{"id":620,"date":"2001-09-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2001-09-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/weight-loss-the-top-5-diet-myths-debunked\/"},"modified":"2001-09-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2001-09-01T00:00:00","slug":"weight-loss-the-top-5-diet-myths-debunked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1millionbestdownloads.com\/weight-loss-the-top-5-diet-myths-debunked\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top 5 Diet Myths Debunked"},"content":{"rendered":"
You buy wheat bread, watch the sweets, and have sworn off supersizing. But you still might be falling prey to some common diet myths. Read on to find out about the worst ones, and what you can do to outwit them.<\/p>\n
1. Myth:<\/strong> Cutting carbohydrates helps you lose weight. "Levels that low can leave you fatigued, constipated, and irritable," she says. And those are just the short-term side effects. Eric Rimm, associate professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, believes that long-term, an Atkins-style diet could increase risk of heart disease and colon cancer, perhaps due to the resulting increase in saturated fats.<\/p>\n Fad diets aside, what may matter most is how refined the carbohydrates are. Refining removes grains' fibrous coating, which leads to digesting food faster than you should. That's why whole fruits, with their fiber and nutrients, are good choices despite their simple carbohydrates. The best idea is to cut back on refined carbs such as soda and foods made with white flour, while loading up on healthier carbs like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.<\/p>\n Next Page: Diet foods<\/a> [ pagebreak ]<\/p>\n 2. Myth:<\/strong> Diet foods help you drop pounds. As with carbs, it's the quality of the fat, not the amount, that makes the difference. Monounsaturated fats (found in nuts, olive oil, and avocados) and the polyunsaturated variety (in corn, soybean, and safflower oils) help your cardiovascular system, improve weight loss, and are crucial for absorbing beta carotene from vegetables like carrots. Trans fats and saturated fats, on the other hand, have been linked with heart disease and even cancer. <\/p>\n The Harvard Nurses' Health Study vividly contrasts "good" and "bad" fats. It found that replacing just 30 calories of carbs a day with the same amount of trans fats nearly doubled the risk of heart disease. Replacing the same ratio of carbs with monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats, on the other hand, lowered the risk of heart disease by 30 to 40 percent. So consider boosting your good fats by adding nuts to your morning cereal or some avocado to your salads. Just watch your overall daily calories to keep them in check.<\/p>\n
Truth:<\/strong> Doing it the wrong way can also make you feel rotten and unhealthy.
Carbs are to this decade what fats were to the last: food demons. Truth is, though, you need them for energy. And, like with fats, some are better than others. Lona Sandon, RD, assistant professor in clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, suggests a minimum of 130 grams of carbs a day—a far cry from low-carb diets that start with 20 grams or less.<\/p>\n
Truth:<\/strong> They can actually do the opposite.
You may be doing yourself more harm than good by scanning labels for the lowest calorie and fat counts. "They may be less caloric, but they're not necessarily better for you," Sandon says. "Prepackaged diet foods can have a lot of sugar and trans fat."<\/p>\n