Home

After my spiel on the 13 Foods That Kill, a friend of mine brought to my attention the following list, put together by the good folks over at CookingLight.com: Bad Foods That Are Actually Good For You. They point out the common misconceptions of five food items and then list some of the health benefits that have either been over looked or ignored over the years.

Now this is my kinda list! Coffee, eggs, peanut butter, avacados and mushrooms. Okay, I could do without avacados and mushrooms, personally, but I’ll take the other three any day!

Coffee
Common misconception: It keeps you awake.

I suppose this depends on your tolerance level for caffiene as to whether it takes one or several cups of coffee to keep you awake. Myself, for example, could probably drink one cup of coffee and be awake for the rest of the week.

However, the good thing about coffee is it helps improve memory in older adults and, if you drink four to six cups a day, can lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. (I’m assuming this is coffee with no sugar?) Which all sounds great but….four to six cups a day?! Man, I’d be wired for a month if I drank four to six cups of coffee in one day. Now, I love coffee flavor, but for some reason I can not handle the caffiene in regular coffee. Yes, I’m weird (like y’all didn’t know that already?!). I mean, I can eat chocolate until I get a headache, but I discovered my caffiene intolerance in college when I attempted to be college-chic and drink a cup of coffee before going to class (no, I had not tried it before this point). Actually, it was only half a cup of coffee, the other half was milk and I was ready to run the freaking Boston Marathon before the end of my first class.

Occasionally, I’m stupid enough to remind myself that I can’t handle the high test when I get a hankering for a Dunkaccino or Coffee Coolatta. If I take several hours to drink the coffee I’m fine, but if I swallow it all down in thirty minutes I’m climbing up the walls, usually for the balance of the day. If “America Runs On Dunkin’” obviously I don’t require the high octane. Thank God for coffee flavored ice cream!

Peanut butter
Common misconception: High in fat and calories.

I actually never knew peanut butter was ever really considered bad, but I guess that’s why there’s low fat peanut butter. Even if it’s true that it is high in fat and calories, this article states it has been shown in several studies that eating peanuts (and thus peanut butter) can lower the risk for coronary disease.

Amazing when you think about it. Something high in fat and calories can lower the risk of coronary disease. That’s almost like eating sugar out of the bowl and saying it’ll reduce your risk for diabetes.

All the same tho’, bring on the PB&J! If you’re not up for that, just a can of plain peanuts will suffice. Notice that’s just peanuts. Not moldy peanuts. White spores, folks, remember that.

Eggs
Common misconception: High in cholestrol.

I believe this is actually fact. One serving of eggs makes up around 75% of your daily allowance for cholestrol. That’s a big chunk. But since eggs are being redeemed in this list we can over look that!

Eggs are loaded with protein and contain a small amount of vital nutrients most of which I can’t pronounce. So I have no doubt that eaten in moderation, eggs can be part of balanced diet.

Good, because I love scrambled eggs, dropped egg on toast and hard boiled eggs. Hmmm…I just realized I could have eggs, toast with peanut butter and a cup of decaf coffee for my breakfast in the morning! And lookit the health benefits I’d be getting!

And to think I’ve been eating cold cereal all these years!