There are a lot of common misconceptions around nutrition that are still confusing people and preventing them from expanding their diet in a healthy way.
- “Don’t eat too many eggs as they will increase your cholesterol”
- Studies have shown that eggs raise the ‘good’ cholesterol and don’t raise risk of heart disease. Eggs are very nutritious with the most nutrients being found in the yolk
- “Fat is fattening, eat low fat to lose weight”
- Diets that high in fat AND carbs can make you fat but that’s because when both of these are combined they light up our pleasure centres in the brain making us want to eat more. High fat low carb diets can be successful because they remove a lot of highly palatable carbs that don’t make us feel full.
- “You need to drink 8 glasses of water per day”
- The amount of water you need depends on how active you are, how hot it is (or how much central heating is on), and how much high water content foods such as fruit and vegetables you eat.
- “All calories are equal, losing weight depends on energy in and energy out”
- Whilst energy in and energy out is a calculation I can’t dispute, getting 200 calories from chocolate spread on white bread is going spike your blood sugar and make you really hungry and crave more sugar, compared to an egg on wholegrain toast with butter that will balance your blood sugar until the next meal.
- “5 meals a day are best for metabolism”
- Constant grazing may help those with excessive hunger but is not ideal for our circadian rhythms. Our bodies need significant gaps in between meals to create hormesis (a biological effect to a small stress response from hunger that has a positive effect on immune cells, tissue repair and healthy aging)
- “Salt can reduce heart attacks and stroke”
- Salt can have an effect on blood pressure especially refined table salt which has many of the trace elements removed, but salt does not cause heart attack or strokes. However, if you are eating lots of processed foods, bacon and certain soups you may be going over the recommended limit of 2g of sodium per day
- “Red meat is bad for you”
- It is true that some studies have shown negative effects from eating red meat, but they lumped processed and unprocessed meat together in these studies. People who eat a lot of processed red meat such as fast food burgers will be more exposed to nitrates, growth hormones and antibiotics, and are likely to have other unhealthy lifestyle factors which can contribute to cancer, whereas grass fed beef is rich in nutrients, high in iron and essential fats and generally less treated with antibiotics making it a healthy red meat and a fantastic source of protein.
- “Vegetable oils are healthy”
- Vegetable oils such as sunflower oil which were promoted as healthy two decades ago have additives and chemicals, and are heated to high temperatures to preserve shelf life. This changes the fat and makes the composition unhealthy. Opt for cold pressed flax oil or extra virgin olive oil, and if deep frying use a more stable oil such as coconut.
- “Saturated fat is bad”
- Several massive review studies have recently shown that saturated fat is NOT linked to an increased risk of death from heart disease or stroke .The truth is that saturated fats raise HDL (the “good”) cholesterol and change the LDL particles from small to Large LDL, which is linked to reduced risk. This does not mean that you should pour massive amounts of butter into your coffee or eat buckets of ice but it does imply that reasonable amounts saturated full-fat dairy or meat from grass-fed cows are both safe and healthy
- “Sugar-free is better for you”
- Consuming artificial sweeteners can lead to excessive headaches and dizziness. Additionally, a high concentration of aspartame in your body can flood your central nervous system and break down vital brain neurons. Studies have also shown they can increase appetite and have a negative effect on gut flora.
Find out more sam@whatseatingyou.co.uk