Gluten, green tea and goji berries: 4 myths about nutrition and superfoods

1. Green tea helps you lose weight

Thanks to this myth, green tea is very popular both as a drink and in the form of pills. Green tea extract supplements contain much more active substances (polyphenols and methylxanthines) than just tea in a mug.

The Cochrane team randomly selected 12-13 week studies and analyzed them. A Cochrane meta-analysis (Cochrane is an independent international organization whose reviews are recognized as the best in the scientific community) showed that, on average, “tea” volunteers who took green tea supplements became only 40 g lighter, and the difference in waist circumference between the experimental and the control group reached an average of 0,2 cm. That is, the effect obtained will not have any practical significance.

If you love green tea, then drink it just for fun – it does not help you lose weight.

2. Goji berries are a superfood and a cure for all diseases.

Unlike vitamins in tablets, food with the prefix “super” is shrouded in a halo of naturalness, as if this prefix itself automatically means purity, pristineness and usefulness. Hundreds of publications on the Internet will tell you that goji berries not only contain vitamins and antioxidants, but also have the ability to heal and give spiritual enlightenment. That they are useful for a wide range of diseases – from impotence to tinnitus, from cough to diabetes, from depression to hypertension.

A completely ordinary plant, thanks to a powerful advertising campaign, has raised millions of dollars around the world. Manufacturers claim that miracle berries strengthen muscles and bones; it is not known how, but somehow they have a positive effect on the heart, liver, kidneys.

Unfortunately, all these bold and far-reaching claims have no scientific evidence. So far, they are as “true” as the legend of a certain Li Qingyun, who ate goji berries every day and lived to be 256 years old.

The results of a single human study were published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in 2008. An experimental group of sixteen people consumed goji juice for two weeks. The placebo group included 18 people. Analysis of the effectiveness of juice intake was carried out by questioning.

The experimental group rated their “energy level”, athletic performance, ability to concentrate, ease of awakening, measure, degree, depth of health and happiness, and other equally significant parameters higher. But the subjects did not report improvements in objective measures like blood pressure or visual acuity.

It is clear that such a study, whatever words you call it, cannot be considered reliable. The sample size and duration are too small, there are no objective criteria for evaluating the results.

By the way, most of the article about goji berries on the MedlinePlus website, which contains information from the US National Library of Medicine, is devoted to their side effects. Goji berries are not recommended during pregnancy and breastfeeding. They can cause cross allergies and interfere with some medications.

3. Antioxidants can never be too much!

It is logical to assume that if antioxidants are good for health, then the more of them in food, the better. However, this is not quite true.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), in a review of scientific data, found no evidence that the effect of antioxidants on free radicals is significant for human health.

The study of products in the laboratory and their consumption by people in everyday life are completely different things. For example, in laboratory studies, usually the level of nutrients is so high that it is impossible to reach it at home. They say garlic lowers blood pressure, but are you willing to eat 28 heads daily to test it?

When it comes to staying healthy, don’t get hung up on superfoods and hope they work wonders. All unprocessed and minimally processed foods from major food groups are beneficial as part of a balanced diet. What’s more, conventional foods are cheaper and more nutritious than their hyped counterparts: oranges, for example, have more vitamin C than pomegranates.

4. Gluten is bad for the body

The fashion for a gluten-free diet, or what the public means by this, has also reached Russia. The gluten found in some grains is just a plant-based protein, one of many. But the catchy “Gluten-Free” labels on the packages seem to warn that food with gluten is dangerous. And now the usual buns and pasta are alarming.

How common is gluten intolerance, and will cutting it out be a dietary panacea for all of us? Celiac disease (gluten intolerance) is an autoimmune disease of the small intestine associated with abnormal sensitivity to wheat, barley, and rye proteins, collectively referred to as gluten. A very serious disease, to be sure.

Data from a 2018 meta-analysis show that the global prevalence of celiac disease based on small bowel biopsy is 0,7%. With this disease, it is required to follow the strictest diet for life – not only to forget about all products containing wheat, rye and barley. But also exclude products with hidden gluten, and this is an intimidatingly huge list of ready-made and processed foods.

Why are such severe dietary restrictions imposed by this autoimmune disease so popular among healthy people? Eliminating grains just in case, hoping that this will somehow improve health, does not make sense.

On the contrary, according to the Mayo Clinic, “People on a gluten-free diet may be deficient in certain vitamins and other nutrients.” These include folic acid, iron, calcium, fiber. There are no scientific studies that would confirm the benefits of following such a diet in healthy people.

The statement on the package “Gluten Free” does not mean that the product in front of you is healthy and healthy. Gluten-free baking mixes are made up primarily of different types of starch. Hardly better than whole grain flour, but much more expensive.

Some people with gastrointestinal discomfort (abdominal pain, flatulence, constipation, diarrhea) and other non-specific symptoms get better if they reduce the amount of food containing gluten or completely refuse it.

In this case, after the repeated introduction of gluten with food, the symptoms return. This condition is called non-celiac gluten sensitivity. It is suspected that it is not gluten that is responsible for the symptoms, but other compounds found in cereals that are related to fermentable dietary fiber.

So far, there are no studies that would definitively establish the diagnosis of non-celiac gluten sensitivity. There are many diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, they are different, and parting with gluten is not a panacea for most of them.