5 food myths debunked — with the real truth

Is agave really better than white sugar? Will cleansing help my body detoxify? We all hunger for nutrition advice, but not all the advice you hear is worth believing. Here are the truths behind five common nutrition myths:

Processed meat causes cancer.

Remember last year’s scary headline? “World Health Organization Says Processed Meat Causes Cancer.” Turns out, the science was not as dire as the headline made it sound.

The WHO report said that eating 50 grams of processed meat every day (about one hot dog) increased the relative risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent. That’s not the same as “causing cancer.” To put it into perspective: The average person has a 5 percent risk of developing colon cancer; those who eat a lot a processed meat increase their risk to 6 percent.

Meats that are not processed, such as steak, veal and fresh pork (like pork chops or loin, not bacon or ham) are less strongly linked to colorectal cancer than processed meats.

So what does this mean for your dinner plate? The American Institute for Cancer Research suggests avoiding processed meat and limiting red meat to no more than 18 ounces (about three 6-ounce servings) per week. Steaks and pork chops are better choices than sausages, deli meats or bacon.

Natural sweeteners are better than regular sugar.

Let’s face it: If you bake cookies using a cup of sugar, it really doesn’t matter what type you use if you eat all of the cookies, right? Whether it’s date sugar, agave or evaporated cane juice, when it comes to sugars, the quantity you consume matters more than the type.

Guidelines recommend no more than six teaspoons (for women) to nine teaspoons (for men) of any type of added sugar daily. Higher consumption is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

Maybe you prefer coconut sugar because it’s less refined or may cause less of an insulin spike than white sugar. That’s fine, but you still need to watch portion size. Despite the different colors, textures and flavors, all sugars contain a similar number of calories (10 to 20 per teaspoon) but scant amounts of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Enjoy a spoonful in your coffee or in that bite of dessert, but don’t believe that any sugar is a health food.

Sea salt is healthier than table salt.

Much like natural sugars, the health halo over sea salt is also undeserved. Although it’s often marketed for its content of trace minerals, like copper and manganese, they’re in such tiny quantities that they contribute very little to the body. Plus, we already get enough of these nutrients from the foods we eat daily.

The truth is that sea salt and table salt contain the same amount of sodium by weight, and that’s the nutrient of most concern. Consumed in excess (more than 2,300 milligrams a day), sodium may put you at higher risk of stroke, kidney disease and high blood pressure.

Quinoa is super-high in protein.

Quinoa is often listed alongside poultry and meat as a stellar source of protein. Actually, quinoa has eight grams of protein per cup, but a three-ounce serving of meat or poultry has around 25 grams of protein — hardly comparable.

The confusion lies in the terminology. Quick science lesson: Protein is made up of smaller units called amino acids. A “complete” protein contains all nine essential amino acids — and quinoa is one of relatively few plant-based foods in this category. But being a complete protein isn’t the same as being high in protein.

Cleansing helps remove toxins from the body.

Cleansing involves using laxatives, juices or herbal remedies to remove “toxins” from the body to accelerate weight loss or boost energy. But there is little scientific research on the effectiveness of cleansing, simply because most “detox diets” don’t identify the specific toxins they aim to remove.