Exposing Diet Myths
by Karen Danish, LAP
With bathing suit and vacation season fast approaching, finding and sticking to a diet is always on our minds. But which one do we choose? Whatever your goal, there is surely one out there that you hope will help you achieve it: weight loss, muscle-toner, fat-burner, abs-flattener, etc. There isn’t a miracle solution, though. Most fad diets aren’t personalized to fit each and every unique body, so we’re going to crack the myths behind some popular diet trends. From fat-free to no and low carb diets; let’s take a deeper dive into why these get-skinny-quick methods just aren’t what they seem.
Myth: Low-fat diets are good for you and will help you drop weight quick.
Fact: Dieters tend to think that if you cut out all fat, it will help them lose weight. However, a healthy diet means one third of your daily calories should come from fat. The body uses this fat for energy, tissue repair, and to transport vitamins throughout the body. There is no need to follow a fat-free diet, and could cause dieters to feel deprived and binge on high-fat foods later.
Myth: Crash dieting and fasting helps drop weight quickly.
Fact: There may be truth in this in the short term, but crash diets cause weight gain in the end. Losing weight over the long term in a healthy way burns off fat, but crash dieting burns fat but also lean muscle and tissue, causing a drop in metabolic rate. This means your body requires less calories throughout the day and can make weight gain more likely once you stop dieting.
Myth: Eating late at night is more fattening.
Fact: Many diets tell you not to eat after a certain hour of the day to prevent the body from storing food as fat. They say that the lack of activity after you eat causes weight gain at night. However, research has proven that it is more important to track calories over a 24-hour period than to start or stop eating meals at certain hours of the day. Space meals evenly throughout the day to prevent binge eating at night. This pattern will cause weight gain.
Myth: Low-fat or skim milk has less Calcium than full-fat milk.
Fact: Skimmed or semi-skimmed milk may actually have more Calcium than the full-fat variety because the Calcium is in the watery part of the milk, not the creamy part. Low-fat milk is an excellent part of a balanced diet and helps maintain a healthy weight.
Myth: Low-fat foods are the best for you.
Fact: Low-fat or fat-free foods don’t necessarily mean low-calorie. Next time you are in the grocery store, compare labels of your favorite food – the regular version and the low-fat. The caloric difference may only be slightly different, if there’s any difference at all. Plus, low-fat versions sometimes have added sugar or thickeners to enhance the flavor, which is affected by the lower fat content.
Myth: You can eat what you want as long as you exercise.
Fact: No amount of exercise can fix an unhealthy diet. A clean diet is the most important to maintaining a healthy body inside and out. Don’t give up your exercise routine, though.
Many diet trends today promise quick weight loss, but extreme diets and unhealthy exercise is unnecessary if you can work on cleaning up your diet and fitting in a little bit of exercise.
This post was written for My Fitness Hut, by Karen Danish, LAP. Karen is a licensed acupuncture physician and a valued staff member at Anne Hermann MD, PA, a Tampa Weight Loss and Nutrition Clinic
With bathing suit and vacation season fast approaching, finding and sticking to a diet is always on our minds. But which one do we choose? Whatever your goal, there is surely one out there that you hope will help you achieve it: weight loss, muscle-toner, fat-burner, abs-flattener, etc. There isn’t a miracle solution, though. Most fad diets aren’t personalized to fit each and every unique body, so we’re going to crack the myths behind some popular diet trends. From fat-free to no and low carb diets; let’s take a deeper dive into why these get-skinny-quick methods just aren’t what they seem.
Myth: Low-fat diets are good for you and will help you drop weight quick.
Fact: Dieters tend to think that if you cut out all fat, it will help them lose weight. However, a healthy diet means one third of your daily calories should come from fat. The body uses this fat for energy, tissue repair, and to transport vitamins throughout the body. There is no need to follow a fat-free diet, and could cause dieters to feel deprived and binge on high-fat foods later.
Myth: Crash dieting and fasting helps drop weight quickly.
Fact: There may be truth in this in the short term, but crash diets cause weight gain in the end. Losing weight over the long term in a healthy way burns off fat, but crash dieting burns fat but also lean muscle and tissue, causing a drop in metabolic rate. This means your body requires less calories throughout the day and can make weight gain more likely once you stop dieting.
Myth: Eating late at night is more fattening.
Fact: Many diets tell you not to eat after a certain hour of the day to prevent the body from storing food as fat. They say that the lack of activity after you eat causes weight gain at night. However, research has proven that it is more important to track calories over a 24-hour period than to start or stop eating meals at certain hours of the day. Space meals evenly throughout the day to prevent binge eating at night. This pattern will cause weight gain.
Myth: Low-fat or skim milk has less Calcium than full-fat milk.
Fact: Skimmed or semi-skimmed milk may actually have more Calcium than the full-fat variety because the Calcium is in the watery part of the milk, not the creamy part. Low-fat milk is an excellent part of a balanced diet and helps maintain a healthy weight.
Myth: Low-fat foods are the best for you.
Fact: Low-fat or fat-free foods don’t necessarily mean low-calorie. Next time you are in the grocery store, compare labels of your favorite food – the regular version and the low-fat. The caloric difference may only be slightly different, if there’s any difference at all. Plus, low-fat versions sometimes have added sugar or thickeners to enhance the flavor, which is affected by the lower fat content.
Myth: You can eat what you want as long as you exercise.
Fact: No amount of exercise can fix an unhealthy diet. A clean diet is the most important to maintaining a healthy body inside and out. Don’t give up your exercise routine, though.
Many diet trends today promise quick weight loss, but extreme diets and unhealthy exercise is unnecessary if you can work on cleaning up your diet and fitting in a little bit of exercise.
This post was written for My Fitness Hut, by Karen Danish, LAP. Karen is a licensed acupuncture physician and a valued staff member at Anne Hermann MD, PA, a Tampa Weight Loss and Nutrition Clinic
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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