6 Dumbest Diet Myths That Must Die

No matter if you’re a health-conscious bodybuilder or a person who prioritizes his health above everything else, your diet is the first place to start building a healthier lifestyle. On the good side, our modern knowledge about the nutritional value of food is very extensive, but on the bad side, we often live by stupid myths that block our progress toward better health instead of speeding it up. Without further ado, we present you with 6 dangerous diet myths that you need to shake off as soon as you finish reading this article.

Myth 1: Detoxify!

While it’s true that our air, water and food are polluted to a certain level and we ingest toxic chemicals on a daily basis, our bodies are naturally well equipped for dealing with such issues and rarely need our help in doing so.

Most of the time, the popular periodic cleanings with special herbs, vegetables with ‘magical’ properties or even coffee enemas are completely unnecessary. These methods rose to prominence thanks to the new age wave of loud health-obsessed naturopaths, who generally mean well and give good advices, but in many cases their claims lack scientific support. And most important of all, the liver is not some helpless organ that needs our constant attention to work properly – it has its own ways of cleansing and regulating the elimination of toxins, so stop stressing about it.

Myth 2: Only hormone-free chickens are safe for consumption

Listen up, people. The “hormone-free” label on chicken is an absolute scam.The fact is that no chicken can be completely hormone-free – chickens, like most animals, naturally produce growth hormones, so progesterone, testosterone and estrogen can be naturally found in their meat, which makes that label very misleading. Worried about added hormones? Stress not. Additive hormones have been banned by the FDA for the past 50 years. Not only that such practice is illegal, experts say that it’s not economic at all and nobody would bother to use it anyway.

The reason why today’s chickens are so large is not because they are fed growth hormones (which by the way cannot be taken orally), it’s because farmers have increased their size over time with the help of selective breeding. In addition, the “free range” label doesn’t really mean that all of those brands have raised their chickens on a sunny meadow – that little trick is called advertising. So just relax and eat some chicken.

Myth 3: Whole milk will kill you

You’ve been advised to go for skim over full-fat diary for years now. If you ask any of your friends about his opinion on whole milk, he or she will gladly inform you that this dangerous liquid will make you gain weight, raise your cholesterol levels and clog your arteries.

However, a ton of scientific evidence says quite the contrary. Some studies suggest that people who consume full-fat diary are healthier, weight less and have a lower risk of developing diabetes. As it turns out, the bioactive substances in full-fat milk positively influence the metabolism, helping it burn fat for energy. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can eat as much as you want and whole milk will magically make you slimmer. In addition, whole milk contains oleic acid, which is a fatty acid that protects heart health. Stop the craziness and give full-fat diary a second chance.

Myth 4: Sugar feeds cancer

We’re pretty sure that you’ve already heard that cancer supposedly loves sugar. Ever since this unbalanced piece of information went online back in 2007, later supported by a few doctors on some talk show, cancer patients and overly anxious people around the globe treat sugar like it’s the meanest killer known to man.

The myth that cancer patients shouldn’t eat sugar since it will cause cancer to grow faster is a very dangerous one. Not only that consuming sugar won’t speed the growth of cancer cells, but eliminating carbohydrates from your diet will make your whole body starve and suffer – all cells in your organism depend on these nutrients for energy. And adjusting your diet in order to avoid sugar can cause you to drastically lower your intake of many other vital nutrients that those “cancer-supporting” foods have to offer.

Myth 5: Say no to salt

The war declared on salt has been raging for quite a while now and policy makers have been convincing Americans to consume less salt for decades – even toddlers know that salt is bad for you. But does high sodium intake really lead to hypertension and worsened overall health?

Science highly doubts it. A study published in the American Journal of Hypertension failed to find strong evidence that restricting the salt in your diet reduces the risk for cardiovascular disease, while another study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that low consumption of salt is associated with a greater risk of dying from heart disease. Crazy, right? On the other hand, your body needs iodine, a nutrient typically added to table salt since 1924, to produce the thyroid hormones T3 and T4. Today, iodine deficiency is a major health concern worldwide and it’s been linked to numerous health problems such as hypothyroidism, depression, autoimmune diseases, cancer, psychiatric disorders and mental retardations in children and infants. Therefore, it’s crucial that you consume an adequate amount of iodized salt on a daily basis.

Myth 6: Soy protein is just as good as whey protein

Nope, it doesn’t even come close to whey and all of its variants. First of all, many studies from the past decade have shown that the isoflavones present in soy negatively influence testosterone levels and can even lead to testicle shrinkage. While today you can find few brands of soy protein that don’t contain those dreaded compounds, that doesn’t make soy a good option for building muscle.

A study from McMaster University found that low and average doses of soy protein have almost no effect on muscle protein synthesis, compared to the same doses of whey protein which significantly increased muscle protein synthesis. The reason for this is simple – whey contains a much higher percentage of leucine, the most important amino acids when it comes to muscle building.

Know How You Can Lose Weight In One Week

Being overweight can be depressing, and it can even be more depressing if you are trying to lose the weight, but it seems difficult. Losing weight requires one to have determination, be focused on achieving their desired goal at the end. One must be willing to change their lifestyle and choose a healthy one that will help them attain their desired weight. One week weight loss is possible if you are ready for total commitment because this will contain much effort.

There are ways that you can use to lose weight fast and in one week and some include:

1. Taking charge of what you eat - this includes changing your diet to taking healthy foods only and also in frequent small portions. Taking charge should be in such a way that you get to eat more of fruits and vegetables and less of proteins and starch, sugar and they should be fresh. The method if cooking also changes from frying to either steaming, boiling or even eating raw if possible. It may seem impossible or untasty to some as the food will have a bland taste but if you really want to lose weight fast, you have to do this. You will also need to do away with soft drinks and alcohol as they contain too many sugars.

2. Dieting - there are many diet plans that will help you in your one-week weight loss quest. These diet plans are programmed that you only take certain foods for a certain period. For example, you may take only vegetables and fruits or even take smoothies alone, so that you reduce your calorie intake hence losing weight. The changes will be seen within a week and if you have not attained your desired weight you can try this another time. Most people will use these diet plans for a while and when they lose weight they give up on them and go back to eating normally which in turn makes them regain their weight again. It is recommended that you should diet for a while, then control your eating portions so that you maintain your desired weight.

3. Taking herbal supplements - herbal supplements are natural and a safe way losing weight fast as they contain minerals, vitamins, antioxidant and medicinal properties that will help you in many ways. Some herbs suppress appetite so that you feel full most of the time as they contain high fiber contents hence reduce the chances of binge eating. They also increase the burning of calories in the food that you consume and also facilitate the metabolic function, so that very little fat is stored in the body. Herbal supplements may contain tablets, capsules, powders and teas that are taken each day at recommended dosage.

4. Exercise - doing exercise will help and you should incorporate this with eating healthy foods. It is recommended to do exercise for more than 30 minutes and do mostly cardio and lift weights. Cardio exercise such as jogging, running, and swimming and walking will help the heart beat fast and also assist in reducing the calories in the body and increase the metabolic rate.

It is important to note that to have an effective one-week weight loss you don't have to starve so as to lose weight. If you do, you will interfere with the insulin levels in the body, and the body will respond in negative ways. If you have any medical condition, ensure that you talk to your doctor before having any of the above weight loss ideas so that they can recommend the best way you can lose weight. Children, pregnant women and breastfeed mothers should not take at in any weight loss program.

One Thing You Can Change to Start Adapting Today Is Your Diet

A good diet isn't rocket science. In order to change you have to understand and get real about how the food and drinks you consume are affecting you.

After a meal how long do you last before you get hungry again, or before you want to go to sleep and automatically reach for more coffee?

Do you eat when you're not hungry? Just because the clock says it's time to eat. Do you automatically accept the supersize because it's offered for a few cents and It's such good value?

You have to protect yourself from this rubbish or you are just killing yourself, you can see through this, you always have unless you have an IQ of 2, you know what is good for you and what is bad.

If it's full of junk fats and junk carbs then how on earth do you expect to have good energy, let alone healthy skin and a liver that isn't running the surrender flag up the flag pole. Drink more water and less sweet drinks and coffee.

Coffee doesn't give you energy, water does. Your body is 70% water not coffee or energy drinks. Caffeine gives a false sense of being alert without the boosted brain function or co-ordination to match it. Caffeine stresses your liver and your adrenals. Two cups a day confers healthy benefits, but more just doesn't work for you.

Look for ways to eat more vegetables. Only 10% of people eat enough vegetables, eating more isn't hard. Green smoothies are easy to buy or make. Order vegetables with your meat instead of fries, have vegetable soup, decide to eat more and then do it.

Have 2 pieces of fruit each day, and no more, fruit is healthy but full of sugar. Avoid those giant take away fruit juices, they are a meal in themselves and they will spike your insulin through the roof then bring your blood sugar crashing through the floor leaving you hungry, tired and reaching for a coffee.

Eat good fats such as lean meats, olive oil and avocados & leave out fat creating carbohydrates like pasta, rice, bread and potatoes.

Beware Of Liquid Diets Side Effects

It sounds so tempting, especially if you want to lose weight fast, but beware of liquid diets side effects. Liquid diets are a type of fad diets. Other than for quick weight loss, these diets are also believed to remove toxins from the body. But there are actually liquid diets side effects because you'll be depriving yourself of hefty amounts of essential nutrients. There are other side effects of liquid diets as well that could endanger your health. Understand the risks and side effects of liquid diets so that you'll be able to make healthier choices for your diet to lose weight and detoxify. The way you eat should promote your health and help you prevent disease at the same time. What are the liquid diets side effects?

It deprives you of carbohydrates which cause loss of energy. Liquid fasting diets usually eliminate carbohydrates. But the fact is, carbohydrates is a staple need for your diet. You should include whole grain carbohydrates in your daily meals, such as oats, bran and whole wheat bread. You need to fuel your energy with whole grain carbohydrates. This nutrient is also responsible for preventing type-2 diabetes by regulating your blood sugar levels. You could develop heart disease if you continually adhere to a liquid fasting diet. It deprives your body of energy that is necessary to keep your heart healthy. Liquid fasting diets cause fluctuations in your blood sugar due to lack of carbohydrates, and it may result to fatigue and dizziness.

It causes a loss of much beneficial fiber and digestion problems. Much of beneficial fiber is lost in a liquid fasting diet, and it curtails the important functions of this nutrient in your body. You won't be able to prevent the development of high cholesterol because of a deficit in water-soluble fiber. It limits the amount of LDL cholesterol or bad cholesterol in your body. Insoluble fiber plays a vital role, too. It helps prevent constipation by pushing the waste in your colon. Consider these liquid diets side effect which is fiber deprivation that leads to digestion problems and high cholesterol.

It leads to malnutrition. This is another dangerous liquid diet side effect. All liquid fasting diets require you to significantly limit your calories intake. You'll greatly reduce the amount of nutrients that you consume. As a result, your body loses its fuel to maintain the healthy functioning of your organs and immune system. Be wary of heart rhythm abnormalities and gallbladder problems when going on a liquid fasting diet. These conditions can be potentially fatal. If you're dangerously malnourished, you'll experience symptoms such as diarrhea and constipation (digestive problems), sensitivity to cold, brittle nails and fatigue.

It robs your body of protein and causes muscle loss. Because you're deficient of protein, you'll experience muscle loss. Your heart, your respiratory and immune systems become weak. This increases your risks for acquiring heart problems. If your immune system gets weakened, your ability to fight diseases is diminished.

Liquid fasting diets are extreme diet plans. They typically are unhealthy and dangerous. Consult your physician before you initiate on an extreme liquid diet plan. Take caution because liquid diet side effects can be detrimental and you'll need the supervision of a health and diet professional.

The Myth of Low Carb Diet and Muscle Loss

One of the greatest myths in dieting is that low-carb nutrition can lead to reduced muscle mass. Although many of us have suspected so, now there is a scientific proof that low-carb diets don’t have negative effect on the anabolic response of your muscles to weight training.

The Chemistry Behind Energy

For a long time carbs have been considered a primary source of fuel for our muscles. This misconception about the necessity of carbs in our diet has been taken for granted and emphasised by many nutrition experts, often at the expense of people’s health. Let’s just take for example the Food Guide Pyramid proposed by the federal government.

It recommends six to eleven carbohydrate meals daily, levelling the field for type-2 diabetes. Following this same logic, the school lunches offered to our children are packed with carbohydrate rich foods, which is one of the main causes for obesity among children.

The truth is that your body is capable of creating all the glucose it needs from the fats and protein in your diet. You don’t need to ingest cabs to provide you with fuel. And yet, this fact has been somehow ignored by many of the so-called dieticians. Still we rely on sugary energy boosters, that are supposedly keeping us up to task.

This misconception about the necessity of carbs may have been caused by the fact that our bodies do need glucose (which is the simplest form of sugar) to create energy. However, we don’t really need to consume it in our diets.

Glucose is the basis for starting the glycolysis process, which results with the creation of the adenosine truphospate, or the ATP molecule. The ATP molecule is what provides the energy to our body. Our cells cannot function without steady supply of ATP.  This applies particularly to muscular contraction.

The consumption of ATP is increased during an intensive workout and when our muscles are pumped. Having in mind that the production of energy begins with glucose, it becomes clear why so many people mistakenly believe that carbohydrates should be the main dietary source of energy. It turns out that fats can trigger the energy production process in much more efficient way.

However, this is only true for people who are not used to consuming carbs. But when we choose to ignore this alternative mechanism and bypass it with steady intake of sugar, it tends to atrophy.  The truth is that our body can get used to the direct sugar infusions, thus forgetting about the other alternative. If you still need more arguments about this, jut take a look around you.

One of the most compelling evidence about the devastating effects of dietary carbs is the modern epidemic of obesity and type-2 diabetes. While the simple truth is that they can be easily avoided, without putting in danger our energy creating processes.

THE REDUNDANCY OF CARBS

Although dietary carbs have been considered as the main source of energy for the human body, this is largely untrue.  End even through many people seem to be aware of this, sugars still remain the mainstay of our diet. We consume them in form of energy drinks, convinced that without them will lack the fuel to build our muscles. However, the importance of dietary carbs has been elevated to a pedestal by the society, not by some scientific and medical proofs. In reality, they are not as essential as we may thing.

The truth is that our bodies are capable of deriving all the glucose we need from dietary fats and protein. While carbs are not essential, protein is. Without a steady intake of some aminos found in protein, your body will not be able to build up muscle mass. And although some fats are definitely bad, the unsaturated fats are not only good for your body, but absolutely essential and should be included in your diet. Only the carbohydrates are redundant.

This dietary fact, that many of us have suspected all along, has finally been proven by the scientific research, that showed that low-carbs diet don’t have negative effect on muscle build up. One of the studies comes from the School of Medical Sciences, RMIT University, in Melbourne, Australia. The researchers have focused their study on determining the effect that muscle glycogen has on muscle growth after workout.

They divided the subjects in two groups, one that consumed normal quantity of sugars, while the other was taking low-carbs diet. However, both groups showed identical performances with high-intensity training.

This is also true for endurance athletes. Even more, it proved that they could improve their performance by reducing the dietary carbs and relying more on amino acids and healthy fats.

The study used biopsy of muscles to show that the molecular muscular signalling is the same both in people eat high-carbs diet, and people eating foods low on carbs during high-intensity endurance training. So much for the essential carbs.

REDUCE THE CARBS INTAKE BUT DON’T ELIMINATE THEM

Of course, this does not imply that you should eliminate carbs from your diet completely. It just means that you need to find healthier alternative. For example, instead of relying on carbohydrate foods, you can stick to foods rich in fibres, like vegetables and fruit. Fibre is one of the most important ingredients for healthy body.

Fiber can be divided into two basic types. Soluble and insoluble fiber.  Soluble fiber can be found in oatmeal, for example, and it has ability to dissolve in water, becoming viscous. This fiber is very efficient in lowering the levels of blood cholesterol, and regulating the consumption of sugars. Because of this, it’s absolutely essential to include soluble fiber in your diet, despite the fact that you’ll also be consuming some sugar with it. Insoluble fiber is even more important when you want to build lean muscle mass and maintain your low body fat.

In addition to containing high concentration of minerals, trace minerals and vitamins, insoluble fiber is also very efficient in fighting cancer and beneficial for our digestive tract. And having in mind that diets low on carbs and high on protein can cause constipation, adding insoluble fibre to your diet will improve your bowel movement.

In addition, both soluble and insoluble fiber are low on calories. As a result, you can eat it in large quantities, and it won’t affect your line. Lettuce, greens, spinach, cucumber, green beans, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, onions, asparagus are just some of the vegetables that are high in fiber and should be found on your table.

The last myth regarding the importance of high carbs diet for muscle building is connected with insulin. The proponents of this theory point out that insulin is an anabolic hormone. Although this is true, it’s also true that elevated insulin levels can be extremely dangerous. First and foremost, they can cause insulin resistance.

Moreover, increased insulin levels trigger the lipogenesis in response to high blood sugar levels. Lipogenesis is the process of transforming nutrients into body fat.

Once again, the facts go against the proponents of this theory. The truth is that our bodies can harvest all the benefits of insulin without including carbs in our diet.

The insulin production can be well kept at bay with certain aminos like the BCAAs (isoleucine, leucine, valine), or arginine and alanine. Not only that, but these amino acids trigger far better insulin response than sugars. The insulin rise triggered by these amino acids is much subtler and causes less stress to our physiology then the insulin spike seen when excess carbohydrates are introduced in our system.

Namely, the sudden rise in insulin is a physiological reflex that our bodies use as a protection and means of purification against unnatural sugar levels that they interpret as poison. When we do it too often, your system can crash leaving you stranded with insulin resistance in which this hormone has little effect both on decreasing and on stimulating muscle growth.

With high quality protein diet you eliminate the risk of missing on the anabolic benefits of insulin. Even more, you’ll balance your insulin production. While your body will still be able to provide you with sufficient insulin production, you won’t notice any spikes triggered by high blood sugar.