8 Exaggerated Food Benefits

A variety of claims circulating online about foods' health benefits and even their potential for beauty enhancement are commonplace, but these claims are often specious, making it difficult to verify their true effectiveness. In reality, most foods are beneficial to the body, but once digested, they are converted into nutrients and absorbed by the intestinal wall. Claims that a particular food has a specific effect on a particular organ or body function are likely exaggerated and should not be trusted.

8 Common Mistakes or Exaggerations About Food Benefits

HEHO has compiled 8 common food efficacy claims for everyone. These claims either have no scientific basis or their actual efficacy is far less miraculous than claimed. We hope that this can help everyone avoid believing in online rumors and wasting time and food.

1. Can eating celery lower blood pressure?

Celery is known as a "kitchen medicine," and its most widely circulated benefit is its ability to lower blood pressure. Celery is rich in dietary fiber and contains more potassium than other vegetables, which does help stabilize blood pressure. However, this only serves a supporting role and cannot achieve the desired blood pressure-lowering effect required by patients with hypertension. Therefore, it is important not to rely solely on celery to control blood pressure, especially for those with severe hypertension.

XNUMX. Is eating collagen beneficial for skin care?

It's often claimed online that consuming collagen can improve skin and beauty. Consequently, collagen-rich foods like pig's trotters, pork knuckles, beef tendons, and tripe are often considered holy grail for whitening and skincare. However, the reality is that both natural collagen in food and commercially available edible collagen products are essentially proteins. Once digested, these proteins are broken down into amino acids, just like regular protein. The fraction of these amino acids that actually reach the skin is negligible, rendering them completely ineffective for whitening and skincare.

3. Can eating papaya help enlarge breasts?

It is widely believed that eating papaya can enlarge breasts, especially the idea of stewing pork ribs with green papaya. Some businesses even launch green papaya drinks that claim to have breast enlargement effects. However, these claims are completely unscientific. The main reason for believing that papaya can enlarge breasts is that papaya contains a lot of papaya enzymes and vitamin A, which can stimulatefemale hormonesHowever, papain itself is also a protein. Once it enters the stomach, it will be broken down by pepsin. It is impossible for it to reach the breasts in a complete and active state to play a role and make the breasts fuller.

4. Can eating cashews strengthen the waist and kidneys?

The claim that cashews can nourish the kidneys has long been circulating online. Even Wikipedia mentions that cashews can "nourish the brain and blood, and strengthen the kidneys and spleen." In reality, however, cashews have no such benefits. Don't assume a food's name, simply because it has the Chinese character for "knee," can strengthen the waist and kidneys.

5. Can eating black sesame seeds turn white hair black?

There's a rumor online claiming that eating black sesame seeds or Polygonum multiflorum can help turn gray hair black, solving the annoying problem. However, these methods are ineffective. Gray hair develops when the melanocytes in the hair follicles age and can no longer produce melanin. This is an irreversible process. Eating more black sesame seeds and Bai Shou Wu (white shou wu), an extract from Polygonum multiflorum, supplements with trace elements like zinc and iron. At best, this can only prevent premature graying; it won't darken existing gray hair.

6. Can eating red dates replenish blood?

Many people think that eating red dates canReplenish bloodWomen, especially during menstruation, often consume red dates to supplement iron and promote hematopoiesis. However, this claim may disappoint everyone. The iron contained in plant-based foods like red dates is "non-heme iron," characterized by an extremely low absorption rate, typically only 1% to 5%. It is also easily interfered with by factors such as dietary fiber in staple foods, oxalic acid in vegetables, and phytic acid in legumes. Therefore, the iron-supplementing effect of eating red dates is extremely poor. Compared with the "heme iron" contained in animal red meat, its absorption rate is approximately ten times lower.

7. Can eating fungus clear the lungs?

Online claims claim that regularly eating wood ear mushrooms can clear the lungs, citing their rich fiber and plant pectin as moistening. However, this claim confuses traditional Chinese medicine concepts. In traditional Chinese medicine, "clearing the lungs" actually refers to clearing lung heat (lung fire), or "removing internal heat." This has nothing to do with the modern medical concept of clearing lung pollutants. Food consumed by humans is digested and absorbed through the digestive tract and enters the bloodstream, while airborne pollutants enter the lungs through the trachea. Since there's no chance for the two to come into contact, wood ear mushrooms simply cannot clear the lungs.

8. Can eating leeks enhance male sexual function?

Li Shizhen wrote in his Compendium of Materia Medica that "leek seeds nourish the liver and vital points, and treat frequent urination and enuresis." He did not mention leeks as having aphrodisiac properties. Some believe leeks can enhance male sexual function based on their zinc content, but the zinc content in leeks is quite low, even lower than that of shiitake mushrooms. While moderate consumption of leeks can boost immunity, modern nutrition theory suggests that leeks are not particularly associated with aphrodisiac properties.