Are you confused by the daily hassle of what, how much and when to eat? How much exercise do you really need to be slim and smart and healthy? If you are, then do not worry, you are not alone in this daily struggle in life. We are nowadays presented with so much information to help us make changes in our daily eating habit, but the question is which one is to be trusted?
Hence below are the top 10 false statements about nutrition intake you think are true, which is all the result of different scientific studies conducted to make our eating habit actually healthy and to stop us from spending way more than necessary on food.
1. The best thing to drink after a workout is a protein shake.
Not always, instead, try green tea. Brazilian scientists established that contestants who drank three cups of green tea every day for a week had less cell damage caused by resistance to exercise. It means that after an intense workout, the green tea will help you recover quicker than a protein shake. In another study, people who started having four to five cups of green tea each day with a 25-minute workout for 12 weeks lost an average of 2 kg more than the non-tea-drinking exercisers.
2. Want to be smart and slim? Turn to diet soda.
People are becoming more aware of the thing that the artificial sweeteners used in diet soda lead towards food urge that is hard to control. One Another study learnt that rats took in more calories if they had been fed artificial sweeteners before their mealtime, while another study found that people who consume just 3 diet sodas per week were more than 40% more likely to get fat. Try changing to carbonated water and flavouring with lemon, cucumber and fresh herbs.
3. It is labelled as ‘Natural’ so it should be natural.
The Government makes no serious struggle to control the use of the word “Natural” on labels on food items. Just as “7UP” claims that it is made with “100% Natural Flavors” when actually, the soda is sweetened with an unnatural dosage of High Fructose Corn Syrup. Corn is natural but High Fructose Corn Syrup is produced chemically. The bottom line is that you are possibly paying a higher price for common food.
4. Cholesterol rises due to eating egg yolk.
Egg yolk contains cholesterol, this much is true. But research has verified that this cholesterol has almost nothing to do with serum cholesterol. Researchers went through more than 30 egg studies and found no link between consumption of eggs and heart diseases, and another study found out that having eggs for breakfast could possibly lower your calorie intake for the rest of the day.
5. Dark Chocolate is good for you.
Many studies have proved that different types of nutrients found in chocolate can do almost everything from lowering your blood pressure to raising your ability to burn fat. A study found out that eating dark chocolate helped to lessen the effects of high blood sugar in patients having diabetes. The more the chocolate is processed, the more of the nutrients are lost. Creating “Dutch” chocolate, in which an alkalizing agent is added to reduce acidity, destroys up to 77% of the nutrients that have been advertised. Look for dark chocolate that says 70% cacao or higher on the label. The rest of it is probably just candy.
6. You can eat as much as you like as far as it is healthy.
Certainly, you can eat 200 calories of oatmeal rather than 200 calories of sugar added cookies, but that still does not fully give you the option to eat as much of the stuff as you like. The bottom line is, Nutritious or not, eat portion size amount with every food.
7. Wheat bread and Multi-Grain bread are better than White bread.
Wheat Bread is usually White bread with caramel or molasses added to make it look dark and healthy. Where-as Multi-Grain bread just means that different types of grains might have been used. Always look for either 100% Whole Wheat or 100% Whole Grain, on the packaging.
8. Nutrition labels are stating actual quantity.
Do you know how many calories a 100-calorie pack of mini Snickers chocolate have? The answer is probably not exact. Nutrition facts labels are mandated by the Government. Unfortunately, they are not always factual. The international law actually allows a company for a 20% margin of error for the stated value of calories and nutrients on the table printed on the packing. In other words, your 100- calorie pack of mini Snickers chocolate could legally have 120 calories. An excess of 550 calories over the normal amount per day is enough to add 1 kg of body weight in two weeks.
9. Organic products are more nutritious than conventional products.
Do organic fruits and vegetables really give a nutritional rise? A recent study did find substantially higher levels of antioxidants and lower levels of pesticides in organic products but they did not say that organic produce will lead to more health. In another research, scientists found very few differences in the nutritional content of organic and conventional products and also stated that the difference is so small that they are unlikely to influence the health of the people who chose to buy organic food. So organic fruits and vegetables may help you to not consume pesticides (which can cause some stomach problems) but there is no convincing evidence that these conventional and organic products are different in composition, nutritionally.
10. The caffeine in energy drinks accelerates metabolism.
Caffeine might be able to give a bit of acceleration to the metabolism, especially when ingested before an exercise, but no amount of metabolic acceleration can burn off the calories that the energy drinks itself has. According to a study, a typical energy drink has approximately a quarter cup of sugar in it. Calories that once in your body trigger fat storage. If you want to burn calories, try the world’s miraculously obtained drink that is naturally pure, which is known commonly as water. According to a study conducted, after drinking half a litre of water, the metabolic rate of contributors increased by 30%.
