14 Nutritional Myths You Probably Need Busted

Nutritional knowledge is one of the essential aspects of a healthy being and the development of a person. Better nutritional practices mean stronger immune systems and longevity. People who practice this are often more productive, helping them carry out their day-to-day activities efficiently.

With information very easily at our disposal in today's world, one might assume that nutritional myths have become less popular. Unfortunately, there are still bits of misinformation that are widespread in the nutrition world, and it can get tough for you to know what is evidently true and what is false. Social media, mass media, and blogs carry many myths posted without even verifying. Once this information is assimilated into our minds, the chances are high that we will assume it is a fact. Luckily for you, we have prepared a list of fourteen of the most widespread myths.

1. Proteins Are Not Good For Your Health

Even though fats and carbohydrates are blamed for a variety of health-related problems, proteins have received their fair share too. Some people claim that more protein on your meal can make you develop issues with your bones by drawing calcium from them as a buffer for the acid from proteins. Others also say that high and regular intake of calcium can cause kidney damaged.

Contrary to these claims, randomized trials on human beings have proven that even a high intake of proteins does not damage any of these body parts or affect nutrition. So, unless you have a protein-related underlying condition, proteins are just fine.

2. Carbohydrates are Bad for the Body

Many people have been made to believe that the famous glycemic index ranks food according to their unhealthy traits. However, research has proven that this is not true. When glycemic-rich food is compared to low glycemic food, no effect is recorded on the metabolic syndrome factors. This means that if you check on the amount, carbohydrates are not harmful to your body. As a matter of fact, controlled intake benefits the body.

3. Egg Yolks are not Healthy

This tops the list of the healthiest foods that people have been scared away from. The truth is that even though foods rich in cholesterol are known to increase the content of LDL cholesterol in some people, low intakes can work for you just fine. Egg yolks have compounds and nutrients that disrupt the process through which cholesterol is absorbed in the body. An increase in cholesterol in egg eaters' bodies has never been found.

Egg yolks are the perfect food to add protein, fat, and several other useful nutrients to your body.

4. Fats are not Good for the Body

For decades on end, many people have believed that you have to incorporate a fat-free diet for you to lose weight. The truth is that low fat and low carbohydrate foods have relatively the same weight loss results. Moreover, completely cutting down on fat from the diet can spell danger since the body needs to actively use at least a little omega six and omega three.

It is important to note that reducing or avoiding fat will not help you lose weight if you still have a calorie surplus. Also, saturated fat can only give you a heart attack if you over-consume them.

5. Consuming Red Meat is Dangerous

As soon as some people see you having red meat, they will suddenly start hitting you with the "It will give you Cancer" statements. After all, a large percentage of the food we consume can get involved in a cancer development process. Why just draw the line on red meat? All these fears are often exaggerated.

There are several better ways to avoid getting cancer than avoiding red meat. You can moderate the intake, avoid smoking, eat a lot of fruits, exercise regularly, and in the end, you will be just fine. The key here is maintaining good health.

6. The Most Significant Meal of the Day is Breakfast

You have most probably been hearing this statement all your life. Many things said by the general public about breakfast are not valid. People who have breakfast might portray a healthier body attribute compared to those who don't. Some observations have also proven that they have lower chances of developing heart diseases, obesity, and diabetes than the breakfast-skippers. However, no concrete proof has been put to support breakfast being more important than the other meals. Maybe those who have breakfast tend to have a healthier lifestyle. Therefore, it is not about when you eat but what you eat. Just eat more mindfully and choose healthy foods.

7. Bread Makes You Fat

Over the recent past, bread has been put on the receiving end of several nutritional criticisms claiming that it makes someone gain more weight. This is not true. However, it has a high-calorie content and can be easy to overeat. The only way that it can make you add weight is if you continuously consume it together with other high-calorie surpluses. It can still make its way into a healthy diet.

8. Snacking is Unhealthy

How many times have you ever grabbed a snack to eat and someone just randomly scolded you, saying that it is unhealthy or that you will gain extra weight? Many, right? Maybe you were just looking for a way to edge off hunger. The truth about it, however, is that it can go your way or against it. It just depends on the snack you are eating. Nutritious snacks are the perfect recommendation; bananas, walnuts, hummus, bean dips, etc. It is recommended that you avoid consuming processed snacks to be on the safe side. This is because they have the ability to affect your blood sugar.

9. Salt is not Good for the Body

Salt contains sodium, which is a vital mineral in the body. This means that consuming salt is essential for your body. The only known problem comes when you eat too much salt. People who consume a lot of salt can develop hypertension. Your kidney can also be damaged since sodium plays a part in its absorption process. You should also know that decreasing or avoiding salt consumption has not been associated with any beneficial body characteristics.

10. High Fructose Corn Syrup is Worse Than Sugar

Commonly known as HFCS, the high fructose corn syrup is mostly used to sweeten several food products. It has been deemed unhealthy for quite a long time due to the richness of fructose. The past has seen several arguments that syrup's fructose can cause diseases such as fatty liver disease and obesity. That is why most people have often preferred table sugar to it.

Here is the reality. There is approximately fifty-five percent fructose content in the syrup and fifty percent in sugar. Evidently, there is not too much of a difference between the two.

11. Fresh-of-the-farm Produce is Better

One reason why most people have assimilated this myth might be that fresh produce has a more appealing appearance than frozen or canned produce. However, the food being fresh does not make it have a higher nutrient content. If present, the difference is negligible

This myth might be propelled by the fact that canned food undergoes a lot of processing while fresh produce doesn't. At the end of the day, most of these foods will have to be cooked before consumption. Isn't this another process too? The most important thing here is consuming enough not dwelling so much on the processing method.

12. Natural Foods are Healthier

Naturally, anyone can be inclined to think that natural food has more benefits to the body than organic food. Most people fail to understand that food is labeled as natural only if no artificial additives were added to it during processing. Therefore, this label doesn't consider how the food was developed (such as genetic modifications). Governmental bodies responsible for the labeling do not label the naturalness, basing it on its healthfulness.

13. You Should Avoid Gluten

Gluten is a type of protein found in rue, wheat, and barley. Blogs and reports have misled the public, claiming that consuming this nutrient is unhealthy and should be avoided. Contrary to this, more than 90% of people consume these foods without developing any complications. What's more, nutritional research has shown that among the people who had the belief that they were gluten-intolerant, 87%of them consumed it just fine. Therefore, unless one has gluten sensitivity or celiac disease, gluten is okay for you.

14. You Have to Detox Regularly

Contrary to this myth, the body has a distinctive way of naturally handling toxins in your body. Organs such as the kidney, the liver, skin, and lungs are there for detoxification. Why then do you have to struggle with detox programs?

There are so many more myths about healthy eating. Instead of just believing what you hear from other people, go out of your way and research for the truth. It will even be easier to take care of your body.