Top 8 Nutrition Myths Debunked

With the internet at the tip of our fingertips today, you would think that nutrition myths are less prevalent as compared to the past. A quick google and you will be able to find the scientific debunks to old wives’ tales.

Unfortunately, quite the opposite is true. Due to the endless streams of information and how broad the industry is, the internet is rife with stacks of misinformation, trends and fads, making it increasingly hard to find reliable information. This is fueled by marketing tactics from advertisements and social media that prey on desperate, lazy people who want short cuts to success.

Even studies can be junk science if they are not reviewed properly. For example, researcher Johannes Bohannon fooled many using a flawed study on how chocolate can help weight loss. Such potentially huge headliners often get published by journalists without verification, due to their hasty search for viral hits.

Here I will be identifying some of the biggest nutrition myths. I will also be looking at why these beliefs should be put to rest based on evidence.

Don’t be fooled by marketing tactics that are not supported by science.

1. Carbs are Bad for you

Carbs has been shunned by many over fears that consuming it is unhealthy and can cause weight gain. Many think that carbs invoke an insulin response which causes weight gain. Another popular thought is how high-glycemic index is bad for health.

While indulging in highly processed or sugary carbs can be unhealthy as it will increase the risk of health problems like cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, studies have shown that complex carbs such as vegetables, whole grains and fruits are high in fibre, vitamins and minerals. In fact, because of its high fibre content, complex carbs will help to make you feel full faster, reducing the volume of food intake.

Studies show that low-carb, high-carb or ketogenic diets can lead to similar weight loss. Studies also show that low-gylcemic index diets have little effect on health markers. Furthermore, there is insufficient evidence about the carb-insulin model of obesity. Thus, carbs is not the culprit for health and weight changes, but calories.

2. Fats are Bad for you

Similarly, many think that all fat is bad and will make you fat.

While saturated and trans fat are indeed bad for health, unsaturated fat is essential for survival. They are the ones that our bodies use and have been associated with health benefits. For example, unsaturated fat from fish or nuts help to protect your heart by reducing the LDL cholesterol. Thus, you should try to replace these saturated and trans fat with unsaturated fats as much as possible. Some examples of trans fat include those found in processed foods such as fries and cookies.

Similar to carbs, studies show that low-fat diets produce similar weight loss as compared to low-carb diets. Thus, fat is not the culprit for weight changes, but calories.

Not all fats are bad! Salmon contains fats that are essential for survival.

3. Fat-free food can help you Lose Weight

Fat-free does not mean calorie-free. Although a fat-free product is lower in calories as compared to a similar full-fat product, a fat-free product by itself may still be high in calories as a lot of sugar and other processed carbohydrates are added. This can be seen in this study. Examples of such foods include granola bars, dried fruit, or even chocolates.

Make sure you read the nutritional labels of the product to see if it fits your caloric goals.

4. Healthy Food can help you Lose Weight

Similarly, “healthy” food that are high in nutrition can actually be very high in calories. Examples include olive oil, avocados, nuts and honey.

Be careful not to binge on food that are fat-free or “healthy” without taking into account its nutritional information. Again, it is important that you read the nutrition labels of the product and see if it fits your caloric and macronutrient goals.

Always check the nutrition labels! Some seemingly healthy food can be very high in calories.

5. You can Burn Fat by Eating Certain Foods

Certain foods have been marketed to be fat-burning, such as green tea or apple cider vinegar, or have negative-calories, such as celery or cucumber. These are every dieter's dream – food that burns fat, or has fewer calories than what your body expends to chew and digest them.

Although these “fat-burning” foods may help to increase metabolism, the increase in metabolism is negligible, and the studies are inconclusive.

Similarly, although chewing and digesting these “negative-calories” food will burn calories, this study shows that the calories used will not outweigh the calories consumed. This makes sense because only 5-10% of your daily energy expenditure goes to digestion.

Studies have shown that fat-burning / negative-calories foods are nothing but a myth. Do not be deceived by fad foods that over-promise, only leaving you disappointed after.

The effects of green tea on increased metabolism are at best negligible.

6. Breakfast is the Most Important Meal of the Day

You probably heard this before:

• You must eat breakfast to lose weight.

• Skipping breakfast is bad for you.

• Breakfast increases your metabolism throughout the day.

• Kickstart your day with a hearty breakfast full of sugar!

But what does research say?

Well, everything you've heard about breakfast is wrong. It is not the most important meal of the day. In fact for most, it might not even be necessary.

There are tons of studies showing that skipping breakfast is associated with weight loss. Moreover, why should timing dictate which meal is the most important? Lunch and dinner are equally important, as long as you're getting the right nutrition. Lastly, breakfast are usually heavy in sugars and carbs, which are not essential.

So why did the 'breakfast is good for you' myth come about? It probably came from a observational study where people who regularly consume breakfast tend to be at a healthier weight. But the study was not a good one. These people who regularly consume breakfast also had more consistent habits, better sleep, and ate healthier food in general. Many variables were not constant.

Instead of looking at such studies, we should look at randomized controlled trials. There are studies that compared non-breakfast eaters and breakfast eaters with more consistent criteria. 7 studies looked at participants who ate breakfast over 7 weeks, and they gained 1.2 lbs more than those who didn’t. Another 10 studies looked at the effects of breakfast on total calorie intake - participants who ate breakfast consumed 260 more calories than those who didn’t.

Surprising? Not at all. Obviously, eating one more meal would mean more caloric intake, resulting in weight gain. Skipping breakfast can help you lose weight, assuming you keep the other meals constant, and not binge.

That being said, if you love breakfast, enjoy it! But preferably add in some protein choices such as eggs, bacon, ham, oat or low fat milk, to name a few. And if you're aiming to lose weight, make sure eating breakfast will help you reduce a portion of your lunch / dinner.

There is nothing magical about breakfast compared to other meals of the day.

7. To Lose Weight, Do Not Eat after 8 pm

One of the most common suggestions to lose weight is to avoid eating late at night. But is it really true? Let's look at the evidences.

The idea stemmed from hypothesis that eating at night goes against your circadian rhythm, which is the 24-hour cycle of when to sleep, eat and wake up. According to this rhythm, you should be sleeping, not eating late at night.

There were some studies in mice that actually support this notion. Mice that ate during waking hours gained less weight that those that those which didn't. But let's look at the studies in humans.

A study in more than 1600 children found no correlation between eating after 8 pm and additional weight gain. There were other studies that are in line with the fact that the way your body process calories is unrelated to the time of the day you eat. What matters is the total calories consumed.

However, there are some studies that compared eating after 8 pm and the amount of calories consumed. They found that those who ate late at night tend to eat more calories, which resulted in weight gain over time. But why?

This is because

1) Late eaters tend to eat more calories

2) Late eaters tend to make poorer food choices with low nutritional value (chips, ice-cream etc.)

In conclusion, eating late at night doesn't mean you will gain more weight. But if you tend to eat more food with low nutritional value at night, you might want to stay away from eating late.

It is not the timing, but the food choices you make at night that result in weight gain.

8. Eat Small, Frequent Meals to Boost Metabolism

You have probably heard that eating at least 6 meals a day can increase metabolism. While there is research to show that eating on extreme ends of the meal frequency spectrum can help in weight loss, studies also show that eating relatively normal number of meals (3 to 6 times per day) does not make a huge difference in terms of body composition when compared to eating on extreme ends of the meal frequency spectrum. Thus, it does not matter how many meals you eat per day.

However, practically, eating many meals per day will mean that the meals have to be small. This may mean that the meals will not satisfy you, which can lead to issues with hunger control. And studies do suggest that.

Therefore, my recommendation will be to eat somewhere between 3 to 6 meals per day. That being said, if you do well with eating 7 meals a day, feel free to stick to it. What matters most is that you can be consistent with it.

Finally, for those who are trying to gain weight, increasing your meal frequency might be a good way to consume a high amount of calories. In that case, it might be better to eat more meals per day.