Questions tagged [nutrition]
Use this tag for claims regarding the way we eat, and the effects eating has on our bodies.
685
questions
160
votes
4
answers
26k
views
Is bread bad for ducks?
This image has being going around (e.g. Facebook with a message attributed to The Friends of Bushy and Home Parks:
Transcript:
Please don't kill us with bread!
Bread is actually a danger to us ducks ...
- 861
95
votes
2
answers
9k
views
Is a vegetarian (vegan) diet more healthy?
According to Wikipedia,
Vegetarians tend to have lower body mass index, lower levels of cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and less incidence of heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, renal ...
79
votes
2
answers
12k
views
Is drinking water during a meal bad for you?
I have heard that it will "wash away the nutrients", that it dilutes stomach acid and all kinds of things. Is this just an old-wives tale?
- 4,818
79
votes
1
answer
13k
views
Does milk make your bones stronger?
It's a common notion that milk makes bones stronger; milk contains calcium and bones contain calcium. But obviously it's not the case that calcium ingested is immediately deposited into bones. In fact,...
- 918
75
votes
3
answers
18k
views
Does microwaving food create particles that are not created when warming food by conventional means?
I was reading "Szlachetne Zdrowie" (No 7/2019) which is a Polish health magazine released by "Nasz Dziennik", which is a Catholic, very conservative newspaper of questionable quality. I read the ...
- 1,363
69
votes
1
answer
20k
views
Is food cooked in a microwave oven harmful for the health?
A colleague of mine just made a comment about cooking food in a microwave oven. According to him it is considered to be harmful to one's health. Is it true?
- 1,109
67
votes
1
answer
10k
views
Does having late or heavy dinner make you fat?
Of course, taking calories in general tends to make one fat. My question is whether, relatively speaking, having heavy dinner has more probability of making you fat than, say, heavy lunch. And whether ...
- 1,280
61
votes
1
answer
12k
views
Does the cardboard box cost more than the corn in cornflakes?
In today's edition of CNN Student News (transcript), devoted to the topic "breakfast cereal", the following claim was made:
Let`s start with the cereal itself. At its core, cereal is actually the ...
- 521
60
votes
4
answers
7k
views
Do you eat a certain number of spiders whilst you sleep?
Over the course of your life time, the average person eats X spider/insects/whatever whilst they are sleeping.
X tends to vary according to who you ask. Is this just an urban legend?
- 4,818
59
votes
5
answers
17k
views
Does Condensed Milk Contain Milk?
This may seem like an idiotic question, but Indonesians officials say that condensed milk does not contain milk.
With no milk at all, sweetened condensed milk has managed to cheat those people who ...
user4951
58
votes
3
answers
8k
views
Does burning your food increase your risk of getting cancer?
About a year ago I heard that burning your food can lead to an increased risk of getting cancer. The explanation was that the burned portion of the food was carcinogenic. The Carbon that would be ...
- 683
57
votes
1
answer
11k
views
Do hot peppers kill cancer?
While browsing Health.SE, I came across an answer that makes the following claim:
A 2007 study by Nottingham University2 found that spicy foods can help kill cancer cells. Capsaicin, which is what ...
- 861
54
votes
4
answers
12k
views
How bitter is Robert Lustig's "Bitter Truth" about sugar?
A couple of months ago I watched the talk "Sugar: The Bitter Truth" by endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig on YouTube. The overall tone of the talk raised a couple of red flags; it sounded a little too ...
- 835
54
votes
6
answers
5k
views
Do "probiotics" have health benefits?
One of the only things that natural-food aficionados and food products mega-corporations agree on is that "probiotics" are good for you. I'm wondering if there is any reliable evidence to ...
- 643
52
votes
2
answers
22k
views
Are human fetal cells used to produce Pepsi?
A friend just came over and apparently Pepsi is made from people.
Or, more specifically:
The aborted human fetal cell line is known as “HEK-293,” and it is used to see how the human palate will react ...
- 1,871
50
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Does the artificial sweetener aspartame cause cancer?
I've often heard that the artificial sweetener aspartame causes cancer.
Is it true?
- 1,461
50
votes
2
answers
15k
views
Does the "sugar high" exist at all?
I've heard numerous times that eating1 a high quantity of sugar will give you a "sugar high" or "sugar buzz"
The high one gets after consuming large amounts of sugar. Also called a "sugar rush." ...
- 78.6k
49
votes
3
answers
45k
views
Did A&W customers think 1/3 pound burger patties weigh less than 1/4 pound ones?
This Facebook post by 9gag.com makes the claim that customers of A&W thought that A&W's 1/3 pound burgers weighed less than McDonald's 1/4 pound burgers, and preferred to buy the McDonald's ...
- 18.7k
48
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Are vegetables good for me?
From a young age, most people are told that vegetables are really good for you and you must eat them...
But why? If I eat loads of vegetables for a week, and then the next week I eat nothing but ...
- 583
46
votes
2
answers
107k
views
Does Red Bull Energy Drink contain sperm from a bull?
I heard this claim and burst into laughter assuming it was a joke, but the person said he was being serious.
Is this true that Red Bull contains bull's sperm?
- 2,992
45
votes
2
answers
22k
views
Does honey ever go bad?
I have read that honey never spoils. Is this claim true? If so, what is it about honey that can cause it to remain edible for thousands of years?
- 1,727
45
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Is Genetically Modified food safe to consume?
What's the truth surrounding the popular idea that genetically modified food is dangerous to consume?
There's entire websites and institutions dedicated to popularizing the alleged dangers of eating ...
- 2,205
43
votes
5
answers
5k
views
Is drinking raw milk more dangerous than drinking pasteurized milk?
In Australia "raw milk", more commonly known as un-pasteurised milk, is mostly illegal for human consumption, except in one state, I do believe. The consensus appears to be that pasteurising the milk ...
43
votes
1
answer
21k
views
Did Elvis consume 100,000 calories a day at the end of his life?
This ABC Science article by Dr Karl S. Kruszelnicki claims
Before he died, Elvis was eating about 100,000 calories per day!
...
The basic element of Elvis' daily food intake was a 30-cm long ...
42
votes
2
answers
7k
views
What's wrong with processed food?
Jamie Oliver always talks about how processed food is awful, and we should stop eating it.
By processed food he means food which is pre-prepared and contains additives. He instead insists that food ...
- 3,117
41
votes
3
answers
12k
views
Is very young lamb poisonous?
I spotted an article on BBC news (repeated on several other news aggregators) about a farmer who had had his lambs stolen.
There was a very specific warning given:
PSNI Chief Inspector Graham ...
- 1,830
41
votes
1
answer
12k
views
Does vegetarian sweat smell better?
I've read this article online in a Belgian newspaper (in Dutch): Weet wat je zweet: deze 7 dingen wist je nog niet over zweten — HLN.
Number 4 is saying that vegetarian sweat smells better then non ...
- 503
41
votes
1
answer
31k
views
Did removing one olive lead to an airline saving thousands of dollars?
Quite a common story that gets brought up around airports or business meetings when someone wants to provide a famous example of small change for massive savings is the olive story.
Apparently there ...
- 18.1k
40
votes
3
answers
12k
views
Does drinking distilled water remove needed minerals from your body?
Claim:
Drinking distilled water can actually remove needed minerals from the body, due the lack of minerals in the water, and therefore do damage to the body.
I have a hard time accepting this due ...
- 599
40
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Is monosodium glutamate (MSG) bad for you?
Anecdotal evidence blames the consumption of MSG for several symptoms such as headache, nausea, weakness, heart palpitations etc. Most migraine literature cites MSG as a potential trigger (example) ...
- 501
40
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Is eating eggs bad for me?
I read yesterday that a single egg contains 70% of my daily cholesterol. I will frequently cook myself an omlette for lunch with 2-3 eggs. Is this unhealthy if I do it more than once a week?
- 4,995
40
votes
1
answer
13k
views
Is it beneficial to drink alkaline water (aka Kangen water)?
At a friend's house the other day, some sort of contraption had appeared near the sink since the last time I had been there. It was a filtration-looking device with one input hose connected to the tap ...
- 21.7k
39
votes
2
answers
10k
views
Can eating too much sugar cause diabetes?
I have frequently heard (even from diabetics) that diets high in sugar can cause (or at least contribute to) diabetes. Others have said it's a common misunderstanding, and there's no demonstrated ...
- 1,727
38
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Does eating carrots improve your eyesight?
A common belief in Sweden is that carrot improve your eyesight and I was told many times when I was little to eat carrots. Although anecdotaly I have perfect vision without carrot-gluttony.
Is there ...
- 18.6k
38
votes
1
answer
16k
views
Does your stomach shrink if you eat less?
I've heard people say this before; that eating less shrinks your stomach, making you desire less food in the future. When I looked it up online just now, the first few results conflict:
Eating less ...
- 3,289
38
votes
1
answer
14k
views
Should I cut off black banana ending before eating?
I was always told that I should cut off the black ending of a banana before eating, because it would be dangerous. Sources for this claim can for example be found here (though that source is actually ...
36
votes
2
answers
7k
views
Is alcohol for consumption tested for carbon-14 radioactivity to be considered legal?
I just viewed this interesting video about radioactive ethanol from plants as opposed to non-radioactive ethanol from crude oil. In it, the professor says he's heard it's illegal in the USA to sell ...
- 1,454
36
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Is Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity an actual illness or is it another trendy diet?
I've heard a lot of hype lately about Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity and seeing people buy plenty of "Gluten-Free" goodies at the local grocery store, I am wondering. Is Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity ...
- 605
36
votes
1
answer
8k
views
Are most of the nutrients of vegetables and fruits contained in the peel?
Whenever peeling a fruit or vegetable, someone will usually comment (sarcastically), "that's where all the good stuff is", meaning vitamins, minerals, or whatever. Do the skins or peels of common ...
- 3,786
36
votes
1
answer
28k
views
Does eating just before sleeping cause nightmares?
In many cartoons and on Sesame Street there are many storylines where a character eats just before going to bed (usually pizza) and they end up having nightmares or very crazy vivid dreams.
Normally ...
- 18.1k
35
votes
5
answers
5k
views
Can you get sufficient protein from a vegan diet?
This image claims that you can get protein from non-meat sources, citing Broccoli as an example.
Do you really need meat to get Protein?
Beef 6.4 grams of protein per 100 calories.
...
- 485
35
votes
2
answers
264k
views
How many almonds does it take to get cyanide poisoning?
I was at lunch today and the conversation turned to almonds and their cyanide content. One co-worker said almonds contain a lot of cyancide and the number of almonds that can kill you surprisingly low....
- 8,519
35
votes
1
answer
8k
views
Can you put on more weight than what you eat?
Someone once told me it is possible to have a net weight gain of more than what you eat. For example if you eat a quarter pounder burger you can potentially gain more than 1/4 pounds. Is this true?
- 11.9k
34
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Is diet soda less healthy than regular soda?
The top 10 worst foods listed at planetgreen.com elects diet soda as the number one worst food/beverage, even worse than regular soda. However, I find it a little hard to believe, since the number of ...
- 531
34
votes
1
answer
10k
views
Is slime mold eaten in Mexico as a dish called "feces of the moon"?
Various web sites make the claim that slime mold is eaten as a dish called "caca de luna" -- feces of the moon -- in Mexico. Sometimes the claim is attached to Fuligo septica, "dog ...
- 443
34
votes
2
answers
7k
views
Should we drink water before we feel thirsty?
The claim is that we should be drinking water routinely to the point that we never feel thirsty, and that to not be doing so is to our detriment, at least enough for the notion to be popular amongst ...
34
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Are we eating too many carbs? And do we need to switch to the primal/paleo diet?
TL;DR
Accepted knowledge is that high carb low fat diet is good. Paleo diet says opposite, the claims seem solid for the Paleo diet but I am still skeptical as Science seems to think that conventional ...
- 557
33
votes
3
answers
12k
views
Are humans incapable of digesting gluten?
Recently this I09 article about wheat made the rounds and there was a part in it that stood out to me:
According to Alessio Fasano, the Medical Director for The University
of Maryland's Center ...
- 871
33
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Organic food is worse for the environment because it requires more land than non-organic food
I've heard that organic crops and husbandry are worse for the environment than non-organic equivalents because in the absence of pesticides and fertilizers much more land is required for an organic ...
- 18k
32
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Can anything be 'more hydrating than water'?
Some sports drinks, and even vegetables claim to be 'more hydrating than water'. What does this even mean? How is 'hydration' even measured? If I ate enough cucumbers could I survive without ever ...
- 4,995