DEBUNKING FOOD, FITNESS AND DIET MYTHS

More and more, people are going insane with food myths, twisting their diets, health and minds with unnecessary, sometimes risky restrictions and ridiculous indulgencies. The problem is there are several different types of food and fitness so called “facts” circulating, and over the years I have realized that there are three categories:

1) The general public’s beliefs, this is usually heavy with half-truths

2) Old concepts and common anecdotes, what wellness and health sector persists and tell us based on research both superficially done, and

3) Fully studied and researched unbiased nutritional and fitness facts.

Because of the life and death importance of your own health and wellness and the abundance of biased information everywhere it is important that we don’t just accept every bit of information thrown at us as fact. Here we will look at six common food misconceptions.

1) Juicing is always healthy

When we juice fruits, the tendency is to remove the fiber which slows the absorption of the sugar and reduces the insulin spiking. To make it worse all too often we will use more than one or even more than two fruits, doubling and tripling the sugar and calorie content. It should be clear that if you are trying to control your weight, manage your sugar levels, or just avoiding sugar related illnesses, knocking back juices, smoothies and the likes isn’t your best plan. Eat a fruit or two per day instead and drink water.

2) Coconut oil is as healthy as olive oil or healthier than vegetable oil

A tablespoon of olive oil or vegetable oil has only roughly 1.9 gram of saturated fat, and more than 10 grams of healthy mono or polyunsaturated fats. On the other hand coconut oil has a crazy 12 grams of saturated fats and only 1 gram of healthy fat. Saturated fats of course have been linked with high cholesterol and the risk of type 2 diabetes. Use it in moderation.

3) Egg yolks are unhealthy

People have been avoiding egg yolks like the plague after it was assumed that they were high in cholesterol and only the whites were safe. But a growing number of studies are showing that a moderate intake of egg yolks has no discernable effect on blood cholesterol levels if you do not already have high levels. So, unless you have high cholesterol the studies show that you can enjoy your one or two yolks per day. Plus, they are protein packed and contain most of the nutrition of the egg.

4) A bowl full of granola is great for you

Granola certainly looks healthy and many people believe it is, pouring bowls of it every morning. Well, it turns our that pouring a bowl of granola is not your best bet for weight control. Just 1 cup of granola contains up to 500 calories and 20 grams of sugar, and to top it off, most people pour 1.5 – 2 cups into a bowl. Moderation is key or find a different cereal with the same crunch and fiber but less sugar.

5) The horrors of Gluten

Buy gluten free bread, gluten free cookies, gluten is bad. This gluten scare is building steadily and now manufacturers are jumping on board. Gluten is a mixture of naturally occurring proteins stored in grain, and is found in oats, rye, barley, wheat etc. Gluten issues have been identified in a fraction of percentage of the population, specifically people with illnesses such as celiac disease and mast cell activation syndrome. So, if you are among over the 99% of people who do not have celiac disease or mast cell activation syndrome or if you do not have a gluten allergy, gluten is not an issue at all!

6) Detox products are necessary for your health

If you have been recently poisoned, break out your first aid manual, see if you need to swallow some activated charcoal and head to the emergency room, otherwise, you certainly don’t need a detox.

Detox products claim to clean the blood and clean our system of harmful toxins. There is no research which supports these marketed detox products which are detoxifying. Your body already has natural built in systems for detoxifying itself. At the head of these are our very own detoxifying organs, our kidneys and liver. Our kidneys remove waste products from our blood and our liver processes and removes toxins from medications, alcohol, foods and so on. Just think twice about what you are putting into your body, forget the alcohol, eat your vegetables and fiber, and give your organs a chance to do their jobs.

Next week we’ll look at myths surrounding sports drinks, multivitamins, brown sugar, margarine, low fat and sugar free products.