Nutrition is a complex subject, and although everyone claims to be an expert these days, very few people actually have the necessary knowledge to guide themselves or those around them towards a better, healthier and tastier life. The internet is the ultimate source of information about anything and everything, but unless you have the requisite scientific background, it would be impossible to tell the wrong or misleading information from the authentic bits, which is one of the prime reasons why dietary myths are being created all the time. On that note, here are three popular dietary myths that are just not true.
Fasting is Bad for You
Before you start
questioning this myth buster, understand that we are talking about intermittent
fasting. There are some
brilliant benefits to intermittent fasting, some of which are mentioned below.
- It drains
the body of its glucose reserves, inducing weight loss through ketosis in the
process - It
protects against excitotoxic stress and promotes regeneration of neurons - The
caloric restriction improves memory functions - May act as
an antidepressant
Do remember that
unplanned, long term fasting is actually starvation, and while it will help to
lose weight in the short term, it is almost guaranteed that you will gain back
even more fat in a few months’ time, as the body tries to make up for the
calorie and nutrient deficiency.
Fat is Bad for You
Healthy fats are
necessary and they won’t make you fat; if anything, healthy, unsaturated fats
from sources like fish, whole eggs, chia seeds, dark chocolate, cheese,
avocados and the like can actually make you lose weight, gain muscle mass and lead
a healthier, better life. Check out The Big Fat Surprise, which is the ultimate nutritional guide to
know and understand how much wrong information is out there from seemingly
authentic sources that misleadingly affirm the myth of fat being bad for
health. It’s also a detailed guideline towards figuring out and designing the
perfectly healthy (and tasty) meal plan for every individual who wants to lead
a happier and fitter life.
Late Night Snacks Make You Fat
While there are
definitely differences in how the body utilizes food as we sleep, it has been
found that late night snacks are not as bad as we make them out to be. It is
more important to keep the total calorie count within the desirable range,
irrespective of when you are consuming those calories. Also, the food source is
more important than the calories, which is something that very few people are
aware of. In fact, separating your meals throughout the day and night might
make it easier for the body to digest the food; just make sure that your midnight
snacks are healthy.
There are of course,
plenty of other dietary myths circulating both online and offline, so always
double check your facts from an authentic source before believing anything that
you read on the internet. Applying a bit of common sense and acquiring the
basic understanding of the various nutrients is essential to figuring out fact
from myth.
