Common Diet Myths Debunked

When I was a kid, my parents always coached me to eat more in order to grow bigger, taller, and healthier. I was always thin but at age nine, I was finally persuaded and my weight problems began. At age twelve, I was twenty lbs overweight, always dragging, and insecure.

The common belief that children should eat more to get "healthier" is the first diet myth that should be debunked.

According the Center for Disease Control (CDC), about seventeen% or almost one in every five children in the US is obese and this number is alarmingly rising. Obese kids have increased chances of developing heart diseases, diabetes, and joint problems at an early age. On top of these, the psychological problems like low self-esteem and depression cannot be ignored especially that these children have a higher risk of staying fat for the rest of their lives. There is basically nothing in this data that says kids who are eating more become healthier.

Instead of eating more food, children should be taught to eat better types of food.

Here are other myths that everybody (even the growing children) should be aware of:

Myth two: All fat are unhealthy and should be avoided.

On the contrary, not all fat are bad for you. Even cholesterol, when eaten moderately, is great for the body! Dr. John Brimhall, a wellness expert and author of the book Solving the Health Puzzle with the Six Steps to Wellness, said that good fats (including cholesterol) should be eaten to be healthy.

He emphasized that fats play an important role in absorption of certain vitamins, stabilizing moods, and maintaining healthy brain function. If you are not yet convinced, believe it or not, the brain's dry weight is composed of seventy% cholesterol, a substance that the body can't live without.

Instead of avoiding all fats, choose to avoid foods rich in killer trans fats such as white bread, pastries, doughnuts, and pretty much all packaged and restaurant food. Aside from being linked to heart diseases, these same foods are usually high in sugar that causes weight gain.

Myth three: If you would avoid sweets, you would never gain weight.

Yes, a can of that sweet, regular soda is packed with one hundred and forty calories of sugar… and yet, so does a can of regular beer that doesn't taste sweet at all.

Alcoholic drinks, protein bars, energy drinks, cereals, white rice, pasta, and even the regular chewing gum are all rich in hidden sugar. Not all sugar is sweet.

Myth four: Fasting causes fast weight loss.

Whenever we eat less, the body also adjusts and burns fewer calories. This decrease in metabolism causes slow weight loss and constant hunger. And once crash dieting is over, it takes very little food to make one gain weight.

Those who engage in starvation diet also have higher risks of having nutritional deficiencies (like iron, B vitamins, potassium, etc) and psychological problems. A more moderately paced weight loss diet plan is recommended.

And lastly, Myth five: Diet drinks and products work.

Artificial sweeteners (like aspartame) in zero-calorie products can cause weight gain. How? According to natural health expert Dr. Joseph Mercola, artificial sweeteners induce the body to release the chemicals insulin and leptin, which are also released when sugar is consumed. Increased levels of these two chemicals over time lead to resistance. This then results to more cravings, constant hunger, and increased fat storage. No wonder more and more people are getting fatter despite the swarm of diet products in the market.