Popular Diet Myths - Top Five Diet Myths
If you want the truth about Popular
Diet Myths, your in the right place
The world of dieting is full of
myths. That does not make the dieting myths true.
We have just reviewed popular diet myths, identified the fact
about the diet myth and the truth behind it. Finally you will have the
answers about popular diet myths.
Popular Diet Myth 1
Popular Diet Myth
- Slow metabolism prevents weight loss.
Diet Myth Fact - Your metabolism determines how many
calories you body burns at all times during the day during all levels
of activity or inactivity.
Diet Myth Truth - As
people gain weight and become fat the resting metabolism becomes
higher.
Popular Diet Myth 2
Popular Diet Myth - No fat diets / low fat diets are good
for you.
Diet
Myth Fact - Leading dietitians
recommend 1/3 or your daily calories to come from fat.
Diet
Myth Truth - The body needs fat for energy, tissue repair
and to transport vitamins A, D, E and K around the body. As a rule of
thumb:
- Women need on average 70g of fat per day.
- Men need on average 95g of fat per
day .
- Women need 30g as the minimum of fat per day.
- Men need 40g as the minimum
of fat per day.
Popular Diet Myth 3
Popular
Diet Myth
- Fattening foods equals a large amount of weight gain.
Diet Myth Fact - Weight gain is a slow process.
Your body requires an extra 3500 calories to gain one pound of
body fat. On the flip-side, you need to burn 3500 calories
to drop a pound.
Diet Myth Truth - For a lifestyle change balance high fat
foods with healthy food and exercise.
Popular Diet Myth 4
Popular
Diet Myth - Crash dieting or fasting equals weight loss.
Popular Diet Fact
- Short term: yes, but this
approach can hinder weight loss in the long-run..
Diet Myth Truth -
Crash dieting or fasting not
only removes fat but also lean muscle and tissue. The less muscle you have the less
calories you burn, so in the long-run you have lost the ability to burn
calories,
making weight gain more likely once you stop dieting.
Popular Diet Myth 5
Popular
Diet Myth -
Food eaten late at night is more fattening. Many diets
tell you not to
eat after a certain time in the evening. They say the body will store
more fat because it is not burned off with any activity.
Popular Diet
Fact - eating regular meals across a day helps
people regulate their
appetite.
Popular
Diet Truth - It's
not when you eat that's important, but the total amount you consume in
a 24-hour period.
Popular Diet Myth Continued
The basic idea of any diet is to eat food that
contains fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its current
weight. This way, the body is forced to use the accumulated fat in
order to make up for the energy it does’t get from food. But
a diet also has to be tasty and nutritionally sound. Simply banning
certain types of foods and ingredients is not a solution because
anybody following such a diet will have to acknowledge sooner or later
that he or she wants those foods and ingredients badly and a relapse
into the old eating habits becomes inevitable.
People
should also learn
not to put their faith into meal replacements, such as Mypoplex,
Slimfast or Eat-Smart. These combinations of low-fat and high-protein
substances cannot substitute a proper diet. They should never be used
for more than 4 four weeks in a row. Calories are important to the body
and nobody can go on for long without them. Cutting calories out of the
long-term nutrition is a huge mistake because the internal organs and
muscles need them to function. Using meal replacements for a week or
two, as a shock treatment, is fine. Relying on them for two months is
asking for trouble. And the same goes for single-food diets, such as
the cabbage soup diet, because they are based on the same idea.
Another widespread myth is the idea that the best
approach to weight loss is a low-carb, high-protein diet. This is one
of the myths that emerged from the Hollywood slimming industry. Nearly
all movie stars and singers are on some such diet. However, this
approach is not exactly good for you because a diet low in
carbohydrates and calories forces the body to use existing carbs
located in the liver and the muscles. In time, this diet leads to
weight loss mainly from water stored in the body, instead of fat, and
also strains the internal organs.
And people should not be so afraid of potatoes,
bread and pasta, the leading sources of carbohydrates. Carbs are
actually good for you because they quell the feeling of hunger without
bringing in too many calories. So you can safely eat moderate amounts
of potatoes and bread as long as you don’t use butter or
sauces, which are laden with fat. Naturally, you also have to pay
attention to how these foods are prepared. French fries are not a
low-fat food. Still, a high-carb, low-fat diet is far better than
banning potatoes and bread from your daily meals and it’s
also easier to stick to.
Drinking a certain quantity of water every day is
a good idea because it keeps the body hydrated and fills the stomach.
Water also keeps the intestines healthy by facilitating the movements
of undigested food to the exit point. However, simply drinking water
does not trigger weight loss. There is only one way to lose weight and
that is to burn up the existing fat and water cannot do that. Nor
should a diet be judged solely by how much weight is lost per week.
Some people claim that a diet can be considered effective if the weekly
loss of weight is above two pounds. Frankly, two pounds per week is a
lot of weight to lose and you can be sure that not all of it is fat,
but also the lean tissue that makes up the muscles.
Another myth claims that fat is absolutely bad for
you. It’s not. Quite on the contrary, the body needs some fat
in order to get the important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K
circulating through the cardiovascular system. Moreover, fat also
brings into the body the essential fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6 that
cannot be synthesized in the body. The word
“essential” means that these fatty acids simply
have to be present in your daily food since they play an important role
in your health. The recommended dose of fat is 35 percent of your daily
calories.
And last of all comes the idea that a diet or eating plan is enough in
itself and does not have to be coupled with exercising. But exercising
is the most effective way of burning up the extra calories stored as
fat. Simply sitting at your desk all day long is not going
to do the
trick, regardless of what diet you’re on. Remember that a
diet that has plenty of food (the right kind of food) and plenty of
exercise is far better than sitting on the sofa and drinking cabbage
soup every six hours. It works faster and is less stressful to your
body. |