Almost half of us think food can only be frozen the day we buy it – and 38% think you can’t refreeze cooked meat.
我們當中有接近一半的人都認為食物只能在購買當天冷藏，38%的人則認為熟肉制品不宜冷藏。

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.
食物標準局（FSA）最新的調查顯示，人們普遍質疑冷凍食品的安全性，每戶家庭平均每星期會浪費相當于6頓飯的冷藏食品。并不僅僅是冷凍食品陷入尷尬境地——超過三分之二的受訪者在過去的一個月曾丟棄其他食物，包括面包，水果，蔬菜和一些本無礙健康的剩菜剩飯。

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...
看來我們是該揭露這些食物傳言背后的真相了。在下文中，高級營養師朱麗葉·凱洛將帶我們一起分辨盛傳的食品傳言中哪些是真禁忌，哪些只是無稽之談。

 

1 MYTH: Eating celery burns more calories than you take in
傳聞1：吃芹菜能幫助你燃燒比你所攝入的更多的卡路里。

TRUTH: Bad news for dieters: celery does not contain “negative” calories, meaning you won’t burn fat the more you eat.
真相：這對節食者來說也許是個噩耗，芹菜并不含有所謂的“負卡路里”，這意味著你吃再多的芹菜也于燃脂無益。

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，同時富含植物纖維。如果你想控制體重的話，把它當成解饞的零嘴倒是個不錯的主意。

2 MYTH: Frozen and canned fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than fresh ones
傳聞2：冷凍或罐頭果蔬與新鮮果蔬相比營養成分更少。

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：事實上恰恰相反！工廠往往都在蔬果采摘后的極短時間內加工制成罐頭或速凍果蔬。這意味著這些果蔬保留了大部分的維他命和礦物質。 而所謂的“新鮮”果蔬可能經過了長途運輸，在倉庫里儲存了一段時間，又在超市貨架上存置了幾日，在你買回家后，又在廚房呆了些時日。等到你食用時，這些果蔬中的許多營養物質，諸如維生素C和葉酸（維生素B的一種）業已流失。

3 MYTH: Raw carrots are more nutritious than cooked ones
傳聞3：生胡蘿卜比熟胡蘿卜更具營養。

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：熟胡蘿卜其實更有營養，這是因為高溫有助于分解胡蘿卜組織結構中堅韌的細胞壁。人體因此能夠更好地攝取β-胡蘿卜素，這種胡蘿卜素對人體制造維生素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，在烹飪胡蘿卜時加點油脂也能夠促進人體對β-胡蘿卜素的吸收，所以烤胡蘿卜時加點橄欖油是個不錯的選擇。

4 MYTH: Eggs should be avoided because of their high cholesterol content
傳聞4：雞蛋的膽固醇過高，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：長年以來，不起眼的雞蛋因其過高的膽固醇而被人們認為存在健康風險。——但是健康專家現在發現，食物中的膽固醇對人體血液中膽固醇的影響微乎甚微。（除非我們的基因先天決定我們體內有極高的膽固醇）

Instead, it’s high intakes of saturated fats that increase the cholesterol in our blood, putting us at risk of heart disease.
事實上，過度攝取飽和脂肪酸才會增加人體血液中的膽固醇含量，同時也會提高患心臟病的風險。

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.
物美價廉的雞蛋富含優質蛋白，這對素食主義者來說無疑是個福音，同時雞蛋里面還含有許多其它營養元素，例如鋅、鐵和維生素D。

5 MYTH: Feed a cold, starve a fever
傳聞5：感冒宜食，發燒宜餓。

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：沒有任何醫療證據表明發燒時需要控制飲食——當然你可能因食欲不振而無法下咽過多食物。實際上，上升的體溫提高了人體的代謝率，從而讓人體燃燒了比平常更多的卡路里，因此及時攝取額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.
當然，在發燒時，最重要的是要多喝水——發燒帶來的一場大汗意味著你比平時流失掉了更多的水分，很容易就會缺水。

6 MYTH: Gluten free foods are healthier
傳聞6：不含麩質的食物更健康。

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（對麩質不耐受引起小腸粘膜病變為特征的一種原發性吸收不良綜合征，全球只有1%的人患有此癥），否則你沒必要在超市購買昂貴的無麩質食品。

In fact, a lot of gluten-free products are much higher in fat, salt and sugar.
事實上，市面上許多無麩質食品往往在脂肪、鹽分和糖分上較普通食品更高。

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.
同時，要是你懷疑自己是乳糜泄患者，完全放棄麩質食物只會讓你更難得到正確診斷。