# Food myths **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225 "2017-03-02T18:18:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/121 "2019-01-04T14:39:15Z")
There was a rumor in the 1960’s that drying out and smoking the inside of a banana peel would get you high. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/122 "2019-01-04T14:49:33Z")
> [@bump](#): > > If I remember right, if they don’t open during cooking, they were not appropriately fresh beforehand. > > Shrimp in particular are really high in cholesterol despite being virtually fat free- a 3 oz serving of shrimp is 19 grams protein, 1.4 grams total fat (less than 0.5 gram saturated fat), and 100 calories. Yet despite all that, it also has 179 milligrams of cholesterol, which is more than twice the 75 mg in the same amount of lean beef. But, from my understanding, dietary cholesterol has little to do with blood cholesterol. [Here’s a link explaining it better](https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/cholesterol-food#1). > [@](#): > > Of all the information on the nutrition facts panel on food labels, cholesterol may be the most misunderstood. > > Part of the confusion comes from the fact that cholesterol in food isn’t the same thing as the cholesterol that clogs arteries. To be sure, foods high in cholesterol can cause blood levels of cholesterol to rise. But only about one in three people seem to be especially susceptible to the effects of cholesterol in food. > > “And even then, dietary cholesterol isn’t the biggest worry when it comes to heart disease,” says Kathy McManus, MS, RD, director of nutrition for Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. “Studies show it’s only about half as important as saturated fat and trans fat in raising serum cholesterol levels.” So, I guess my use of the word “little” is debatable, but it’s not as major a factor as once thought. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/123 "2019-01-04T14:59:00Z")
Another point, by the way: Dietary cholesterol is only found in foods of animal origin. You can’t get any cholesterol at all from vegan foods. But you can still get plenty of saturated fat from them. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/124 "2019-01-04T17:03:46Z")
Clams and whiskey. The clams will turn rock hard and kill you. Heard this as a kid. Too afraid to try it out and see if it’s true or not. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/125 "2019-01-04T18:01:27Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > There was a rumor in the 1960’s that drying out and smoking the inside of a banana peel would get you high. This does not work. Corn silk does not work either. I am a child of the 60’s. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/126 "2019-01-04T18:31:30Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > There was a rumor in the 1960’s that drying out and smoking the inside of a banana peel would get you high. (Quite rightly) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/127 "2019-01-04T19:40:32Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Oh, and I remember one more from my mother. Never drink water or anything else after having eaten cherries or prunes (every other fruit is ok), or else you get stomach cramps. Has anybody heard about that? Unfortunately for Zachary Taylor, he did not. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/128 "2019-01-04T20:25:17Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > There was a rumor in the 1960’s that drying out and smoking the inside of a banana peel would get you high. Looks like some people still believe this! I was part of that generation/demographic that was taken in by that, and dutifully baked and scraped and smoked a shitload of banana peels. [Of course, we’d been bamboozled](https://io9.gizmodo.com/5946553/why-hippies-thought-smoking-banana-peels-could-get-you-high), and were _placebo effect poster children._ > [@snfaulkner](#): > > This one is from my high school girlfriend’s uber religiously stupid parents: Don’t cook anything in the microwave because it makes the atoms spin backwards which WILL give you cancer. I had a “hippie med” practitioner explain that microwaves cook by causing nuclear explosions in your food that continue long after you eat it. So radiation is beaming out of your stomach. > [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I have a vague recollection of someone getting a deep fried rat in their bucket o’ KFC. Well, here’s a bucket without so much rat in it… Rat, Thigh, Rat, Rat, Drumstick and Rat. Rather a lot really… ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/129 "2019-01-04T20:32:21Z")
Drinking lots of beer will give you a ‘beer belly’. No, consuming more calories than one burns from _any_ food source will result in the accumulation of fat deposits - which may or may not be located on one’s abdominal area, depending on one’s genetic disposition. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/130 "2019-01-04T20:54:20Z")
One my mom told me often: You will love (insert foul food here, i.e. onions, lima beans, asparagus, etc.) when you’re an adult. Quoting Jeff Foxworthy: “Boy, what a liar Mom turned out to be.” ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/131 "2019-01-04T23:27:45Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Well, the simple solution is, you take half of the half, and the half you take will be good, and the remaining 1/4 of the onion will become even more poisonous. You can keep doing this until the pebble-sized piece of onion explodes in your fridge. Ahh… Xeno’s Bulb Bomb. ETA: Well, I got tookin in real good-like by that there zombie thread :smack: ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/132 "2019-01-04T23:38:44Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > One of the most common myths: Lima Beans taste good. They don’t? Canned lima beans are nasty. Frozen limas are wonderful, steamed with some butter. As for not swimming for an hour after eating, Dave Barry once told a story about one of his friends who took a bite of a hot dog UNDER WATER to disprove this. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/133 "2019-01-05T00:45:44Z")
There’s one about never soaking your beans in salted water because it will keep them from getting soft when you cook them. Actually, it makes the beans creamier and softer. No idea why that became a myth. Also, you don’t have to soak beans–you can just cook them from dry, it’ll just take longer. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/134 "2019-01-05T05:51:55Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > There’s one about never soaking your beans in salted water because it will keep them from getting soft when you cook them. Actually, it makes the beans creamier and softer. No idea why that became a myth. Also, you don’t have to soak beans–you can just cook them from dry, it’ll just take longer. Soaking beans in salt water, or water with baking soda, is OK. Cooking them in it is not a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/135 "2019-01-05T23:34:49Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Soaking beans in salt water, or water with baking soda, is OK. Cooking them in it is not a good idea. [Untrue.](https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/09/salt-beans-cooking-soaking-water-good-or-bad.html) Salt is fine for both soaking and cooking. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/136 "2019-01-05T23:37:41Z")
For further proof, beans cooked with very salty country ham are darned tasty and creamy. Ask any southerner. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/137 "2019-01-05T23:45:43Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Shellfish is so full of cholesterol that someone with a heart condition can get seriously ill eating a big meal of it? > > (snipped) > > And is it really deadly to eat puffer fish if not properly prepared??? Don’t know about shellfish, but brains are basically cholesterol with some cells in it, regardless of the species. A small can of beef or pork brains contains a 3-day RDA allowance of cholesterol, and even more when cooked with eggs, the way it’s often served. Eating it once in a while won’t affect a heart patient’s health one way or another; the human body makes most of its own cholesterol anyway. Fugu can definitely be deadly if not correctly preparred, due to a nerve toxin in the lining of its swim bladder. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/138 "2019-01-05T23:49:24Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I had a girlfriend whose mother insisted that chewing ice would crack your tooth enamel. There is some truth to this. Compulsively eating ice is a form of pica, often indicating iron deficiency. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/139 "2019-01-05T23:52:06Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > Drinking lots of beer will give you a ‘beer belly’. > > No, consuming more calories than one burns from _any_ food source will result in the accumulation of fat deposits - which may or may not be located on one’s abdominal area, depending on one’s genetic disposition. If the person drinks enough beer to lead to cirrhosis of the liver, they may get ascites, which sure LOOKS like a beer belly whether you’re a man or a woman. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225/140 "2019-01-07T02:46:06Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Tilapia is unhealthy “trash fish” (disproven) > > Turkey is laden with the chemical tryptophan which makes eaters sleepy (disproven, it’s over eating that makes diners woozy) > > Help on these: > > Clams or mussels served without the mouths open means they are undercooked and you should not eat them? > > Shellfish is so full of cholesterol that someone with a heart condition can get seriously ill eating a big meal of it? > > Meat served at many Mexican all inclusive resorts is actually horse meat? > > Beer + ice cream= tummy ache? > > There are worms in sushi that can turn into giant tapeworms that will live in your intestines? > > And is it really deadly to eat puffer fish if not properly prepared??? Shellfish what don’t open when cooked were probably dead before cooking and spoil quickly after death Horsemeat almost everywhere is more expensive than beef because it’s not as heavily produced. Why serve more expensive meat? One of my favorite combinations is apple pie ala mode and a light beer. Don’t have it too often, but no tummy issues so far! The worms in raw fish are roundworms not tapeworms, still nasty and can grow in the stomach and intestines. Doesn’t stop me from eating sashimi every week or two! Many people have died from eating improperly prepared fugu, usually home prepared. As stated above, chefs and restaurants must be trained certified to prepare and serve fugu. The flesh of the fish contains minute parts of the toxin (people say they can feel their lips and mouth tingle or go numb), but the main toxins are contained in the organs, particularly the liver. Note that improperly prepared meat can potentially be toxic. When preparing game like deer, if the bile sac is accidentally punctured, it can contaminate the surrounding meat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-myths/781225.md?page=8)