Most Common Dieting Myths

There are many different dieting myths and family lore, passed from generation to generation. Some new ones also spring up on the internet, such as magical diets that involve consuming cabbage soup for days. Some myths are more subtle, like a calorie is a calorie, and all you have to do is eat fewer calories. All calories are not equal. It depends on their nutrients. They’re all a unit of energy, but not all have the same effect on your weight.

Can magic pills with special ingredients cause you to lose more weight?

You see it on TV all the time. This diet pill will magically make a difference in your weight, especially when combined with the special diet. NEWS FLASH!!! It’s actually the diet that makes the difference, with the supplement being either ineffective or making an almost imperceptible difference. Supplements work in three ways. They either reduce your appetite, increase fat burning or reduce the absorption of nutrients. Since the side effects of these types of supplements, which can include explosive diarrhea, heart problems and more, they may be more dangerous than beneficial.

Eating either carbs or fat makes you fat.

There are low fat diets and low carb diets that promise a lot, but the results come from cutting calories in reality. Carbs aren’t the cause of the weight gain. You need the nutrients in fruits and vegetables, which are higher in carbs. It’s the wrong type of carbs, like sugary treats, which cause you to gain weight. The same is true for fat. While fat is calorie dense, you actually need it to burn body fat and maintain a feeling of satiety. It has to be healthy fat, like avocados, not trans fats, which can be found in junk food.

Special low fat foods and diet drinks are better options than traditional food.

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone that’s trying to lose weight drinking a traditional cola. Most of the time there’s a diet soft drink in their hands. Diet soft drinks are sweetened with artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners affect many areas of the body negatively. It can trick your mind into sending extra insulin and cause a shift in the type of bacteria in the gut. Those changes can increase the risk of diabetes and cause an increase in visceral fat around the belly. Fat-free foods add sugar and salt to give fat free food flavor.

• Another myth is that white potatoes will make you fat. The truth is that they won’t if you cook them properly. Don’t eat them fried but enjoy them baked or roasted.
• There is a myth that people who are skinny are healthier than those that are fat. While obesity will increase the risk of several diseases, having a healthy body weight, not too thin, is the healthiest option.
• Drinking commercial smoothies daily can help you lose weight and boost your overall health is another myth. Commercial smoothies are often sweetened, higher in calories and contain mostly fruit.
• Some people believe that weight gain and weight loss are linear. There’s nothing further from the truth. Your weight fluctuates daily. As long as the curve trends downward, you’re on the right track.

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