The privilege of being a Nepalese comes with rich cultural values, beliefs and mythological stories to support the beliefs. No doubt, stories like Mahabharat and Ramayan are indeed a good lesson for mankind and it feels right to believe that those stories happened and listen to them, especially because the debatable perspectives they hold. Similarly, there are so many other myths which exist in Nepalese society and are equally debatable. Whether religious myths or general assumptions we make, let’s take a look on highly relatable food myths that we have been carrying on.
No Eating food during eclipses:
Eclipses are myths banks, I would say. You shouldn’t see eclipse with your naked eyes, you should not sleep, worship or study during the eclipse period. The most important that we’re concerned about is food. Every spiritual leader has been advocating that you should not eat food during eclipses. They do have convincing reasons for it. However, there are experts denying it. Our part of the world has still not sorted out this mythical debate and we still have the two parties following their beliefs peacefully.
Vegetarians are thin:
Wait what! But yes that is the most annoying comment a vegetarian would hear. It is generally assumed that the reason why a vegetarians are thin is because they do not eat meat. Well, the sample is biased obviously. There are non-vegetarian who are thin and there are vegetarians who are fat- in huge number, in fact. However, when a slightly thin person enters and we know s/he is a veg, we assume that it is because they don’t eat meat items.
Veg. foods do not provide essential nutrients:
: There is hardly any research published that shows this findings. However, there are researches that have shown human intestine is not made to digest non-vegetarian food. In both ways, how do we rely on the findings as it is completely a qualitative? If you have a balanced diet in which you have varieties of foods with protein, vitamin, carbohydrates, minerals, fiber, etc, you are stills a healthy person. We still have enough ground to debate on this issue with proper research.
Hing should not touch teeth:
As a child whenever I had stomach ache, my mother used to give me warm water and hing (Asafoetida) to drink. The first instruction I received from her was, “Swallow it with water without touching the teeth.” As I grew up, it became my habit to swallow hing without touching any of my teeth. However, I tried to find evidences on it but couldn’t find a single. Though it has become my habit now, it has no evidence. Myth Busted!
Eating more makes you fat:
I wish this were true. I am one live example to bust this myth. This myth is partially true. Gaining body fat differs from person to person. Your hormones, eating habit, the way you chew food, etc. play a vital role is adding your body fat. I have a lot of friends who eat heavily and are still thin enough and I do have friends who follow strong dietary plan but still have high body fat. So yes, eating more food could make you fat but not all people can get fat by eating more food.
Eating food from restaurant isn’t a good option on busy day:
How many of you have said your parents/ spouse you want to eat food from some restaurant and have got, “I’m busy today” in reply? That has become a false myth today. It is rather the opposite way. Eating from restaurants doesn’t mean you have to skip meetings, leave the office quickly, keep your works pending and go out for dinner. Foodmandu is here to bust the myth. You can just order from office, college or home itself to the location of your home or anywhere through Foodmandu and enjoy quality time with your family during the normal dinner time without wasting any extra time for it. Myth Busted!
What is your stand on the above myths? Do share your insights with Foodmandu so we can sort out food myth together. #DoTheFoodmandu
