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What Are Some Nutrition Myths That Should Be Debunked? -
12-11-2007
What Are Some Nutrition Myths That Should Be Debunked? Introduction There are numerous nutritional myths out there. Most of us believe in these myths so much, we don't even ask any body to confirm if it's a myth or not. We blindly listen and obey these beliefs and ultimately see little result. In this article, I will debunk the most common nutritional myths out there today. Nutrition Myths What Are Some Nutrition Myths That Should Be Debunked? Carbohydrates At Night Will Make You Fat: Not true. Carbohydrates itself will not make you fat, the calories will. It's very simple really. If you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. If you consume less calories than you burn, you will lose weight. If you consume the same amount of calories that you burn throughout the day, then you will maintain weight. The calories can be burned off by cardiovascular activity, weight training, sports, chewing gum... Bottom line: Carbohydrates at night will not make you fat; it all depends on the overall caloric intake throughout the entire day. Make sense? A Fat Free Diet Is Good For Your Health: First off, a fat free diet is almost impossible. Only a few foods have no fat such as some brands of whole grain cereal. But even if you eat nothing but those fat free cereals and drink nothing but water, you'd probably get very ill. Why? Dietary fats are needed to carry fat soluble vitamins such as vitamin D, E, K, and X. Also, our body needs the essential fatty acids found in plants and fish oil in order to function properly. Our cells need those essential fatty acids to help make every cell membrane watertight. By consuming those essential fatty acids, you are also preventing symptoms of inflammatory problems like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and supporting a healthy heart and joints. Fat is NOT the enemy! Soda Is Bad - Drink Fruit Juice Instead: The first part is correct. The second part is just another myth. While fruit juices provide vitamin C and other vitamins, it is very sugary and caloric dense. The fruit juice is very easily absorbed by the body, causing blood-sugar levels to suddenly increase. By doing so, the body releases the energy-storage hormone known as insulin. The insulin-response by the body then triggers increased fat storage and increased appetite. The best alternative to soda is water, not fruit juice. Avoid Milk Because It Makes You Store Fat: This is also nonsense. Now unless you have some sort of milk allergy, such as lactose intolerance or some other sort allergy, you should continue to avoid consuming milk. However, if you do not, then you may want to think twice about milk consumption. In my opinion, milk is the cheapest source of protein on the market. Milk also contains essential vitamins and minerals such as calcium, vitamin D and A as well as quality amino acids. It has been proven that milk has unrivaled anti-catabolic properties that feed your body for up to five hours. I, like many others, use milk to mix my whey protein before and after my workouts. Drink up! The Average Body Can Only Digest 30 Grams Of Protein At A Time: I believed this myth for almost a year and a half. For my post workout shakes, I would consume only a total of thirty grams of protein (ten from milk and twenty from whey). I soon found out that the body can handle much more than that. Depending on your body type and weight, one can digest X amount of protein per hour. However, the excess protein does not get discarded by the body. It stays there until the next hour, where it will continue to be absorbed until it is gone. Now, for my post workout shake, I use two scoops of whey protein instead of just one. One Can Only Digest One Type Of Food At A Time: This is only a myth. There is absolutely no scientific proof to justify that statement. We are perfectly capable of consuming say a steak and potatoes at once. The steak is mostly protein and fat and the potato is mostly carbohydrates. Our body is capable of digesting all three at a time. Water Makes You Gain Water Weight: Unless you are taking creatine, your muscles will not retain enough water weight for you to look bloated. Do not skimp on the water because water is very important for our well-being. A measly two percent drop in our bodies water supply can cause us to dehydrate. Just like a car cannot run without gasoline or oil, humans cannot run without water. Drinking eight glasses of water daily can reduce the risk of colon cancer by forty five percent and bladder cancer by fifty percent. However, because we workout and do cardiovascular exercise, we need to consume more water to replace all the water we sweat out. Aim for about a gallon of water daily. In contrary to popular belief, consuming more water will not force your body to retain water. Think about it. If you drink only four glasses of water, your body will think that water is scarce. What does your body do? It saves and stores it up inside your body causing water retention. Now if you drink say a gallon of water, your body will realize that water is abundant and will flush it out of your body, cleansing your entire body in the process. So the bottom-line is to drink more water to avoid water weight. Kinda weird but true. Breakfast, Lunch, And Dinner Provide All The Nutrients You Need To Build Muscle And Live A Healthy Life: In order to get all the nutrients you need throughout the day in those three meals, they would all have to be in huge portions. There are two main problems in doing so. First, large meals are very hard to absorb. Second, these large infrequent meals will stimulate fat storage. This is similar to the myth about water retention above. If food is plentiful, the body will not store the fat. In order to make your body realize that food is abundant, you would have to consume medium sized portions regularly (2-3 hours). This is actually a very common belief, but it's just another myth. Red Meat Is High In Fat: Not always. For example, eye of round and flank are excellent red-meat choices. The eye of round is nearly as lean as skinless chicken breast and has more vitamins too. The reason why eye of round meat make people fat is because they use marinades or sauces that may contain oils. Instead, try broiling the red meat with herbs and lemon juice for a healthier approach. All Proteins Are Created Equal: I know I know, not many bodybuilders believe this. However, many people still believe that all proteins are created equal. There are actually three different type of proteins for those who do not yet know. The three types are whey, casein and soy protein. They each have their own pros and cons. For example, whey protein has been proven to digest in approximately thirty minutes. This would be the ideal protein source for post workout shakes. However, this would be a bad choice to consume before bed to prevent catabolism. The ideal protein to consume before bedtime would be the casein, because of its slow release. Do a search on the a sport & fitness nutrition forum for tons of information regarding these different proteins. Following a professional bodybuilders or a friend's diet will not give you the same gains. What works for somebody might not work for you. There is no universal magical "diet" that will work for everybody. However, there are guidelines that should work for most people. o Eat regularly (2-3 hours) in medium sized portions. o Eat 5 fruit servings a day. o No more soda, junk food... Replace with water. o Try to consume lean meat. o Drink lots of water. Especially if you are taking creatine. Avoid The Egg Yolk: A lot of bodybuilders eat only the egg whites and toss away the egg yolk, which is the most nutritious part of the egg. All of the eggs vitamin A, D and E are located in the egg yolk. The yolk portion also contains more manganese, copper, phosphorus, iodine, iron, calcium, and zinc than the egg white itself. The reason why so many people avoid the egg yolk is because of the high cholesterol level. However, recent studies show that humans do not absorb much cholesterol from the egg yolk (University Science article on eggs and cholesterol). With that said, why would you toss away such a perfectly nutritious food? Supplements Can Replace A Good Diet: This is the most important myth to debunk No, it most certainly cannot. So many people believe this myth, especially the beginners. I too, believed in this popular myth so I am not one to criticize. Your diet is the base of foundation for your progress. "Lean Meat, Fruits, And Whole Grains Should Be The Base Of Your Diet." Even while using the most excellent supplement(s) money can buy, one cannot reach their true potential with a poor diet. I should not say "using the most excellent supplement," but instead "with the AID of" because that is what it is. Lean meat, fruits, and whole grains should be the base of your diet, not whey protein and meal replacement protein bars. Understanding These Mistakes How Important Is It That People Understand These Nutrition Mistakes? People have said that proper nutritional and a good diet is 90 percent of bodybuilding. That may not be completely accurate, but a diet is very important. I would say roughly 50 percent, but you get the point. If you fall into one of the many nutritional mistakes, you will gain little muscle or even worse, lose muscle. It is important that you spot out the myths from the facts. If not, you will not progress to your body's full potential. If you believe one of those myths I listed above, stop. Your progress will come along better and you will live a healthy life. Avoiding The Traps How Can One Prevent Falling Into The Trap Of A Nutrition Myth? First off, do not believe everything you hear. If you are skeptical, do some research. Even if you are not skeptical, it is best that you search online to confirm some of these nutritional myths. Many people believe that bodybuilding magazines are the best source of information regarding sports nutrition. IT'S NOT! These bodybuilding magazines cannot simply survive on only our subscriptions. They make profit as many ways as they can, including advertising from nutritional-supplement manufacturers. Obviously, these manufacturers are biased so we cannot take their word. It is highly unlikely that these bodybuilding publications will turn on the nutritional-supplement manufacturers for fear of loss of revenue. Therefore, we as the readers should look for as many other sources out there to confirm these claims. There are thousands of informative nutritional articles on the internet so I would look there for confirmation. Other places include that monster at the gym that looks like he knows what he's doing. Look for those overlapping beliefs and consider if they are logical. Consider those beliefs as guidelines that you should base your diet around, do not imitate his exact diet because every individual is different. A recent study showed that only one percent of all bodybuilders receive their nutritional beliefs from registered dietitians. The study showed that fifty percent of bodybuilders received their nutritional beliefs from television and seventeen percent received their beliefs from bodybuilding magazines. Many bodybuilders receive their nutritional beliefs from their friends or family members (Bodybuilders: Myths About Nutrition). Television and bodybuilding magazine can sometimes be biased due to advertising and cannot always be trusted. The best thing one can do to prevent falling into a nutritional myth trap is to listen to logic. Do some research and do what seems the most logical to you. If somebody told you to stop drinking water in order to lose weight, stop and think if it is logical, or even safe. Bonus Question Have You Ever Fell For Any Of The Nutrition Myths? Which Ones? I think I stated that I believed in a few of those myths above. Now that I consume two scoops of whey protein for my post workout shake, I have gained much more muscle than I did before. I think everybody has to do that "trial and error" phase before they truly understand that these myths are really myths. Learn from these mistakes; don't just put your head down. Conclusion We have all fell into the trap of a nutritional myth before. Who can blame you? It is imperative that you do some research and use some common sense before you believe in one of these myths. The sooner you realize it's a myth, the better. source: bodybuilding.com 
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