Common sense is surprisingly rare in the diet.
All kinds of myths and misconceptions are spread around, even by so-called experts.
Here are 19 nutrition facts that should be common sense (but clearly aren't).
1. Artificial Trans fats are not suitable for human consumption
Trans fats are bad.
Producing them involves high pressure gas, heat and hydrogen in the presence of a metallic catalyst.
This process turns liquid vegetable oils in a thick, toxic sludge that is solid at room temperature.
You have to wonder what was going through the head of the person who thought of putting this stuff in food and sell it to humans. Is staggering, really.
Of course, trans fats are more than just unappetising. Studies have shown that are incredibly harmful as well, linked to a drastic increase in the risk of heart disease (1, 2).
2. you don't have to eat every 2-3 hours
I really don't need to be constantly eating to lose weight.
Studies have actually watched this and found that smaller meals, more frequently have no effect on weight or body fat burning (3, 4).
Eat every 2-3 hours is uncomfortable and completely useless for most people. Just eat when you're hungry and be sure to choose healthy foods and nutrients.
3. the Mainstream Media should never be trusted for nutritional information
The mainstream media is part of the reason for all the confusion out there feeding.
It seems that every week there is a new study making headlines, often contradicting another study that came out a few months before.
These stories often get a lot of attention, but when you look beyond the headlines and read the actual studies, you find that they are taken out of context.
In many cases, there are other higher quality studies that directly contradict the media frenzy (which rarely mentioned).
4. the rotting meat in Colon
Is completely untrue that the flesh rots in the colon.
The human body is well equipped to digest and absorb important nutrients found in meat.
The protein gets broken in stomach acids stomach, then the rest of it gets broken down in the small intestine of powerful digestive enzymes.
All fats, proteins and nutrients are then moved beyond the digestive wall and into the body. There is simply nothing left to "rot" in the colon.
5. eggs are among the healthiest foods you can eat
The eggs have been unfairly demonised because egg yolks are high in cholesterol.
However, studies show that cholesterol from eggs doesn't raise blood cholesterol in most people (5).
New studies that include hundreds of thousands of people indicate that the eggs have no effect on heart disease in otherwise healthy individuals greetings (6).
The truth is that eggs are among the healthiest foods and more nutritious, you can eat.
Almost all nutrients are found in the yolk, and tell people to avoid the yolks (eggs or altogether) is one of the biggest mistakes in the history of nutrition.
6. sugary drinks are the most fattening of the modern diet
Added sugar is a disaster, and get in liquid form is even worse.
The problem with liquid sugar, is that your brain doesn't compensate for the extra calories by eating less of other foodstuffs (7).
In other words, these calories don't get "registered" by the brain, making you eat more total calories (8).
All the junk foods, sugar-sweetened beverages are the more fattening than everyone, and that's saying something.
7. low fat does not equal healthy
The diet "low fat" promoted by mainstream nutrition guidelines is a miserable failure.
Many long-term studies indicate that it doesn't work, or for the prevention of disease or loss weight (9, 10, 11).
What's more, led to a plethora of foods "low fat" to be brought to market. Because food an unpleasant taste without fat, food manufacturers added a lot of sugar in them instead.
Foods that are naturally low in fat (such as fruits and vegetables) are great, but processed foods with "skinny" on the label are usually loaded with unhealthy ingredients.
8. fruit juice is not very different from sugary sodas
A lot of people believe that the juices are healthy.
Seems to make sense, because they come from fruits.
However, fruit juices contain as much sugar as the sugary soft drinks such as Coca-Cola (12)!
There is no fiber in them and no resistance from chewing gum, which makes it very easy to consume huge amounts of sugar.
A single cup of orange juice contains as much sugar 2 oranges (13, 14).
If you are trying to avoid sugar for health reasons, you should avoid fruit juices as well. Is just as bad, and small amounts of antioxidants doesn't make up for the large amounts of sugar.
9. power of Gut bugs is critical
Did you know that you are in fact only 10% human?
The bacteria in the intestine known as gut flora, actually outnumber human cells 10 to 1!
In recent years, research has shown that the types and numbers of these bacteria can have profound implications for human health, affecting everything from body weight to brain function (15, 16).
Just like your body's cells, the bacteria need to eat and soluble fiber is their preferred fuel source (17, 18).
This could be the most important reason to include plenty of fiber in your diet, to feed the little guys in the intestine.
10. "cholesterol" is not the enemy
What people generally refer to as "cholesterol" cholesterol isn't really.
When it comes to the so-called "bad" and "good" cholesterol, is actually referring to proteins that carry cholesterol around.
LDL stands for low density lipoprotein and HDL stands for High Density Lipoprotein.
The truth is that cholesterol is not the enemy. The main determinant of the risk of heart disease is the type of lipoproteins that carry cholesterol around, not cholesterol.
11. weight loss supplements don't work hardly ever
There are lots of weight loss supplements on the market different.
The problem is that I almost never work. Claimed magical results, but fail when put to the test in actual studies.
Even those who work, the effect is too small to really make a noticeable difference.
People promoting magical solutions as weight loss supplements are actually causing harm, because that distracts people from things that really matter.
The truth is that the only way to lose weight and keep it off, is to adopt a lifestyle change.
12. health is more than they could weigh
People focus too much on only by gain/weight loss. The truth is that health goes much further.
Many obese people are metabolically healthy, while many people of normal weight have metabolic problems associated with obesity (19, 20).
Focusing only on body weight is counterproductive. You can improve your health without cause weight loss and vice versa.
It seems that the area where fat accumulates is important. The fat in the abdomen (belly) is associated with metabolic problems, while the fat under the skin is mainly a cosmetic problem (21).
As a result, reduce belly fat should be a priority for the improvement of health, the fat under the skin and the number on the scale don 't matter as much.
13. total calories, but you don't necessarily have them Count
Calories are important, that is a fact.
Obesity is a matter of excess stored energy (calories) accumulating in the form of body fat.
However, this does not mean that people need to track or count calories or monitor everything that enters their body.
Although calorie counting works for a lot of people, there are many things people can do to lose weight without ever having to count a single calorie.
For example, eat more protein has been shown to lead to automatic caloric restriction and significant weight loss. No limit calories (22, 23).
14. people with high blood sugar and/or type 2 diabetes should not eat a high-Carb Diet
For decades, people were asked to eat a low-fat diet with carbohydrates to 50-60% of the calories.
Surprisingly, this Council has been extended to include people with type 2 diabetes who cannot tolerate a lot of carbohydrates.
People with type 2 diabetes are insulin resistant and any eating carbohydrates will cause a noticeable increase in blood sugar levels.
For this reason, they need to take lowering drugs to reduce blood sugar levels.
If anyone benefits of a low-carb diet, diabetic patients. In one study, a low-carb diet for only 6 months allowed 95.2% of patients to reduce or eliminate their blood sugar medication (24).
Although the Council is changing (slowly), "mainstream" many organizations worldwide are still saying for diabetics to eat a high-carb diet.
15. fat doesn't make you fat, but carbohydrate does
Fat has often been blamed for obesity, because fat contains more calories per gram of protein and carbohydrates.
However, this doesn't really have any practical meaning.
People who have a diet rich in fat (but low in carbohydrates) actually end up eating fewer calories than people on low-fat diets high in carbohydrates (25, 26).
This led to the contrary many people to blame in carbohydrate for obesity, but this is a mistake as well. A lot of people have eaten diets high in carbohydrates but remain healthy.
As with everything in nutrition, this depends on the context.
It can be fattening fat, carbohydrates can be fattening. It depends on the rest of the stuff that you are eating and your lifestyle.
16. health claims on packaging should never be trusted
People are more health conscious than ever.
Food manufacturers are well aware of this and have found a way to market the same old stuff for health conscious people as well.
They do this by adding misleading labels such as "a-class" or "low fat" on their food.
Now you will find all kinds of seriously unhealthy junk food with health claims on the label, such as "a-class" fruit loops and cocoa puffs.
These labels are often misleading and are used to trick people into thinking you're making the right decision for themselves (and their children).
If the packaging of a food says it's healthy, then it probably isn't.
17. refined vegetable oils should be avoided
Vegetable oils such as soybean oil, corn and canola, are extracted from the seeds using harsh methods.
These oils contain large amounts of Omega-6 fatty acids, which are biologically active and humans never consumed in large quantities during evolution (31).
Studies show that these oils can cause oxidative stress and make the LDL lipoproteins in the body become oxidized, potentially contribute to heart disease (32, 33, 34).
18. "organic" or "gluten-free" does not equal healthy
There are many health trends in the world these days.
Organic foods are popular, and going gluten-free is fashionable.
However, just because something is organic or gluten-free, it doesn't mean it is healthy. For example, you can make all kinds of junk foods out of organic ingredients.
Foods that are naturally gluten-free are fine, but gluten free processed foods are often made with seriously damaging ingredients that are even worse than their gluten-containing counterparts.
The truth is, organic sugar is still sugar and gluten junk food is still junk food.
19. blame health problems on old food makes no sense
Heart disease didn't become an issue until about a hundred years ago.
The obesity epidemic started around 1980 and the epidemic of type 2 diabetes followed soon after.
These are the biggest health problems of the world, and it seems pretty clear that diet has a lot to do with them.
For some strange reason, health authorities began blaming them on foods such as red meat, eggs and butter.
But we've been eating these foods for thousands of years, while these health problems are relatively new.
Doesn't it make more sense to suspect of all the new stuff? As all processed foods, added sugars, refined grains and vegetable oils?
Blaming health problems on old food simply doesn't make sense.