粉碎12个食物谣言：从三秒规则到睡前能否吃芝士（一）

Almost half of us think food can only be frozen the day we buy it – and 38% think you can’t refreeze cooked meat.

我们当中有接近一半的人都认为食物只能在购买当天冷藏，38%的人则认为熟肉制品不宜冷藏。

According to a new poll for the Food Standards Agency (FSA), there is widespread confusion around the safety of frozen food as households waste the equivalent of about six meals a week. And it’s not just frozen food we get in a pickle about – more than two thirds of those surveyed by the FSA had thrown food away in the past month, including bread, fruit, vegetables and leftover meals which probably would have been fine.

食物标准局(FSA)最新的调查显示，人们普遍质疑冷冻食品的安全性，每户家庭平均每星期会浪费相当于6顿饭的冷藏食品。并不仅仅是冷冻食品陷入尴尬境地——超过三分之二的受访者在过去的一个月曾丢弃其他食物，包括面包，水果，蔬菜和一些本无碍健康的剩菜剩饭。

So, it seems, when it comes to food myths, we all could do with learning a few home truths. Here top nutritionist Juliette Kellow takes us through what’s really true when it comes to food no nos and what’s just an old wives’ tale...

看来我们是该揭露这些食物传言背后的真相了。在下文中，高级营养师朱丽叶·凯洛将带我们一起分辨盛传的食品传言中哪些是真禁忌，哪些只是无稽之谈。

1 MYTH: Eating celery burns more calories than you take in

传闻1：吃芹菜能帮助你燃烧比你所摄入的更多的卡路里。

TRUTH: Bad news for dieters: celery does not contain “negative” calories, meaning you won’t burn fat the more you eat.

真相：这对节食者来说也许是个噩耗，芹菜并不含有所谓的“负卡路里”，这意味着你吃再多的芹菜也于燃脂无益。

But, with just two calories per stalk and it being a good source of fibre, it’s a great snack to munch on if you’re trying to control your weight.

但是，芹菜每株只有2卡路里，同时富含植物纤维。如果你想控制体重的话，把它当成解馋的零嘴倒是个不错的主意。

2 MYTH: Frozen and canned fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than fresh ones

传闻2：冷冻或罐头果蔬与新鲜果蔬相比营养成分更少。

TRUTH: Fruit and veg that are to be canned or frozen are usually processed very quickly after they’ve been picked. This means they retain most of their vitamins and minerals. In contrast, many ‘fresh’ fruit and veg may have travelled long distances, been stored for some time, and then spent days on the supermarket shelves and in your kitchen, during which time, many nutrients such as vitamin C and folate (a B vitamin) will have been lost.

真相：事实上恰恰相反!工厂往往都在蔬果采摘后的极短时间内加工制成罐头或速冻果蔬。这意味着这些果蔬保留了大部分的维他命和矿物质。 而所谓的“新鲜”果蔬可能经过了长途运输，在仓库里储存了一段时间，又在超市货架上存置了几日，在你买回家后，又在厨房呆了些时日。等到你食用时，这些果蔬中的许多营养物质，诸如维生素C和叶酸(维生素B的一种)业已流失。

3 MYTH: Raw carrots are more nutritious than cooked ones

传闻3：生胡萝卜比熟胡萝卜更具营养。

TRUTH: Cooking actually increases carrots’ nutritional value because their tough cellular walls are broken down in the process, allowing the body better access to beta-carotene, which the body uses to make vitamin A.

真相：熟胡萝卜其实更有营养，这是因为高温有助于分解胡萝卜组织结构中坚韧的细胞壁。人体因此能够更好地摄取β-胡萝卜素，这种胡萝卜素对人体制造维生素A大有裨益。

Adding a little fat to them also helps the body to absorb beta-carotene, so roasting in a little olive oil is a great way to serve them.

此外，在烹饪胡萝卜时加点油脂也能够促进人体对β-胡萝卜素的吸收，所以烤胡萝卜时加点橄榄油是个不错的选择。

4 MYTH: Eggs should be avoided because of their high cholesterol content

传闻4：鸡蛋的胆固醇过高，不宜多食。

TRUTH: For years the humble egg has been considered a health risk due to its high cholesterol content – but health experts now know that the cholesterol in food has little impact on our blood cholesterol (unless we have a genetic condition that predisposes us to high cholesterol).

真相：长年以来，不起眼的鸡蛋因其过高的胆固醇而被人们认为存在健康风险。——但是健康专家现在发现，食物中的胆固醇对人体血液中胆固醇的影响微乎甚微。(除非我们的基因先天决定我们体内有极高的胆固醇)

Instead, it’s high intakes of saturated fats that increase the cholesterol in our blood, putting us at risk of heart disease.

事实上，过度摄取饱和脂肪酸才会增加人体血液中的胆固醇含量，同时也会提高患心脏病的风险。

Eggs are also a good source of inexpensive, high quality protein – great if you’re a vegetarian – as well as many other nutrients including zinc, iron and vitamin D.

物美价廉的鸡蛋富含优质蛋白，这对素食主义者来说无疑是个福音，同时鸡蛋里面还含有许多其它营养元素，例如锌、铁和维生素D。

5 MYTH: Feed a cold, starve a fever

传闻5：感冒宜食，发烧宜饿。

TRUTH: There’s no medical reason to limit foods when you’re feverish – but you might have less of an appetite meaning you can’t tolerate many foods. The raised temperature with a fever actually increases your metabolic rate, which burns more calories, so it actually becomes more important to take in extra calories.

真相：没有任何医疗证据表明发烧时需要控制饮食——当然你可能因食欲不振而无法下咽过多食物。实际上，上升的体温提高了人体的代谢率，从而让人体燃烧了比平常更多的卡路里，因此及时摄取额外的卡路里反而是十分必要的。

The priority though should be making sure you drink plenty – all the sweating that goes with a fever means your losing more fluid than normal and so can quickly become dehydrated.

当然，在发烧时，最重要的是要多喝水——发烧带来的一场大汗意味着你比平时流失掉了更多的水分，很容易就会缺水。

6 MYTH: Gluten free foods are healthier

传闻6：不含麸质的食物更健康。

TRUTH: Unless you have coeliac disease (just 1% of the population) there is no need to reach for the pricey gluten-free options in the supermarket.

真相：除非你得了乳糜泄(对麸质不耐受引起小肠粘膜病变为特征的一种原发性吸收不良综合征，全球只有1%的人患有此症)，否则你没必要在超市购买昂贵的无麸质食品。

In fact, a lot of gluten-free products are much higher in fat, salt and sugar.

事实上，市面上许多无麸质食品往往在脂肪、盐分和糖分上较普通食品更高。

Meanwhile, if you think you may have the condition, giving up gluten will simply make it much harder for you to get a proper diagnosis.

同时，要是你怀疑自己是乳糜泄患者，完全放弃麸质食物只会让你更难得到正确诊断。