Top 10 Nutritional Myths

Does eating late really make you fat? Does sugar cause Diabetes? Can we really lose weight by NOT eating carbs?
The media’s given us some outrageous claims about the food we eat and what’s considered a healthy nutritional lifestyle. Today we are going to decipher the “truths” from the “myths”
Find out the answers to these and other myths about nutrition.

1. EATING LATE WILL MAKE YOU FAT
CALORIES are CALORIES no matter WHAT time of day you eat them. There is no magic hour when your body decides that what you are eating is now going to be stored as fat.
What we eat and how much we eat is much more important than when we eat. Remember to spread your food intake out over the entire day to sustain your energy.

2. ALL FATS ARE BAD
We all need fat to sustain our body. Fat aids nutrient absorption and nerve transmission and helps maintain cell membrane integrity.
As you know, if we consumed excessive amounts of fat, this will contribute to weight gain, heart disease and increase risk of some cancers.
However, some fats actual promote good health, like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
Monounsaturated fats decrease our overall cholesterol, and our LDL (the bad cholesterol), while increasing our good cholesterol, HDL. Examples of monounsaturated foods are…nuts, avocados, and olive oil.
Polyunsaturated fats also decrease our overall cholesterol, and our LDL. Some food examples of polyunsaturated foods would be salmon and fish oil.

3. CHOLESTROL-FREE FOODS ARE HEART HEALTHY
Just because the front label says it is cholesterol free doesn’t mean the food is actually healthy.
Check the food label first and see what is the amount of saturated fat and Tran’s fat. Chances are that cholesterol free margarine, cookies or crackers are loaded with saturated fats, Tran’s fats or both.
The FDA allows products to claim cholesterol free on its label if there are no more than 2 milligrams cholesterol and 2 grams of saturated fat per serving. But there is NO limit on the Trans fat. Make sure you read the entire label to find the truth whether what you are eating is really heart healthy.

4. SUGAR CAUSES DIABETES
If you have diabetes, you need to watch your sugar and carbohydrate intake, but if you don’t have the disease, sugar intake will not cause diabetes.
The most common risk of high sugar intake is weight gain.

5. SKIPPING MEALS WILL HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT
If you skip a meal your body will think it’s in starvation mode and therefore slow down the metabolism to compensate.
If you skip a meal, you tend to overeat for your next meal, thus consuming more calories than are needed.
Instead, eat six smaller portioned and balanced meals a day to maintain hunger and weight control.

6. EATING FISH IS THE BEST WAY TO GET HEART HEALTHY OMEGA-3 FATS
Including both fish and plant based omega 3 sources to your diet is best.
Plant based omega 3 foods include, walnuts, flaxseed, canola oil and soybeans. These foods also help promote healthy skin and hair.
Fish based omega 3 foods include, salmon and fish oil, help decrease risk of cardiovascular diseases because of their strong triglyceride lowering effect.

7. RED MEAT IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH
Though it is true that beef is higher in saturated fats then other meats, choosing a leaner cut of both beef and pork will help reduce the amount of unwanted saturated fats. In fact, some leaner cuts of beef are lower in saturated fats than a thigh of a chicken with the skin on.
When choosing a lean beef, try round, top, round roast, top sirloin and flank cuts. For leaner pork, try tenderloin or loin chops.

8. AVOIDING CARBOHYRATES TO LOSE WEIGHT
The “low-carb” diets claim that carbohydrates promote insulin production, which in turn results in weight gain. The problem with most of these diets is, they don’t provide ENOUGH carbohydrates for daily maintenance. So, your body will begin to burn stored carbohydrates (glycogen) for energy. When this process happens, water is release, thus the weight you lose is really only water weight.
Most of these diets also restrict your daily calorie intake to around 1000-1400 calories per day. This type of restriction slows the metabolism down. And once normal eating habits are restored, your body is use to the 1000 calorie requirement, so when you start eating 1800-2400 calories a day, you start to gain weight, usually MORE!

9. DARK BREAD IS BETTER FOR YOU THAN WHITE BREAD/ BROWN EGGS ARE HEALTHIER THAN WHITE
Don’t let the color of the bread dictate if the bread is nutritious or not. Wheat bread is not WHOLE wheat bread. Wheat bread will have enriched wheat flour, which is a fancy way to say white flour. Plus if you read further down the ingredients, you will find some type of food coloring to make it brown. The first ingredient in WHOLE wheat bread (or other grains) should say 100% whole wheat grain.
Again, don’t be fooled by the color, brown eggs and white eggs have the same taste and nutritional content. The color difference comes from the breed of hen.

10. EXTRA PROTEIN BUILDS MUSCLE
You heard it all before, if you want to add muscle you have to eat a lot of protein like the body builders. To add muscle you need three components… 1.adequate calories 2. a good intake of protein and 3. a good strength training program.
Eating protein after strength training along with some carbohydrates has been proven to build muscle.
I hope we have squashed some of the top nutritional myths for you. Understanding the truth will make your food choices easier. Good nutrition is about 75% responsible for how your body looks, feels and performs.

If you need more nutritional guidance, please talk with one of our trained professionals, about how you can start looking and feeling better today!

Linda and Rachel

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