7 Trendy Diet Myths Busted
Health experts recommend eating healthy to maintain your ideal body weight. Following this advice, however, can be a struggle. Eating healthy is not always as easy as it sounds, nor is much of it accurate or correct. And even if you do follow prevailing advice, it still seems that gaining weight takes about five seconds and losing it takes forever.
It’s easy to fall for diet advice that’s doled out everywhere – on TV, social media, and the internet. Unfortunately, not all of it is true. Following the latest health tips can not only derail your weight loss goals, but it can also potentially harm your health.
So let’s debunk some of the most common diet misconceptions.
1. Late-night snacking leads to weight gain.
You've heard over and over that eating too close to bedtime is a sure-fire way to gain weight. Right?
Not so fast. Health website, WebMD, quotes the USDA Weight Control Information Network saying that the time of eating is not what contributes to weight gain or loss. It’s how much you eat and the activities you do to burn the calories that matter. So, go ahead and satisfy your midnight cravings with a light, healthy snack. It’s the net calories that will add or reduce your weight, not the time at which you ingest them.
2. Avoid gluten to stay healthy.
Unless you have a digestive system that’s intolerant to gluten or suffer from celiac disease, there’s no reason for you to stay away from gluten. This protein is not as evil as others label it to be. In fact, gluten-rich grains like rye and barley are excellent sources of fiber as well as vitamins and minerals. Go organic when you can though, especially with wheat, because they use
glyphosate to speed up the process of drying it out, which means it can
soak in this toxic chemical for days. I know. Seems insane. Not surprisingly, research increasingly shows this weed killer is toxic to human health and a probable carcinogen.
You’ve probably heard people say that when they go to Europe they eat all the pasta and pizza they want, and have no issues. But, here in the U.S. eating gluten causes all kinds of discomfort and problems. Many suspect that it’s not the actual gluten making people sick in this country but rather, it’s the glyphosate.
3. White meat is better than dark meat.
Also, Healthline reports that red meat is highly nutritious and a good source of protein. Apart from it being rich in iron, it also contains essential B vitamins that you can’t get from eating veggies alone.
So, you don’t have to limit your menu choices to chicken breast or fish. It’s perfectly fine to enjoy a good slab of steak once in a while without any guilt… as long as it’s a high quality, 100% grass fed and certified organic piece of meat to make sure you are avoiding GMOS, hormones and antibiotics, which can all interfere with diet results.
4. Low-fat is better.
You might have developed the habit of always picking low-fat versions of snacks and packaged foods, thinking that it’s better for your health. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
When fat is reduced, the taste of food is affected. To compensate for this taste loss, food makers usually add more of the other ingredients like sugar, salt, and artificial flavorings. In the end, what you’re consuming is not so nutritious anymore.
5. Going organic.
Eating organic food doesn’t give you a license to eat as much as you like. A
cookie made from purely natural ingredients can still contribute to weight gain as much as its non-organic counterpart. You’ll still be consuming fat, sugar, and calories.
Eating organic
can be helpful though as part of your diet as it will minimize your exposure to pesticides and toxic, hormone-disrupting chemicals, which are being blamed for some of the
obesity epidemic in this country and beyond. These foreign chemicals even have a name: Obesogens. They di
srupt normal development and balance of lipid metabolism, which can lead to obesity.
6. Eliminate fats from your meals.
For years, fats have been unfairly blamed for obesity. They are more calorie-dense than carbs and protein for sure. Plus, it’s easy to exceed your recommended dietary intake of fats because they lurk in many of your favorite foods like cheese, chocolates, and french fries.
The truth is, not all
fats are the same. There are good fats and bad fats. Unsaturated fats found in fatty fish, tree nuts, and olive oil have been proven to benefit the body’s cardiovascular system, reducing the risk of heart disease and helping to lower cholesterol levels.
Saturated fats, on the other hand, are the kind that you should consume sparingly. These are the fats in meat, chicken skin, and full-cream milk.
7. Eggs raise your cholesterol levels.
Like fats, eggs have gotten a bad rap, and many people are crossing them out from their grocery lists, thinking that eating them causes cholesterol levels to rise.
A January 2017 publication by the Harvard Medical School disproves this common belief, stating that cholesterol levels in the blood depend on the liver, and not on eating cholesterol-laden foods. Today, eggs are touted as an affordable source of protein and other nutrients like iron, zinc, and vitamin D. They are also rich in lutein and zeaxanthin, which improve eye health.
There’s so much diet advice these days that tells you to eat this, not that. Then, inadvertently, low and behold, a study comes out that says the previous studies were wrong! So, filter through it all with caution and rely on your own common sense. Eat real, whole, unadulterated foods in moderate portions with plenty of variety.
In good health! Meanwhile, you may also enjoy reading, Are You Getting The Most Out of Your Fruits and Veggies?
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