We all know the common sayings like “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” But which Aussagen (sayings) are really true and which are only a Irrtum (myth)?
In folklore it is often said the carrots are good for your eyes. But is that really true? Actually yes, it is. Carrots contain a lot of Beta-Carotene. Our Körper (body) converts this into vitamin A which is good for our sight. However, if you are already long or short sighted, carrots will not cure this.
How about the statement that you need to drink 3 litres of Wasser (water) daily? This is false. 1.5 litres per day would be enough. The rest of the our bodies demand for liquid will come from the foods we eat, for example Obst (fruit) and Gemüse (vegetables). The best solution is to drink evenly throughout the day and always when you are thirsty. If you do activities which are strenuous on the body, you will need to drink more.
“Ein Apfel pro Tag erspart den Arzt” (“An apple a day keeps the doctor away), this saying is also wrong. An apple alone doesn’t contain all the vitamins and Mineralstoffe (minerals) to keep the immune system intact. The apple contains a lot of Potassium to reduce blood pressure and also Ballaststoffe (fibre). It can reduce the risk of a Herzinfarkts (heart attack) by up to 20%, but you would need to eat at least 2-3 apples per day. This saying about an apple a day came about from a marketing campaign from an apple company.
The statement “Smoothies are an alternative to fruit” is true. Naturally a smoothie cannot replace fresh fruit exactly, a lot of the vitamins in fruit are in the skin which is not in a smoothie. For an gesunden (healthy) snack, smoothies are a good source of vitamins, especially if it has been prepared directly from fresh fruit infront of your eyes. When buying smoothies from supermakets, you need to check that there is not too much Zucker (sugar) in the product.
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