In these times of covid and rising pollution, people have gotten more conscious about their diets and are experimenting with various kinds of products to choose the right one for themselves. Where self-awareness about our bodies kicks in, there are also a lot of nutritional myths waiting on the pedestal to get debunked. There are some bizarre nutrition takes which are influencing the diets and minds of people now and need to be addressed. If you are someone who is starting a new diet and you are skeptical about something, you should do your research about the food product before cutting it out entirely so that you don’t let any misinformation feed you.
Some of the common nutrition myths which NEED to be busted are:
- SKIPPING MEALS WILL HELP YOU REDUCE YOUR CALORIE INTAKE AND LOSE WEIGHT
A very common practice amongst people when they are on their journey of weight loss is skipping meals. What they do need to realize is that the second they decide to skip one meal for a calorie deficit diet, their body will automatically go into the fat mode where they will reach out to have food with high-fat content and in large amounts which will derail their journey. Also, when you skip meals, your metabolism slows down so no matter how less you eat after the skipped meal, the rate at which calories are burned reduces. So having the right portions but all the meals in a day is necessary.
- AVOIDING CARBS IS IMPORTANT FOR WEIGHT LOSS
This isn’t an entirely wrong myth but people need to realize that there are two types of carbs- the good carbs and the bad carbs. If you cut out food items like bread, pasta, pizza, etc. which also fall under the junk food spectrum, you are bound to lose significant weight. But there are carbohydrates in a lot of other food items which should not be cut out from your diet because the carb is an important nutrient and you need to balance your diet by keeping all the nutrients in check.
- YOU SHOULD NOT EAT AFTER 8 PM
This depends on when you go to bed at night. It is advisable to eat before 8 PM so that you have around 2-3 hours before bed for your food to digest. Also, after a long day, people tend to eat fatty items in the evening or go for larger portions of food. Thus, it becomes important to time your diet. It’s no hard and fast rule to eat dinner before 8, you can do it afterward too. All you have to keep in mind is to avoid eating right before bed.
- MICROWAVES KILL THE NUTRIENTS
Well, cooking on the stove every time isn’t the most feasible option. It is a common misconception that microwaves kill the nutrients of the food item whereas this is entirely wrong. The amount of heat you apply to your food and the time taken to heat it determines the nutrient content in it. if you heat your food long on the stove, in the microwave, or in any other form, you will lose nutrients.
- INTENSE ACTIVITIES ARE NEEDED TO REMAIN FIT AND YOU CAN’T SNACK
Intense activities like gyming are advisable but not necessary to remain healthy. Apart from following a healthy diet, it is important to keep your body moving but for that house chores, brisk walking, gardening, and other low-intensity exercises can also work. You just need to do some physical activity so that your calories are burning continuously. Another myth that needs to be addressed is that you can’t snack. Well, that isn’t true. Planning out small portions of snacks throughout the day will keep you full and is healthy.
