Myths have deepened their toots in our community, and play the same role as they played in the lives of our ancestors. We believe in the myths since we were very young to test ourselves, and as we grew older the belief became so strong that we couldn’t take it out from our diet.
Do you believe in myths related to diet and nutrition might be taken as can pickles kill you for some users? Because with time we have grown sensitive to our beliefs and norms, no matter their link with the religion.
The older the myth, the more authentic, we believe it is, because there is literally no one who would stand up to say that you’re doing it wrong, or it is not the way how it’s done, etc. And when there is no one to stand against us, we think everybody is with us, even if they are not!
We will discuss as many myths about diet and nutrition, let’s get started;
Eating at a Particular Time
There are many people who believe that if they eat at specific hours, they would not gain weight. So, you can eat as much as you want, and whatever you want, by staying within that particular time limit only.
Yes, it is great to limit eating heavy foods at night, so that your body does not suffer from the digestion process, however, the time of eating does not make you gain or lose weight. Your wait depends more on what you are eating, less on when you are eating.
Cut Carbohydrates to lose Weight
Carbohydrates are one of the three main sources of energy for the body. The body can lead towards malnutrition when the nutritional value of carbs is not present in your body.
The carbohydrates are classified into two different forms; the simple and the complex carbs. Complex carbs are the energy source of our body and are found in foods like nuts, beans, grains, cereals, etc. while simple carbs are found in processed junk food like cans, fizzy drinks, candy, etc.
It is true that cutting down on your simple carbs help you lose weight, but cutting down the carbohydrates might turn out more harmful than good.
Salt is bad for the Body
You might have heard many people say that salt is the reason behind all the diseases. In the case of kidney stones, and blood pressure, it is very much true that salt triggers these diseases but that does not mean that we cut down salt from our bodies.
Salt is the most common mineral that our body needs to perform all the functions normally. The homeostatic balance in our body is regulated by sodium, without which the balance might have disturbed long ago.
The main parts of the body like the heart, brain, and muscles, all function normally because of the balanced environment provided by the sodium to the body. Don’t you think disturbed balance might hinder the functioning of the organs? However, we do realize that excessive consumption of salt does shoe some harmful effects on the body!
Dietary Supplements are Necessary to Stay Healthy
Lately, we have formed a trend of using supplementary dietary vitamins and minerals instead of working on our balanced diet, and working on adding those vitamins and minerals in our diet naturally.
We have complicated the idea of a balanced diet so much that going for dietary supplements seems the easy solution. Dietary supplements were actually introduced into the market for people who had severe deficiencies of vitamins or minerals, which could not be brought back to normal with only diet.
But nowadays, we have made a trend of taking supplements. You don’t need supplements to be healthy; a balanced diet is perfectly fine to come up to the needs of your body.
Detox programs to stay healthy
Selling the products in the name of health has become quite a fashion lately. People usually don’t collect sufficient information about things and start using them just in order to get in shape, or get healthy!
Many people believe that your body needs Detox, your important organs like lungs, liver, heart, etc. need Detox and buy expensive Detox programs, but they forget that these very organs; kidney, lungs, skin, and liver are actually the Detox program of the body, and the body needs no Detox from outside.
Avoid Gluten
Many people believe that the gluten-free diet is important for people who are on a weight-loss diet. In order to be on a proper weight-loss diet, you need to avoid gluten as much as you.
However, gluten is found in some of the most important and nutritious diets such as rye, barley, and wheat. Avoiding them is like avoiding carbohydrates; the most important energy boosters of the body.
Nevertheless, some people who are sensitive to gluten, or are gluten-intolerant should definitely try to eradicate gluten from their diet, not all of us!
Fat is Bad
Fats are important for the proper functioning of the brain, heart and other organs. Like carbohydrates, it is the energy source of the body, without which the vitamins and other important minerals in the diet wouldn’t even get absorbed in the body.
Fats can be divided into two categories; healthy fats and unhealthy fats. Polysaturated and monosaturated fats are the good fats, and Trans and saturated fat are unhealthy. Knowing this difference you can avoid unhealthy fat without disturbing the levels of healthy fat in your body.
Moreover, when you are avoiding fat you will have to meet your body’s requirement by using other food, which would be high in sugar or processed ones, and might prove unhealthier to your body than the fats themselves.
Sweet Potatoes are Healthier than White
Though white potatoes are more common and used more in most parts of the world, still people are of the opinion that sweet potatoes have more nutritional value than white ones. They are always ready to prefer the sweet potatoes over the white ones whenever the nutritional value is concerned.
However, this is not true, both the sweet and the white potatoes have somewhat the same nutritional value. White potatoes are enriched with potassium, which is a necessary component for absorbing sugar from the food, whereas, sweet potatoes give you vitamin A. Therefore, both of them have the same nutritional value; none is better than the other!
Nuts make you gain weight
Nuts are always shown culprits who make you gain weight, which is totally a myth and there is no truth in that. Although nuts are enriched with calories and fats, they also have an abundance of proteins, minerals, vitamins, and fibre.
The researchers are of the opinion that people who use nuts in their daily routine are healthier and less obese, and those who avoid nuts. Adding a handful of nuts to your daily routine is very beneficial for your body.
Over to you!
All these myths and misconceptions are manmade, and have no scientific value, but we follow them blindly without even doing proper research to find if they are true or not. We have become slaves of these myths, especially the ones related to nutrition and diet, and we definitely need to put a stop to that!