easy solutions to health concerns, food folklore will continue to be a part of our culture. But what are the facts, and what are the tall tales? In this fun and informative book, The American Dietetic Association reveals which commonly-held beliefs about food can be supported by science, and which are just myths. You'll find out about foods that really do have health benefits, and learn which popular practices might actually be harmful. Before you accept the latest health or nutrition advice or spend money on ineffective remedies, consult this unique resource from the experts at the ADA.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTurner Publishing Company
    Release dateJan 1, 1999
    ISBN9781620459331
    Food Folklore: Tales and Truths About What We Eat

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      Book preview

      Food Folklore - The American Dietetic Association

      Food Folklore

      Tales and Truths About What We Eat

      Written for

      The American Dietetic Association

      by Roberta Larson Duyff

      MS, RD, CFCS

      This book is printed on acid-free paper.

      Copyright © 1999 by The American Dietetic Association. All rights reserved

      Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

      Published simultaneously in Canada.

      Previously published by CHRONIMED Publishing.

      No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4744. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158-0012, (212) 850-6011, fax (212) 850-6008, E-Mail: PERMREQ@WILEY.COM.

      The information contained in this book is not intended to serve as a replacement for professional medical advice. Any use of the information in this book is at the reader’s discretion. The author and the publisher specifically disclaim any and all liability arising directly or indirectly from the use or application of any information contained in this book. A health care professional should be consulted regarding your specific situation.

      ISBN 0-471-34716-7

      Printed in the United States of America

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      NOTICE: CONSULT A HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL Readers are advised to seek the guidance of a licensed physician or health care professional before making changes in health care regimens, since each individual case or need may vary. This book is intended for informational purposes only and is not for use as an alternative to appropriate medical care. While every effort has been made to ensure that the information is the most current available, new research findings, being released with increasing frequency, may invalidate some data.

      Food Folklore

      Tales and Truths About What We Eat

      Written for The American Dietetic Association by

      Roberta Larson Duyff, MS, RD, CFCS

      Duyff Associates

      St. Louis, Missouri

      The American Dietetic Association Reviewers:

      Barbara Allen, MS, RD

      Carolee Bildsten, RD

      National Center for Nutrition and Dietetics

      Chicago, Illinois

      Pamela Goyan Kittler, MS

      Four Winds Food Specialists

      Sunnyvale, California

      Libby Mills, MS, RD

      Diamond Crystal Specialty Foods, Inc.

      Wilmington, Massachusetts

      Kathryn P. Sucher, ScD, RD

      San Jose State University

      San Jose, California

      Technical Editor:

      Betsy Hornick, MS, RD

      The American Dietetic Association

      Chicago, Illinois

      The American dietetic association is the largest group of food and health professionals in the world. As the advocate of the profession, the ADA serves the public by promoting optimal nutrition, health, and well-being.

      For expert answers to your nutrition questions, call the ADA/National Center for Nutrition and Dietetics Hot Line at (900) 225-5267. To listen to recorded messages or obtain a referral to a registered dietitian (RD) in your area, call (800) 366-1655. Visit the ADA’s Website at www.eatright.org.

      Contributors

      We thank the following members of The American Dietetic Association for their contributions of common foodlore: Trudy Alexander, Barbara Anderson, Karen M. Baldacci, Erin DeSimone, Deanne Dolnick, Martha A. Erickson, Trudy Fedora, Jean Fischer, Lorri Fishman, Mary C. Friesz, Martha Grodrian, Shannon Helfert, Alice Henneman, Dorothy Humm, Barbara Ivens, Eliza Markidou, S. Mermelstein, Anne K. Milliken, Jennifer Nelson, Diane L. Olson, Kim Ouellette, Maureen Pestine, Jennifer Rauktis, Jaime Ruud, Jacalyn See, Lana Shepek, Cindy Silver, Lesley Stanford, Catherine Stein, E. Sturner, Cheryl Sullivan, Nancy Teigen, Lisa Theroux, Deanne Troyer, Barbara Truitt, Myra Waits, Madelyn L. Wheeler, Frances Wilkinson, Susan M. Williams, Allison Wolters.

      Contents

      Introduction

      Aging and Longevity

      Alcoholic Beverages

      Anemia

      Appetite

      Arthritis

      Body Weight

      Bone Health

      Breast-Feeding

      Caffeine

      Calories

      Cancer

      Carbohydrates

      Child Feeding

      Chocolate

      Cholesterol in Food

      Colds and Flu

      Dairy Foods

      Dehydration

      Dental Health

      Depression

      Diabetes

      Dietary Supplements

      Digestion and Digestive Problems

      Eggs

      Energy

      Fast Food

      Fasting

      Fat

      Fertilizers and Pesticides

      Fiber

      Fingernails

      Fish and Seafood

      Fluids and Beverages

      Food Additives

      Food Allergies and Sensitivities

      Food Cravings

      Food Labeling

      Food Preparation

      Food Safety and Foodborne Illness

      Food Storage

      Fruit and Fruit Juice

      Grain Products

      Hair

      Headaches

      Health Foods

      Healthful Eating

      Heart Health

      Herbs and Herbal Remedies

      High Blood Pressure

      Hyperactivity

      Hypoglycemia

      Infant Feeding

      Irradiation

      Legumes

      Meal Skipping

      Meat

      Memory

      Microwave Cooking

      Minerals

      Muscles and Strength

      Nutrition Advice

      Nuts and Seeds

      Organic Foods

      Physical Activity

      Phytochemicals

      Poultry

      Pregnancy

      Processed Foods

      Productivity

      Protein

      Salt and Sodium

      Sex and Fertility

      Skin

      Sleep and Fatigue

      Snacks

      Spicy Foods

      Sports Nutrition

      Stress

      Sugar

      Taste and Flavor

      Vegetables

      Vegetarian Eating

      Vision

      Vitamins

      Weight Gain

      Weight Loss

      Women’s Health

      Yeast Infections

      Appendix: How to Spot Nutrition Misinformation

      References

      Index

      Introduction

      From the earliest days of recorded history about 10,000 years ago, people have tried to link food to health, energy, and vitality. No science existed to help our ancient ancestors. Instead they experimented. In time, they learned to identify poisonous plants from those that could nourish them—and to prepare foods they hunted.

      Through circumstance, and sometimes coincidence, people found their own ways to choose, prepare, and preserve foods as nourishment. They devised ideas about what and how food could make them sick. They endowed some foods and food practices with magical and ritualistic, as well as religious and symbolic, qualities. And so, foodlore, or beliefs, practices, and traditions about food, began.

      Some early recorded food beliefs suggested both health benefits for the living, as well as tranquillity and happiness for the deceased. Ancient Romans, such as Nero, ate leeks several days each month to clear their voices; other Romans ate lettuce to clear their senses; and some pressed juice from artichoke hearts as a lotion for restoring hair. At one time, Romans believed that the souls of their ancestors resided in beans, so beans were eaten at funerals. Oregano was offered to gladden the spirit of those who had passed on.

      Food and herbs were ascribed with medicinal qualities. Ancient Egyptians worshiped garlic, and they gave it to laborers to endow them with strength to build pyramids. At the same time, Greeks deplored garlic and compelled criminals to eat it as a way to purify themselves from crime.

      In time, flowers and fruits joined herbs and vegetables for medicinal purposes. Lily of the valley, now considered harmful, was powdered and used to treat earaches, headaches, and stroke. Tincture of rhubarb was advised for indigestion and colic; fresh snapdragon tops as a cure for jaundice.

      The basis of today’s nutrition science has roots in early Western medicine. More than 2,000 years ago, the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates linked disease to the physical qualities of food. Advice of moderation and variety, extolled by some Greek ancients, sounds remarkably similar to nutrition guidance given today. However, specific advice about food was far from scientific—and didn’t change much until nutrition began to emerge as a true science less than 200 years ago.

      During the same time period, Asian teaching added to the world’s foodlore.

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