Celebs’ fitness myths debunked
ANI, May 9, 2010, 12.00am ISTMany a time we hear about celebs doing or saying something and tend to follow them blindly. But what they do is not always right, especially when it comes to diet & fitness, say experts .
Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and other Hollywood celebs’ cod science fallacies have been debunked by some of the leading researchers. Shetty had recently said that she avoids carbonated drinks as they sap all the oxygen from the body and make skin wrinkley and dehydrated.
However, Professor Ron Maughan, physiologist, Loughborough University suggests the contrary. “Carbonated drinks have no effect on oxygen levels in the body,” a leading British daily quoted Maughan as saying. “At rest, the body is constantly producing carbon dioxide and this amount increases during exercise. By comparison, the amount from a fizzy drink is trivial,” Maughan added.
Similarly, Heather Mills, ex-wife of Sir Paul McCartney and a former model said “Meat sits in your colon for 40 years and eventually gives you the illness you die of. But Melita Gordon, gastroenterologist at the University of Liverpool says, “Meat proteins, like all other proteins, are digested by enzymes, and absorbed in the small bowel before they ever reach the colon. Any indigestible matter is… expelled.”
Again, Fergie from Black Eyed Peas had said, “I do vinegar shots. It has to be organic apple cider, unfiltered. Two tablespoons for some reason I’ve noticed a difference on my stomach.”
Lucy Jones, a dietician at the Whittington NHS Trust counters Fergie’s views and says, “As attractive as it sounds, there’s no magic pill, lotion or potion for a quick fix to weight loss
.
“The body, including the liver, is a well-oiled detoxing machine, which will not be improved by vinegar, whether it be organic, apple cider, unfiltered, or your bog standard malt vinegar,” Jones added.
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow had said, “When I’d read about what pesticides do to small animals, I thought, ‘Why would I expose my child to that?’” However, according to Professor Alan Boobis, toxicologist, Imperial College London, “Animals are exposed to doses substantially greater than those to which consumers will ever be exposed. If studies produce doubt about the safety of a pesticide, it is not approved for use.”
An expert has also debunked Bond actor Roger Moore’s belief that believed that eating foie gras could lead to Alzheimer’s, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. Dr Stuart Rulten, molecular biologist, University of Sussex debunks the myth saying, “There is no scientific evidence that eating foie gras will directly cause any of the above diseases.”
