5 Popular Diet Myths Busted

We all know so much about diets and dieting, yet the United States continues to grow fatter and fatter. What do you really know about dieting and weight loss and which of the following myths about dieting have you helped perpetuate?

Diet Myth #1 - Food Eaten after 8 pm will Turn to Fat

This myth has grown to legendary proportions. It is, however, not true. The popular theory is that your metabolism slows down after 8pm. The good news is that your metabolism can't tell time. People have perpetuated this myth over time because they become more sedentary the later in the day it becomes, and they feel that calories consumed late will turn into fat. The simple reality about weight loss is that you have to burn more calories than you consume regardless of when you eat them.

This myth may prove helpful if you are prone to late night snacks, but the weight loss benefits gained are from cutting calories, not what time of the day you have cut them. If you slash your calories at night only to get up and have an 800 calorie breakfast as a reward, don't expect to lose any weight.

Diet Myth #2- Eating a Banana in the Morning Jump Starts Weight Loss

This myth was made popular by The Morning Banana Diet, a diet plan developed by a Tokyo pharmacist and his wife. Bananas, the greener the better, have always been a part of a well balanced diet. There is no proof, however, according to WebMd

Diet Myth #3 - Exercise Alone is Enough to Make You Lose Weight

This common conception may or may not be true. It is true that when you burn more calories than you consume you will lose weight. A very common problem, especially among women, is that once they exercise they overcompensate for the physical output by eating something extra. So, if you walk on a treadmill for an hour and burn 300 - 400 calories, but reward yourself with a snack of 150-300 calories when you get home you negate the extra efforts you put into exercise. The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to combine exercise with a reasonable diet.

Diet Myth #4 - Eating Fat Makes You Fat

Eating too much fat can make you fat, but it is not necessarily the case that fat calories cause you to gain anymore weight than calories in protein or carbohydrates. The fact is that you gain weight when you eat more calories than you burn. The source of calories is not important. Prevention has said that the Institute of Medicine recommends that fat makes up 20-35% of your diet. Fats are important when it comes to cardiovascular health. The fats you eat should be mono or polyunsaturated fats to help lower cholesterol. Too much of any food will add excess calories to your diet, and too much fat can cause health problems, but the calories from fat are not more prone to make you fat than calories from any other food.

Diet Myth #5 - A No Fat Diet is Good for You

According to Jerome Burne, of Mind-Body-Health , a low fat diet may not be the cure-all that you have been taught to believe it is. A diet low in polyunsaturated fat is important to your heart health, but cutting out fats from your diet completely is not healthy or realistic. The daily recommended intake of fat is 30%. Fat is an important component of body cells, including brain cells. Fat is also one of the components in your diet that contributes to satiety, a satisfied feeling of fullness.

It is far to easy to eat an entire box of cookies because they are fat free, not realizing that the calorie intake is going to throw you over the threshold of calories you normally consume. Better to have one or two regular cookies, which contain fat, than to eat a box of fat free cookies searching in vain for satisfaction.

Sources:

Fitness Myth - Eating Food After 8pm Will Turn to Fat, tryingfitness.com
The Morning Banana Diet, WebMd.com
The Myth of the Low-Fat Diet
Personal Knowledge and Experience
Prevention: Does Eating Fat Make You Fat?