5 Common Misconceptions About Dieting
The fear of getting overweight is one of the biggest worries most women have about themselves and their kids, whether they’re already getting obese or not. Often, when ‘obese’, ‘fat’ or ‘overweight’ is mentioned, their mind skips and they start to worry about how best to lose weight. But is food always the chief culprit?
It’s common to associate body mass with the amount and type of food consumed. Consequently, there are a lot of misconceptions about dieting as it relates to weight gain and loss.
But many of the beliefs about dieting and body mass is misleading. If anything, they can actually endanger your health. So, the earlier you get yourself informed about what is true and what is a fallacy, the better for you in terms of your time, effort and overall health. Here are some of the biggest misconceptions people have about dieting and the truth about each.
- Skipping meals or starving yourself is the fastest way to lose weight
This is the most widely believed malarkey about weight and dieting. You simply cannot lose weight by skipping meals or starving. On the contrary, trying to achieve a ‘model figure’ or going on a thin diet can put you at serious health risk. When you fail to eat as much as you should, you will get malnourished and become weak.
Also, when you starve or skip meals, you’re likely to eat more than is necessary when you eventually eat. That is because since you’re already weak and therefore need, a lot of much energy to regain strength. In trying to get that energy, you eat more, which means that in the end no result is achieved.
Remember, it’s not how many calories you eat, but how you eat them. Worried that your favorite clothes may no longer look nice on you? Keeping in great physical shape and health is all about maintained healthy routines and habits. Just match them with unique fashion wears and accessories of your choice to create that positive outlook and image you’ve always craved.
- Carbohydrates will make you fat
Most people get obsessively cautious about consuming carbohydrate because they think it could make them overweight, clumsy and ugly.
Actually, it is not carbohydrates that make you gain weight, instead, it is the kind of carbohydrate you consume. For instance, while fried starchy food increases weight gain, grain and wholemeal carbohydrates such as brown rice and bread do not. That is the reason why NHS recommends you eat the latter kind of carbohydrate more.
So, if you choose to go for diets that are rich in protein but low in carbohydrate on the ground that carbohydrate increase weight gain, you’re wrong. The two nutrients are required by the body. It is neither good to focus only on food rich in protein nor is it good to focus only on carbohydrate-rich food.
- You can drink juices in place of meals
Probably the reason for this misconceptions is the fact that juices contain some quantity of protein and vitamins. Even if they do, it is not enough reason to replace meals with them, as the quantity of vitamin or protein any juice may contain cannot be compared to what is available in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Besides, fruit juices are processed foods, acidic, not natural and not good for the overall health, explains Dr. Neil Oza, a dental expert. “The implication is that not only are vital ingredients removed to concentrate the sugary juice, it becomes a lot less healthy for your teeth,” he said.
If you have to occasionally replace meals due to some constraints, fruits are more recommended because of their fiber content. The fiber helps to delay appetite by making you feel full for a long time. On the other hand, juices do not have much fiber because juicing fruits removes the fiber, hence they increase appetite rather than delay it. So, the next time someone tells you juices can serve as a replacement for a meal, know that it is not true.
- Slimming or diet pills can help you lose weight
People go for slimming or diet pills because they have been fed with the falsehood that pills would eventually help them lose weight. It seems, however, that the opposite is rather the case. One vital fact you should know is that slimming or diet pills are addictive. Once you become addicted, in time you’ll start experiencing some undesirable additive symptoms.
Those symptoms will likely force the patient person to stop. And when she does, other symptoms known as withdrawal symptoms will emerge. One of those symptoms is weight gain. Therefore, in the long run, slimming pills cause weight gain instead of weight loss.
- It doesn’t matter what you eat if you work out regularly
This is similar to the first myth on this list. You work out so you can lose excess calorie. Overeating or taking unhealthy diets, on the other hand, increases calorie.
While working out, and exercising generally, is good for the body, you should complement it with the right foods. Health particularly experts advise that for a good heart health to go with your exercise routine, make sure to eat an avocado a day.
Conclusion
When it comes to your health, be careful with what you believe. There are a whole lot of myths about dieting out there, and you should guard against scientifically unproven ‘facts’ that could end up doing you more harm than good.