The story is about how something said casually around food can become truth.

It happens because people repeat things that sound reasonable, not because they have been tested.

And once those lines start circulating and pass through conversations, articles, blogs... and suddenly they are treated like verified facts - even though they began as opinions from people who were not experts at all on the subject.

The same thing shows up constantly in nutrition.

There is a moment where someone makes a simple claim about vegetables.

Next, it gets repeated in simpler language and it is passed along again, further simplified.

Sounds legit?

Maybe it is, maybe it is not. But it starts getting repeated as advice when it is rarely examined in terms of how the body actually functions.

Another example:

Someone made a single statement about vegetables.

And, specifically, how raw vegetables were said to be hard to digest, vegetables were described as just fiber and water, and cooking was claimed to unlock nutrients so raw did not matter, basically framing these ideas as if they were settled facts.

To which the conversation filled up with this myth:

“Cooked vegetables are easier to digest. Cooking also kills many harmful microbes. From that, a diet of only raw vegetables would be tough to balance from a nutrient perspective.”

Another example:

Someone noticed discomfort after eating raw food once.

They mentioned it casually.

“You’ll probably end up suffering from indigestion, or you’ll have to restrict yourself to salad vegetables if you choose to only have raw vegetables.”

That line then got repeated, detached from context, until raw food itself became the problem rather than the circumstances affecting digestion.

Nope.

That is how casual observations turn into myths.

And when you look at what actually happens in the body, the story changes.

Vegetables are ordinary foods that require chewing, eating slowly, and active digestion, and they supply fiber, water, and nutrients the body uses during normal metabolic and elimination processes.

When someone says vegetables are hard to digest, what they are usually describing is compromised digestion, under-supported gut bacteria, or a nervous system adapted to calorie-dense, low-fiber foods.

But instead of saying that, the blame shifts to the vegetable.

Then the myth mutates.

Raw becomes extreme.

Cooked becomes necessary.

And suddenly two partial ideas are treated as opposing doctrines.

Of course, the body does not operate in slogans.

Heat changes food structure in ways that sometimes help and sometimes do not. Raw vegetables tend to stimulate chewing, satiety signaling, normal bowel movement, and microbial activity, and cooked vegetables can reduce physical irritation and improve nutrient absorption depending on the body’s capacity to digest.

But of course, nuance does not spread well, and it is easy for partial ideas to be repeated as evidence that vegetables are problematic. Even though vegetables work well under normal conditions, go figure. Having said that, if simple claims can harden into truth, any context is fair game.

One more example of fabrications becoming truth:

“Plant nutrition is a myth, here’s what I discovered. Most obsessional nutrition is a myth. All things in moderation, and hope you're born with good genes.”

i.e., it treats a situational outcome as a universal rule, ignoring how vegetables tend to work best when the nervous system is calm, chewing is adequate, volume replaces calorie density, and the body has time to adapt, and how they tend to cause problems when changes are rushed or food is treated as a test of discipline.

In other words, results depend on conditions.

After that?

The real problem is not misinformation itself.

It is how quickly ideas spread once repetition replaces careful consideration.

People get this wrong as well, which is common.

I am not sure where else this needs to go.

Except, maybe this:

Once you see how easily casual remarks turn into rules, it becomes harder to accept rigid nutrition claims without question.

If you want to follow along where I occasionally share practical notes and context around raw food and nutrition, here’s where I post:

​https://www.instagram.com/irinavaleva_/​

Irina Valeva