With so many advices and health myths passed on without verification, we often tend to believe them ourselves. But an easy way to deal with the wrong information on nutrition is to replace it with the right awareness. Here are a few diet myths that you may want to watch out for!
Myth #1 – Eating fat makes you fat
This misconception has been carried on for years. It’s important to understand that there is a difference between good fats and bad fats. Omega-3 fish oils and certain poly-saturated fats are actually very beneficial to our health! Trans fats on the other hand are extremely harmful. It’s not just the consumption of fats that promotes weight gain, but many other factors including the lack of a healthy diet, exercise, and the absence of proper nutrition and excess carbohydrate intake that promotes weight gain!
In fact a diet relatively high in the right fats is GOOD for health. Provided you control your carbohydrate intake and increase protein intake!
Myth #2 – Diets work!
There are so many diets available that promise quick results – fruit based diets, intermittent fasting, etc. as many people have found out there is NO quick fix to permanent weight management! though diets relying on caloric depletion / starvation obviously work short term but the weight usually come back on when you no longer stick to an extreme diet. Also, one observation that is a fact: diets that rely on constantly applying self discipline will not work long term. What works the best is understanding basic principles and then just work your eating around those principles.
Myth #3 – Losing Weight Is All About Eating Less
Despite many scientific studies suggesting otherwise, people still cut down on their food intake and sweat it all out at the gym to lose weight. Bestselling author Jonathan Bailor in his books The Calorie Myth explains that losing weight isn’t about going hungry or spending hours exercising. In fact, focusing on the quality of food rather than the quantity of calories helps you burn fat more easily. Also: WHEN you eat WHAT places a major role. For example the simple habit of reducing carbohydrate intake after 6 pm at night is a huge contributor to staying fit!
Myth #4 – Diet Sodas Help Keep You Slim
The word diet on a can of soda doesn’t make it nutritious. As a matter of fact, diet soda is more acidic than regular soda. This can lead to tooth oesophageal hernias and acid reflux diseases. A study in the American Journal of Public Health found that diet soda was consumed more by obese adults than healthy-weight adults. One of the reasons is because the artificial sweeteners aspartame and sucralose are used in diet soda. These lead to food urges later in the day, which in turn makes it easier for people to overeat.
Myth #5 – Exercising More to lose weight
In my experience, and this is also endorsed by nearly every major study: exercise is fantastic and important for management of ideal weight, and for maintaining good health. But for weightloss, 80-85% is what we eat. Did you know that just consuming one extra chappati would equal 15-20 mins brisk walking and having a cup of chai with a marie biscuit would take 10-12 mins of fast jogging to burn off? Countless people who has engaged on aggressive exercise programs, have lost weight without modifying what they eat, but the moment they stop exercising its all back again.
I recently met a friend who was part of a group of runners, he obsessively trained 5-6 days per week and lost 10 kgs in a span of 2 months. Now I met him again, after a knee injury forced him to stop running, and in less than 2 months all the weight was back again.
Honestly, we’ve barely scratched the surface with these diet myths. There are many more that people continue to believe in! And although we can’t completely understand all of them all at once, we can surely decide to stick to the basics of having quality foods and supplements, for a healthier lifestyle.
1.https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-truth-about-fats-bad-and-good 2.https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/coffee-and-health/faq-20058339
3.The Calorie Myth by Jonathan Bailor
4.https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/nutrition-bars-healthy-hype#1
