What are the most popular diet beliefs for weight loss?
Are these beliefs true or just myths?
In this blog we go in detail about some popular diet myths.
Written by Ms Dilara Kamisli; Updated by Ms Rowinda Dimech
As a dietitian I continuously hear diet myths from people all around me – family, friends, colleagues and clients. In my opinion diet myths are dangerous beliefs as they impact your quality of life, especially your psychological and emotional well being. This is why in this blog we are going in detail about some of the most common diet myths.
Myth #1 CONSUMING BREAD MAKES YOU GAIN WEIGHT
The myth that bread cannot be eaten on a regular basis in your diet is a myth! Unfortunately, I believe that this myth has always been preached. We, dietitians, have been hearing a lot of people saying ”I don’t consume bread” based on this believe. Research shows that bread is one of the best carbohydrate resources that needs to be part of our daily food intake. Bread helps you not to get hungry so quickly. This is because bread is a complex carbohydrate. Therefore, one of the most important things about consuming the bread is the portion size of bread you are eating, rather than totally eliminate it from your diet. In addition, if you suffer from diabetes, it would be ideal if you consume wholemeal bread instead of white bread. Wholemeal bread bread will help you control your blood glucose levels and calorie intake since it is rich in dietary fiber.
Myth #2 FAT BURNING MIRACLE FOOD
Flavored water, vinegar, pills, branded smoothies, etc. Unfortunately, people always expect to lose weight (which they gained in a long period of time) fast by consuming these kind of products. Actually, it sounds very tempting: “weight loss in a short period of time” but what about the consequences. What does these miracle foods do to your body? What is the long-term effect? Is it possible that a fast weight can really be lost?
We, healthcare professionals often hear, ‘’I’m drinking lemon water, green tea , herbal teas, etc and I am lost 10 Kg in 2 weeks.’’ To start explaining this think about it this way: if weight loss can be done with any tea, pills or any food product, there would be no such problems with ‘obesity’ in this world. So, now let’s explain it more scientifically. Rapid weight loss will occur due to huge calorie deficit in your diet. This will be much less than the minimum calories/energy your body needs. This will result in muscle loss rather than fat loss. Therefore, it is important to lose weight slowly over time so that it doesn’t alter your metabolism. And as I always emphasize in my blogs, there is no food that will make you gain or lose weight. It all depends on the portion sizes consumed throughout the day.
Myth #3 THİNKİNG THAT YOU WİLL LOSE WEİGHT BY STARVİNG
I don’t eat anything all day long, I eat very little, why can’t I still lose weight? You might think that the less you eat the more weight loss you will achieve. Actually when we skip meals, this leads to a slower metabolism. In fact, when you try to lose weight in this way, muscle loss will occur and hence the slower metabolism, leading to malnutrition. Since a diet like this is not sustainable for a long period of time you will quit the diet. So when this happens and you start having a normal diet again you will end up gaining weight faster due to a slower metabolism.
Myth #4 CONSUMİNG HEALTHY FOODS WİTHOUT LİMİTS (SUPERFOODS)
There is this believe in today’s society that ‘‘I can consume as much as I want if it is healthy’’. There is nothing that can be eaten in an unlimited amount in nutrition and any excess food you eat will be stored as fat in the body. Therefore, it is important to eat a healthy diet by having an adequate and balanced diet.
Myth #5 COMPARISON OF SOMEONE ELSE’S DİET AND POPULAR FAD DİETS
It is of utmost importance that nutrition is individualized. This is because diet varies according to gender, weight, height, age, level of physical activity, hormonal problems, lifestyle and eating habits and medical conditions such as diabetes, Irritable bowel disease, Irritable bowel syndrome and other metabolic syndrome. The only reason you should want to lose weight is to be healthier and improve your quality of life.
İn today’s web one finds a lot of myths about food and diet. The truth is that all type of food contains a certain amount of calories. Calories are used by the body in the same way since all our physiology and metabolic pathways work the same since we are all human beings. Therefore, I would advise that if you would like to lose weight and not sure what to follow as a diet, it is best to leave it in the hands of a dietitian. If, you would to seek professional advise kindly contact us. İn addition, please subscribe to our website for more nutrition information and free recipes.
