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5 Weight Loss Myths!

With hundreds of meal programs, weight loss programs, diets, and so-called "experts" giving away fiction as fact -- we're here to debunk some of the most common myths that you might face when losing weight.

Myth 1 - Fad diets are meant for long-term.

Fad diets (not naming any names) simply do not work for losing weight and keeping it off. This is primarily because fad diets promise quick weight loss by telling you to eliminate certain foods from your diet. While you may lose weight from one these diets by cutting out bread for example, it's simply hard to follow this for the rest of your life. You'll either get tired of following the diet, or your body will begin lacking nutrients.

For this reason, fad diets can be unhealthy. Your body needs a plethora of essential nutrients. Additionally, losing a large amount of weight over a long period of time can make you susceptible to gallstones, painful clusters of solid material located in the gallbladder. Fad diets that also severely limit your calorie intake can result in abnormalities of your heart rhythm, which can possibly be fatal.

Myth 2 - Food like grapefruit and celery can burn fat.

No foods have the ability to burn fat. While some foods containing caffeine have the ability to speed up your metabolism for a short period of time, they can't cause weight loss.

Myth 3 - Diets low in carbohydrates are healthy.

The health benefits in the long-term from a diet containing high protein and low carbohydrates aren’t known. However, obtaining the majority of your daily calories from meat, eggs, cheese, and other high-protein foods is not a balanced and healthy diet. You can have an elevated risk of heart disease by eating too much fat and cholesterol, contained in these foods. You could possibly feel nauseous, tired, and weak by eating a diet that is high in protein and low in carbohydrates.

If you eat fewer than 130 grams of carbohydrates a day, ketones (partial fat deposits) can build up in your blood. Ketosis, meaning a buildup of ketones, can cause your body to generate a high level of uric acid. This is a major risk factor for gout, a painful swelling of the joints, as well as kidney stones.

Myth 4 - Skipping meals can help you lose weight.

Those that skip eating breakfast and eat less times during the day usually weigh heavier than those that eat a balanced breakfast and eat several small meals during the day. It's believed that because the people that skip meals tend to feel hungrier later on after starving themselves, they indulge and binge eat.

And finally, the biggest misconception of them all: Eating low-fat or non-fat food does not mean you're eating less than if you ate the same size portion of the product that does not market less calories.

Myth 5 - Low-fat or non-fat foods are necessarily healthy.

Many of the processed low-fat and nonfat foods that you find at supermarkets and grocery stores have the same, or even more calories than their comparison "full fat" version. They could possibly even contain flour, sugar, or starch thickeners as a way to improve flavor and texture after the fat content is removed. Ingredients like this add calories.

Comments on this article:

DeeDeeFit said:

Great post. When I first started my healthy living change, I looked for those low fat, calorie/fat burning foods too. While no food can burn fat for you I did learn that some foods burn more calories during digestion than they do to eat them. I think thats where the misconception comes in.

Georgette said:

The explanation of ketosis in Myth #3 is not true. The condition described in Myth #3 is called "ketoacidosis" which is suffered by hypoglycemics and diabetics. A lot of people are confused by the term "ketosis." You may read that it is a "dangerous state" for the body, and it does sound abnormal to be "in ketosis." But ketosis merely means that our bodies are using fat for energy. Ketones (also called ketone bodies) are molecules generated during fat metabolism, whether from the fat in the guacamole you just ate or fat you were carrying around your middle. When our bodies are breaking down fat for energy, most of the it gets converted more or less directly to ATP. (Remember high school biology? This is the "energy molecule.") Ketones are produced as part of the process.

When people eat less carbohydrate, less glycogen, in the form of sugar, is available for energy so their bodies turn to the available fat for energy. It makes sense, then, that it is better for the body to be burning fat for energy rather than storing it in the body. Eating good fat in the form of mono- and unsaturated fats and fewer carbohydrates is definitely healthier. (Source: Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes)

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