I’m a longtime health and wellness blogger, so I’ve heard it all. You need to eat more fibre, less fat and carbs. You should drink alcohol in moderation. High-fructose corn syrup isn’t that bad for you after all! But what if I told you there are actually some nutrition myths out there that might be holding back your health? That’s right, It’s time to bust some myths (and debunk some others).
You should have a balanced diet.
If you’re looking for a quick guide to nutrition, this isn’t it. If however, you have any questions about what counts as healthy eating or how much of something is good for you, this article can help.
In reality, every person has different needs based on their age and health status. What works best for one person may not necessarily work for another. So while there are some general guidelines regarding what constitutes a “balanced” diet (for example: eat lots of fruits and vegetables), there are no set rules about them. There are no rules on how many grams of protein or carbohydrates should be consumed each day or whether it’s necessary to eat certain foods at all. The truth is that everyone eats differently depending on their personal preferences. Therefore it’s up to each individual person to decide what they want their meals to look like.
Dietary fibre is bad for you.
You may have heard that dietary fibre is bad for you, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Dietary fibre has been shown to
help with weight loss and digestive health, as well as blood sugar regulation. Dietary fibres also help lower cholesterol levels by binding bile acids in your intestine. This then helps prevent cholesterol from being absorbed into your bloodstream which can cause heart disease or stroke.
You need to avoid fat and carbs.
It’s true that fat and carbohydrates are both good for you. In moderation, they can help you feel satisfied and perform better at work. But if you’re trying to lose weight or get in shape, it’s best to limit your intake of fat and carbs as much as possible
Fat is probably the most misunderstood nutrient around many people think they need to avoid it at all costs when they’re trying to lose weight; but in reality, calories from fat do not contribute significantly to overall calorie intake (1). This makes sense because our bodies already have enough stored fat for us to burn through during exercise–it would have little effect on what we eat over time if we simply ate less food overall!
Alcohol is good for you.
Alcohol is a food group, not a nutrient. It’s true that alcohol contains certain vitamins and minerals, but this doesn’t mean it’s good for you–or even necessary for your health!
High-fructose corn syrup is bad for you.
High-fructose corn syrup is a sweetener that’s used to add sweetness to many processed foods. It’s made from corn, and it’s found in soft drinks and other sweetened beverages like soda, ketchup and salad dressing.
High-fructose corn syrup is not as bad for you as sugar, but it does affect your body differently than table sugar (sucrose). Sugar can cause insulin resistance if you eat too much of it over time–but no evidence suggests that HFCS has this effect on people who consume moderate amounts regularly.
Nutrition doesn’t work like math, so get rid of your numbers and understand the food choices you make by changing your mindset about food.
You may have heard people say that nutrition is math, but it’s not. Nutrition isn’t a simple equation where you take in x calories and lose y pounds. Instead, it’s an ecosystem of food choices and lifestyle factors that impact your body–and they all work together to make you healthy or sick!
Nutrition myths can be hard to break because they are rooted in an outdated paradigm of thinking. We often think about food as if it were just another commodity to be traded on an open market. These myths don’t take into account how different types of foods affect us physiologically differently. Instead, they focus on calorie counts alone.
Calculating exact caloric intake can be quite important for weight loss or gain management purposes. It should however not define our relationship with nutrition any more than the price of items would define our relationship with money. In reality, we don’t buy foodstuffs based solely on their price tags!
The most important thing to remember is that your nutrition is not a number. You can’t add up the calories in a burger and the ones from an apple and come out with a balanced diet. It doesn’t work like that, so don’t think about it as such! Instead of relying on numbers when it comes down to making decisions about what foods you eat, focus on how these choices make you feel instead—and then make them for yourself too.
