11 biggest Nutrition Lies you'll come across!

While there are many websites which share good advice and tips to keep your health in check there are some fads that have been constantly highlighted as pure gems.

But most just portray one side of the story or just show the other in the bad light to promote their brand.

Here are some of the biggest lies that you might have come across.

Lie #1: Saturated fat is bad for you

Saturated fat has been demonized for the better part of five decades for its supposed dangers to the heart. Instead, new research has shown that eliminating saturated fat from the diet actually doesn’t lessen the risk for heart disease at all!

Fats like Coconut oil are one of the healthiest foods on the planet. Ghee is another healthy fat with a high smoke packed with fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E both ghee and coconut oil are actually associated with weight loss, as the energy from medium-chain fatty acids helps to burn other fats in our system.

Lie #2: The keto diet is dangerous

The ketogenic diet is a completely different approach to dietary choices than calorie-counting, extreme willpower to make impossible sacrifices or even just a generally healthy diet full of whole foods. Instead, people on keto eat lots of healthy fats and limit all carbohydrate intake.

There is no upper limit to the length of time you can technically do keto, particularly if you’re doing it right. By “doing it right. Try the keto diet for 30 days.

It is also suggested to cycle the keto diet on and off, particularly if you are trying to lose weight.

Lie #3: Buying organic isn’t worth the cost

Eating all organic foods is just not possible for some budgets. But Unfortunately, the pesticides used for produce and the hormones and antibiotics given to animals raised for meat have a number of detrimental effects on your health.

Lie #4: Too much protein is hard on the kidneys and liver

This nutrition lie seems to be a result of the high-protein diets popular a couple of decades ago. The myth is that high levels of protein in the diet contribute to decreased kidney and liver function, as well as osteoporosis. These claims are simply not true.

The truth is that protein contributes to every living cell and process in our body. The protein actually helps bone metabolism and improves calcium retention, and it is potentially dangerous to consume inadequate protein.

Adding in a healthy range of proteins into your diet is the key to health!

Lie #5: All fish is healthy.

Sure, getting plenty of omega-3s from fish is important. However, did you know that the way fish are sourced can greatly affect how healthy (or very unhealthy) they are for you?

Some of the fish you should never eat include:

Tilapia

Atlantic cod

Atlantic flatfish (Atlantic halibut, flounder, and sole)

Caviar

Chilean seabass

Eel

Farmed salmon (Atlantic or wild-caught)

Imported basa/swai/tra/striped catfish (often labeled “catfish”)

Imported farmed shrimp

Imported king crab

Orange roughy

Shark

Atlantic bluefin tuna

Swordfish

King mackerel

Grouper

Sturgeon

Sablefish/black cod (from Alaska and Canadian Pacific)

Lie #6: Cholesterol is bad and eggs are unhealthy

For decades, it has been widely believed that egg, and specifically their saturated fat and cholesterol cause heart disease.

In fact, there is no relationship between egg consumption and coronary heart disease, and egg consumption is unrelated to blood cholesterol levels.

And cholesterol, unlike you may have been told, is actually an extremely important substance that aids your body in a number of vital processes.

Lie #7: Eating five to six small meals a day stimulates metabolism.

Frequent snacking or small meals throughout the day has grown in popularity with some people. The idea is that eating stimulates the metabolism, as you get a metabolic boost while digesting foods that can result in weight and fat loss. But, the truth is that it is the total amount of food you eat in a day that impacts your metabolism, and intermittent fasting may be better for most individuals.

People actually feel fuller with fewer, higher protein meals than with frequent meals. A study also found that in general, higher protein intake promotes satiety, while challenging the concept that increasing the meals per day is more satisfying.

Lie #8: Sodium is always bad for you

 

 

Sodium, or salt, has been quite the scapegoat for heart disease for a long time.

For many westerners, that’s not exactly a challenge. Many people on a standard American diet get a ton of sodium from packaged and processed foods in addition to table salt. Unfortunately, these types of foods (including table salt) have many other concerning health risks associated with them.

Lowering your salt intake can marginally lower blood pressure. But taking in too little sodium has been linked to:

Depression-like behavior in animals

Insulin resistance

Increased risk factors for heart disease

Increased mortality rate with diabetes

Higher risk of falling in the elderly

On the other hand, excessive sodium intake is linked to autoimmune disease, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, kidney stones and kidney disease.

Lie #9: All sugar is bad

 

Just because refined sugars are bad, it does not mean we should rush out and start using artificial sweeteners, either!

Coconut sugar, raw stevia, dates, monk fruit, blackstrap molasses, and honey are just a few of the naturally sweet, yet nutritious, sweeteners available.

One of my top natural sweeteners is raw honey. It is packed with therapeutic benefits including boosting immune system function, supporting restful sleep and may help you lose or manage your weight.

Lie #10: You can make up for a bad diet with supplements

A diet of processed foods, refined sugar, whole grains, and other foods that are not nutrient dense cannot be counteracted with supplements, no matter how many you take.

Healthy foods contain tens of thousands of phytochemicals, fibers, proteins and fats that simply cannot be replicated into pill or supplement form.

However, the point of supplements is to fill in gaps and/or get excessive amounts of nutrients that you may not be able to achieve with a healthy diet alone (such as high amounts of fish oil for heart health, collagen for an aging body or inositol to treat PCOS).

Lie #11: To control your weight, the only effective method is counting calories.

It’s true that diet and exercise are vital to a healthy life but calorie counting can only lead to a rise in your stress levels.

Shifting focus away from calories and emphasizing a dietary pattern that focuses on food quality rather than quantity will help to rapidly reduce obesity, related diseases, and cardiovascular risk.

The best way to lose weight is to reduce your carbohydrate intake while introducing healthy fats into your routine. This means ridding your pantry of processed foods and eating whole foods as often as possible.