Food and Diet Myths Busted by the Trib

By Laura Oppenheimer in Food on Mar 7, 2007 9:00PM

Chicagoist used to be quite the little figure skater, and as a result, we have an encyclopedic knowledge of random dieting fads and facts. You mention it, we've heard of it. Fat flushes, cabbage soup and Atkins are only the tip of the iceberg. Our favorite rumor was the one about celery having negative calories. Eat celery, lose weight — it is so easy! OK, that one might strangely be true....

But there are others that most definitely are not a good way to lose weight, and they are certainly not a good way to stay healthy. We found out today from reading the Trib that March is National Nutrition Month, and this year's theme is "100% Fad Free." Get it? Fad Free? It sounds like Fat Free, but different. What will those crazy marketing geniuses think up next?

The quiz in the Trib is pretty standard fare. You can find out if olive oil has less calories than other oil (it doesn't) or if multi-grain means whole grains (wrong again). The quiz is a useful read if you are the type of person who thinks a lot about what you put in your body and is into the whole being healthy thing. We especially liked the "helpful" hints at the end of the quiz, including:

Be cautious about products that use words such as ''breakthrough'' or ''miracle.'' Cures for serious diseases are not sold in health food stores or on the Internet.

For now on, Chicagoist plans on going to the Trib to find all of the most important medical advice. On a serious note, the American Dietetic Association has lots of info on how to have a healthy diet. As for us? We are going to leave the celery diet back at the skating rink.

Image via Wholesale Weight Loss.