Fact US. Fiction

Just because you read it on the internet doesn't mean it's true. We set out to find which of these 10 current food, health, and nutrition statements (and a few steadfast ones) contain more than a kernel of truth.

- Debbie Koenig

“Cooking in aluminum foil is dangerous.”

Science hasn’t shown a confirmed cause-and effect relationship between cooking with aluminum foil and any disease. But in recent years several studies have shown that heating certain foods in contact with foil or disposable pans leaches aluminum into food in amounts above the World Health Organization’s acceptable limits. And a 2015 meta-analysis in Neuroscience Letters found that chronic exposure to aluminum (via drinking water or on the job) is associated with a higher risk for Alzheimer’s. “There is a connection there, but we don’t see enough evidence to connect it to using foil,” says Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RDN, manager of wellness nutrition services at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. To err on the side of safety, avoid cooking acidic or heavily salted foods with foil; otherwise you’re good to go.

- Verdict: Mostly Myth “Activated charcoal will cure a hangover, improve teeth, and more.”

Doctors use activated charcoal in emergency rooms to absorb poison in your body, so it makes sense that it also would work for everyday toxins, right? Before you grab a scoop of charcoal blackened ice cream and call it a cleanse, read on: There’s no credible research that shows it works for anything outside the ER. So enjoy the Instagrammably inky food, but don’t expect it to do anything.

Verdict: Myth

“Some foods have negative calories.”