Report debunks 5 top food myths

4 Drinking fruit and vegetable juice is helpful in losing weight.

The rumor says having six glasses of fruit and vegetable juice a day for a month without eating anything else will help you lose at least 2.5 kilograms of weight.

It is true that only drinking fruit and vegetable juice will reduce weight in a short time, but the weight loss is mainly from loss of water, and users will regain the weight quickly once they stop the fast.

The method is also very risky, because fruit and vegetable juices have few other nutrients except vitamins and minerals, and the body will be under nourished if the fast goes on.

To lose weight, diet, exercise and a healthy lifestyle are all indispensable.

5 Leftover vegetables are not edible, because they have a lot of poisonous nitrites.

Professor Fan Zhihong of the China Agricultural University once did an experiment on this question. She put cooked vegetables in a refrigerator, and 24 hours later, quantity of nitrites in the vegetables almost doubled, from 300 milligrams per kilograms to 700 milligrams. However, despite the increase, she pointed out that a person needs to eat almost 30 kilograms of vegetables in order to get poisoned by the nitrites in the food.

Vegetables have nitrites, but differ in amount. Cucumbers, beans and tomatoes usually have a low level of nitrites. We suggest people not cook too many vegetables in order to avoid leftovers, and to put the some of the cooked vegetables in the refrigerator as soon as they are cooked.

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