HEALTH MYTHS
Cracking Food
MYTHS
Been following these rules? You can stop now.
WRITTEN BY CINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER
I
t’s your guilty secret:
You skip breakfast,
though it’s the most
important meal of
the day. Or so
you’ve always
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2019 EDITION (201) HEALTH
SNACKING BEFORE BEDTIME
LEADS TO WEIGHT GAIN
Again, a calorie is a calorie. The reason
late-night eating gets a bad rap is because
digesting the food can interfere with sound
sleeping, says Dr. Peggy Policastro, a registered
dietitian nutritionist and director of the
Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health
Student Ambassador Program at Rutgers
University in New Brunswick.
“During the night, your body’s working
overtime, you don’t sleep as well, your
defenses may be down the next day and you
may eat more,” she says.
THE FLU SHOT CAN
GIVE YOU THE FLU
“I must talk about this four
times a day,” says Shekari with a
sigh. “There is no flu virus in the
flu vaccine. It’s a blueprint in the
body so your immune system
can recognize (the virus) quickly
and knock it out before you get
sick.” Not getting the flu shot,
on the other hand, makes you
vulnerable to getting sick and
spreading illness.
heard.
Turns out you can not
only skip breakfast, but the
guilt, too. Recent research
in the British Medical
Journal shows that people
who miss breakfast are not
heavier or less energetic
than fans of the meal.
Calories have the same
nutritive value no matter
when you consume them,
says Dr. Seena Shekari,
Medical Director of the
Valley Medical Group’s pri-
mary and walk-in care cen-
ter in Waldwick. “Your
body doesn’t have a clock,”
he says. “That was started
by the cereal companies.
‘Eat Kelloggs cereal and get
your metabolism going.’
It was fake.”
Whether they’re spread
by for-profit companies or
your elderly aunt, health
myths have amazing stay-
ing power. Here are some
other rules you don’t need
to follow.