Nutritional myths - find out if you are making these nutritional mistakes

Some of the nutritional myths stem from erroneous scientific hypotheses prevalent before they were truly confirmed. Others are made by vendors of diets and wonder solutions to weight problems. And still others came out of nowhere, but fell on such fertile ground that no one verified their truthfulness. We debunk the most common of them.

There are tons of myths around nutrition and weight loss today. Myths that contradict logic, myths challenged by science, but still spreading and repeated over the next generations. Yes, some of the nutritional myths are very old, but still live. It's time to deal with the biggest myths in the world of dietetics.

Myth # 1 - you get fat from eating after a certain time

"Please don't eat after 6pm" I heard from an endocrinologist who diagnosed me with hypothyroidism . Have you also heard it from a specialist, and not only from a friend in the store? I was at the end of my nutrition studies then and I knew that at 6 p.m. your metabolism does not turn off like light - at the flick of a switch. However, how many people don't know about it and really try not to eat after 18?

I will never understand why the consumption of calories after 18 should be much slower than, for example, after 20 or after 16. Let us emphasize for the sake of clarity, you get fat from consuming excess calories. Weight gain is affected by the type of food the calories come from. Gaining weight is influenced by hormonal and genetic predispositions. But weight gain is not affected by the mythical 18 o'clock.

The time of the last meal should be adapted to the lifestyle and times of activity. Of course, it would be good if each of us lived in harmony with the circadian rhythm, could get up at dawn and go to bed after sunset, adjusting the times of activity and meals to the availability of daylight. However, the modern world does not work that way.

We work at different times, in winter the day is very short in Poland. Therefore, it is most rational to adjust the last meal to your lifestyle. Dinner should be light and easy to digest, as it is better to go to bed on an empty stomach. But if you are an owl, you are an active person in the evening and you go to bed at 1 am, dinner at 9 pm will not make you fat.

Myth # 2 - fat is unhealthy

Today it is known that the "fat theory" according to which saturated fat and cholesterol from food are responsible for heart disease and the obesity epidemic is not true. It is known that it was based on selective studies to confirm it. It is known that the US scientific council, which made dietary recommendations to reduce the consumption of animal fat and cholesterol, was selected from the advocates of the "fat theory".

It is known that reducing animal fat in the diet does not reduce the risk of heart disease and obesity . On the contrary, the risk may increase when fat is replaced with carbohydrates. You know. Scientific research has completely discredited the "fat theory", yet official dietary advice still does not directly speak of increasing fat intake in favor of reducing carbohydrate intake.

Since the early 1980s, that is, since the introduction in the United States of recommendations to reduce consumption of red meat , butter , whole milk , eggs , cream , cheese , and other sources of animal fat, the obesity epidemic is in full swing.

In 1950, 12% of Americans were obese, in 1980 - 15%. And in 2000 - 35%.

In Great Britain, the number of obese people increased from 6% of the population in 1980 to nearly 20% in 2000. Case? Currently, specialists say no. Swapping eggs for muesli and pork loin for rice contributed greatly to this.

How did it all start? It turns out that the "fat theory" is the result of one doctor's big ego. A very important physician, Ancel Keys - responsible for the health of US President Dwight Eisenhower. The president, after a heart attack in 1955, made public his illness, which at that time was affecting masses of men.

His private physician then recommended reducing saturated animal fat and cholesterol as a means of preventing atherosclerosis and heart disease , citing a correlation between dietary fat and cardiovascular events (it is now known that the data were biased). Eisenhower followed the instructions closely until his death. He died of a heart attack.

The "fat theory" at its origins had many opponents, especially among British scientists. The greatest was John Yudkin, who directly criticized the "fat theory", claiming, inter alia, the topic of the correlation of heart disease with sugar consumption. Ancel Keys, very charismatic and popular, completely discredited Yudkin's discoveries and destroyed his career. Only because Yudkin has shown evidence against the "fat theory." From Yudkin's time to the early 2000s, no one important dared to loudly challenge the "fat theory".

In this way, we lived for several dozen years with the myth about the harmfulness of fat, repeated by global organizations. And it is not known how long it will take to repair the effects of duplicating this myth.

Myth # 3 - you must eat breakfast as soon as possible after waking up

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. They say. And there is something to it, because indeed children who do not eat breakfast tend to have lower academic performance more often, and in some study groups people who completely skip breakfast tend to have poorer food choices during the rest of the day.

Which probably results from hunger and catching anything to eat. At the same time, studies in other populations have shown that eating or not eating breakfast basically does not affect anything. So, when asked "do you have to eat breakfast?" the answer is "it depends." Generally speaking, based on the available knowledge, it is good to eat breakfast from a nutritional point of view, or at least that breakfast does not hurt anything.

Another breakfast myth revolves around how quickly you need to eat breakfast when you wake up. As soon as possible? Until an hour? I do not count how many times I have heard nonsense about how the stomach begins to digest itself on an empty stomach in the morning, because it produces hydrochloric acid or digestive juices in general.

This theory is completely irrelevant, because first of all, the gastric mucosa is constructed in such a way that the strongly acidic content does not damage it. Second, why should this "self-digestion" begin when you wake up, and not when you sleep at night, when you also have an empty stomach? So - your stomach doesn't start digesting if you don't eat breakfast shortly after getting up.

What about slow metabolism if you don't eat breakfast? This is also a myth. Studies in recent years focusing on the number, frequency and caloric content of individual meals have shown that the metabolic rate does not depend on whether you eat breakfast immediately after getting up or maybe 3 hours later. Also, skipping breakfast does not make you gain weight faster and increase your risk of obesity. 

The indicator of when to eat breakfast should be the feeling of hunger. Are you not hungry? Don't force yourself to eat.

Myth # 4 - 5 small meals a day will speed up your metabolism

Probably everyone has heard about 5 small meals every 3 hours. You will only lose weight this way. You just won't get fat. 5 small meals a day is a guarantee of health. Definitely? Definitely no.

The theory of the positive effect of 5 meals on body weight was derived from several epidemiological studies in which such a relationship was observed. The world of nutrition, however, has completely ignored the fact that most studies have found no link between meal frequency and weight gain / loss, and the research evidence that has shown such a link is weak.

Scientific publications already in the 90s of the twentieth century tried to debunk this myth, but it crept into the mainstream to such an extent that I heard about 5 meals during lectures in college and most nutritionists recommended this diet for years. Calorimetric studies analyzing the body's total energy expenditure over 24 hours showed that it was independent of the frequency of meals. So the metabolism does not speed up when you eat 5 meals a day and does not slow down when you eat 3 meals.

In addition, new research shows that eating rarely lowers blood glucose levels and improves appetite control, which may benefit weight control in the long term, and lowering the frequency of meals to 2-3, in combination with other factors, may have a positive effect on health by lowering inflammation, increased resistance to autophagy and stress , and modulation of the gut microbiome .

Man is not made to digest continuously. Periods of hunger have a very positive effect on health, and frequent eating is a very young idea related to the industrial revolution. Curiosity. Medieval Teutonic Knights at the castle in Malbork ate 2 times a day - the first around noon and the second in the evening.

Myth # 5 - potatoes are fattening, sweet potatoes are not

Very often you can hear from people who are slimming that they do not eat potatoes (and bread ), because potatoes make you fat. For several decades, potatoes have been equated with a "non-dietary" or fattening product. If we want to classify products as fattening or non-fattening, let's think about what the fattening ones would have in them?

In my opinion - high calorific value per 100 g, high content of simple sugars or added fats, high glycemic load. These are the factors that contribute to weight gain.

What do potatoes have in them? 77 kcal in 100 g (little), 0.8 g of simple sugars (very little) and the glycemic load of 8 (low, because less than 10). So what can be accused of them? Probably just that they are a source of carbohydrates. But man needs carbohydrates, and their skillful inclusion in the diet (i.e. not sandwiches for breakfast and dinner + potatoes for lunch) does not make you fat.

In addition, potatoes are still vegetables, despite the fact that they are starchy, i.e. they contain fiber and water, and a set of vitamins and minerals. By comparison, 100 g of cooked potatoes provide fewer calories and carbohydrates (77 kcal and 19 g of carbohydrates) than 100 g of cooked rice (115 kcal and 25 g of carbohydrates).

A few years ago, in response to "fattening" potatoes, "non-fattening" sweet potatoes became popular. Which is marketing in its purest form. How else can you name a food with excellent weight loss benefits compared to potatoes, if sweet potatoes are higher in calories, have a higher carbohydrate and simple sugar content, and a higher glycemic load than potatoes?

Let's take a look at the nutritional benefits of raw potato and raw sweet potato . The only advantage of sweet potatoes seems to be higher fiber content and slightly more minerals. But if you chose a more "fattening" product, it would be sweet potatoes, not potatoes.