toi brings some facts about foods to keep you away from the misconceptionsmyth 1 potatoes and bread are fattening actually its just the opposite starchy vegetables and bread are quality carbs needed to fuel every part of you from your brain to your muscles what gets you into trouble is how you eat them smear butter on a slice of wholewheat bread or deep fry potatoes and you can double triple or quadruple the calories myth 2 drinking a glass of water before a meal curbs appetite actually yes and no water tames appetite if its incorporated into food such as soup or a thick drink apparently when water is bound to food digestion is slower one exception to this rule its easy to confuse hunger and thirst so if you find yourself craving something drink a big glass of water and wait a few minutes you may find thats what your body really wanted myth 3 shellfish is high in cholesterol actually on the one hand its true just 85 gms of shrimp delivers more than a third of your daily cholesterol but theres a surprising flip side to this story shrimp is low in saturated fat the kind that becomes arteryclogging bad cholesterol researchers discovered that eating shellfish every week reduced heart attack risk by 59 per cent myth 4 the occasional burger and fries wont kill you actually it depends on your definition of occasional if occasional means every friday night and then some well you may be pushing it but if it means every few months and youre fit and youve got good numbers ie weight waist size cholesterol blood pressure and youre chowing down on vegetables whole grains nuts and other nutritious fare most other days hey youll live but few of us are that perfect if you do occasionally indulge offset the effects of a fat fiesta with a brisk 90minute walk later myth 5 women naturally gain weight after menopause actually while you can blame a lot of things on hormones in this case slowing down physically is far more likely the cause studies have found that older women who exercise regularly can maintain their figures myth 6 diet soda is worse than the real thing actually we all would be better off switching to water fruit juice and green tea rather than drinking soda diet or regular it increases kidney and heart disease risk plus they contain acids that erode tooth enamel tnn