20090422 -- Five False Food Facts(1)

Five False Food "Facts"

Are all the things we hear about food true?

From a young age, people grow up believing many different things about food. Some of these beliefs are indeed true, but many have been revealed for what they are: myths. Let's look at a few popular food myths.

Myth #1: Eating carrots improves eyesight

Carrots are a great source of beta carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A, an important vitamin for healthy eyes. But eating carrots doesn't make one see any better.

The link between carrot eating and good eyesight probably comes from World War II. At that time Britain claimed eating carrots helped piolts see better at night. The rumor was spread to cover up Britain's successful use of radar.

Myth #2: You lose calories by eating certain foods

The idea is that some foods are so low in calories that digesting them use more energy than consuming them. Such food include cucumbers, green beans and grapefruit. But even low-calorie food provide more calories than the body uses to digest them. They do, however, make great alternatives to higher-calorie foods.



myth n. 迷思
eg: My mom says her great-grandmother dated a former president, but I think it's just a myth.

convert v. 轉換
convert to
eg: I want to know more about how light bulbs convert energy into light.
eg: What's the formula of converting Fahrenheit to Celsius?
eg: The new owner of the house wants to convert the garage to an office.

cover up 隱藏/掩蓋/掩飾
eg: Tim tried to cover up his mistake by lying to the teacher
eg: The company tried to cover up the fact that they are facing bankruptcy.
eg: The staff of the corrupt mayor tried to cover up for him.

digest v. 消化
eg: Digesting meat takes longer than digesting vegetables and fruit.
eg: Corn is sometimes hard to digest for elderly people.
eg: The baby is too young to digest eggs.

digestion n. 消化
eg: Food high in fiber help digestion.

eyesight n. 視力
beta carotene n. B-胡蘿撥素

//== Did you know ==//

Does spinach makes you stronger?
In the 1920s, Dr. Evon wolf reported that spinach contained ten times more iron
than other leafy vegetables.
In 1929, the popular cartoon character Popeye popularized this belief.
It wasn't discovered until 1937 that Dr. Wolf had actually misplaced
a decimal point - and that spinach really has about the same amount of iron asa other leafy vegetables.



//== Chat room ==//

an old wives' tale 古時候傳下來的作法(大多數的old wives tale都是無稽之談)
-> traditional belief

wife 古(英文)女人

an old wives' tale example:
Feed a cold, starve a fever. 感冒時多吃東西,發燒時不要吃東西
-> Eat more when you have a cold. If you have a fever, you shouldn't eat.


urban legend 現代傳說
-> modern story often with unknown origins that spread quickly