There was a time when people thought cigarette smoking was good for your health. In fact, it was believed to have medicinal properties. After a correlation was discovered between smoking and cancer in 1930, many people still held to the belief that smoking was harmless. Even the American Cancer Society spread this message. In 1944 they warned that there may be ill-effects of smoking but “no definite evidence exists” between smoking and lung cancer. During this time, my grandma was in her prime and like the rest of her peers, she smoked. She did quit smoking in her 40s, but the damage had already been done, and by age 60 she was pulling an oxygen tank around with her to help her breathe. She had developed emphysema from smoking. She eventually died from cancer.

For those of us who grew up in the 1970s and 80s, artificial sweeteners were the wonder food. Touted as a way for diabetics to enjoy sweets, kids to avoid cavities and calorie counters to lose weight, we’ve been told that artificial sweeteners can be part of a healthy diet. When saccharine was outed in the early 1970s for causing cancer, aspartame swept in and saved the day. Now you could drink a soda that tasted just like the real thing with no guilt — in fact, you could drink 2 or 3 and not gain a pound! Right? Approved by the FDA in 1981, aspartame has been through many scientific studies and we are still being told that aspartame is “safe at current levels of consumption as a non-nutritive sweetener.” Yet many people are experiencing ill-effects that appear to be tied to this food additive, including addiction. Is it safe or is aspartame today’s tobacco?

Myths are pervasive. You simply cannot trust everything you read or hear. For example, the FDA originally considered saccharine safe, even after warnings from scientists that it’s dangerous to humans. Then the FDA changed their position in the early 1970s, requiring labels warning that saccharine could cause cancer on all products containing the sweetener. And then, in 2001, the FDA again reversed their position, deaming saccharine “safe.” Instead of letting politicians and special interest groups decide what’s safe for you to put into your body, learn how your body works. Seek the truth. Understand WHY people are telling you whatever it is they are telling you. And, most importantly, take responsibility for your own health!

In the link below, you’ll find five “healthy” food myths that have made their way into our subconscious.

5 Mainstream Nutrition Myths Uncovered

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