TOP 5 NUTRITION MYTHS OF 2021

Myth 1. Carbs are bad for you

For decades, fat was the enemy, but today, there’s a new scapegoat: carbs. Vilifying carbs and insulin seems to get more popular by the year.

Many people believe that the popular glycemic index and the lesser-known insulin index rank foods by their “unhealthiness”. Yet the available research shows that low-glycemic diets, when compared to higher-glycemic diets, have either no effect or only modest beneficial effects on metabolic syndrome factors,even in diabetics. Furthermore, a low-glycemic diet doesn’t always lead to better glycemic control than do other diet patterns.

Similarly, the carbohydrate-insulin model of obesity, which theorizes that obesity is caused by carbs and the insulin response they evoke, is not well-supported by the evidence.

In 2017, a meta-analysis of 32 controlled feeding studies was published. Some of those studies were metabolic ward studies and some were free-living studies, but in each case, meals were supplied by the researchers, who wanted to ensure that each diet provided specific amounts of calories and nutrients (within each study, the diets were equal in calories and protein but not in fat and carbs).

So what were the results? Low-fat diets resulted in greater fat loss (by an average of 16 grams per day) and greater energy expenditure (by an average of 26 calories per day). This would give low-fat diets a fat-loss advantage, though one “so small as to be physiologically meaningless”.

These results are consistent with those of long-term, free-living, randomized controlled trials designed to test a diet’s real-world effectiveness (meaning that the participants were given instructions but left to prepare their own meals). Meta-analyses show that keto, low-carb, and higher-carb diets lead to similar weight loss.

Eating less carbohydrate (especially processed carbs) can be helpful if it helps you eat healthier. But if cutting carbs makes you eat worse or feel worse, or if you can’t stick with the diet, you should consider other options. If you wish to lose weight, what matters is not to replace fat by carbs or carbs by fat, but to end most days on a caloric deficit.

The Truth: As long as you do not overindulge, there is nothing inherently harmful about carbohydrates.

Myth 2: Egg yolks are bad for you

If there’s one thing the media is good at, it’s scaring you away from perfectly healthy foods.

Yes, foods high in cholesterol can increase LDL cholesterol in most people but to a fairly small extent on average. Moreover, some of the micronutrients and other bioactive compounds in egg yolks could interfere with cholesterol absorption, and many studies have failed to find an increase in cholesterol in egg eaters.

More to the point, although a review of cohort studies (a type of observational studies) associated higher consumption of cholesterol or eggs with higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality in a dose-response manner, clinical trials (a more rigorous type of study) found no association between eggs and CVD, except in some people who “hyper-respond” to dietary cholesterol.

The Truth: Eggs are a great source of protein, fats, and other nutrients. Their association with high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease has been severely overblown.

Myth 3: Fresh is more nutritious

Fresh produce has a natural appeal to many people. “Fresh” just sounds better than “canned” or “frozen”, doesn’t it? But just because a food is fresh doesn’t necessarily mean it’s more nutritious.

Fresh produce is defined as anything that is “postharvest ripened” (if it ripens during transport) or “vine-ripened” (if it is picked and sold ripe, at a farmer’s fresh market or at a farmer’s roadside fruit stand, for instance).

Frozen produce is generally vine ripened before undergoing minimal processing prior to freezing. Most vegetables and some fruits are blanched in hot water for a few minutes prior to freezing to inactivate enzymes that may cause unfavorable changes in color, flavor, smell, and nutritional value. While there are some differences between fresh and frozen for select nutrients in select fruits and vegetables, overall, the nutritional content is very similar.

Canned produce is usually vine ripened, like frozen produce, but it tends to undergo a lot more processing, several forms of which can break down some essential nutrients, such as nitrates almost entirely. However, one should remember that cooking is also a form of processing, and that different ways of cooking can affect the produce’s nutrient content and bioavailability more than its being fresh, frozen, or canned. An additional issue with canned produce, however, is that salt and sugar are often added as preservatives to vegetables and fruits respectively — so look at the label.

The Truth: There’s little difference between fresh and frozen produce, nutrient-wise. Canned produce tends to undergo a lot more processing, but remember that cooking is a form of processing too. Overall, fresh and frozen produce might be more nutritious than canned produce, but eating enough whole-food fruits and vegetables is more important than how they were processed.

Myth 4: To lose fat don’t eat before bed

Some studies show a fat-loss advantage in early eaters, others in late eaters. Overall, early eaters seem to have a slight advantage — nothing impressive. Trials, however, imperfectly reflect real life. In real life, there are two main reasons why eating at night might hinder fat loss, and both are linked to an increase in your daily caloric intake.

The first reason is the simplest: if, instead of going directly to bed, we first indulge in a snack, then the calories from that snack are calories we might have done without.

The second reason is that, when we get tired, we tend to eat to keep going, with a predilection for snack foods or tasty treats. So if we stay awake at night — especially to work or study, but even just to watch TV — we’re more likely to eat, not out of hunger, but to help fight sleepiness.

The Truth: Eating late won’t make you gain weight, unless it drives you to eat more. Resisting tasty, high-calorie snacks can also be harder after a long day.

Myth 5: You shouldn’t skip breakfast

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” is something we have all heard before from parents, doctors, health bloggers, and ad campaigns. But the health perks of consuming a regular breakfast have been overhyped.

People on #TeamBreakfast mention observational studies showing that, on average, breakfast skippers have a higher BMI.However, clinical trials have shown that personal preference is a critical factor. Some people will subconsciously compensate for all the calories they skipped at breakfast, while others won’t feel cravings of the same magnitude. In one trial, women who didn’t habitually eat breakfast were made to consume it, and they gained nearly 2 pounds over four weeks.Individual responses do vary, so don’t try to force yourself into an eating pattern that doesn’t sit well with you or that you can’t sustain — it may end up backfiring.

Another popular claim is that skipping breakfast can crash your metabolism. But studies in both lean and overweight individuals have shown that skipping breakfast does not inherently slow your resting metabolic rate (RMR).

However, the “don’t skip breakfast” mantra might hold true for people with impaired glucose regulation.

The Truth: You don’t need to eat breakfast to be healthy or lose weight. You should base your breakfast consumption on your preferences and personal goals. Feel free to experiment to see if you want to make skipping breakfast a habit.

For more advice like this, find out more about my online personal training services.