11 Myths About Nutriton

mikebuss | 23/11/2012 | 0 Comments More

Not 5, not 10… But 11 Myths of Nutrition…

Much of the nutriton information offered as fact in gyms and in books all over the world has been miscommunicated, misunderstood or misinformed… These urban legends of the nutrition world are taken in by joe public as fact instead of half truths and fiction.

Someone trying to sell you their idea will of course tell you it works and give reasons why they believe it works to sell you the diet and the book and even the t-shirt! But they are really at the end of the day just another salesman selling their product/service.

So here I hope to set straight some of the most common misconceptions that are out there to help you achieve the body you want!

MYTH 1:

DONT EAT FAT AND YOU WONT GET FAT

If you consume more calories than you burn, you will stimulate body fat storage, even if your dietry fat intake is low. Excess carbs can be stored as body fat once liver and muscle glycogen levels are saturated and protein that isnt used for tissue synthesis can similarely be stored as body fat. So unfortunately, you can gain weight and body fat in more than one way.

Avoidig excess dietry fat is important, however because at 9calories per gram, fat yields more than twice the calories of an equivalent amount of protein. or carbohydrate.

MYTH 2:

ALL FAT IS BAD!

Your body needs fat! it requires essential fatty acids (EFAs) generally found in vegetable oils, that your body cant manufacture on its own. EFAs are building blocks for hormones and are essential to support normal fat metabolism – thats right! You Need Fat To Burn Fat!

Flaxseed oil, evening primrose oil and omega 3 fatty acids (found in many cold water fish) are important types of fat that can improve glucose tolerance and support immune function by sparing glutamine. A diet too low in fat can rob your body of these vital nutrients.

MYTH 3:

CARBS BUILD MUSCLE

Only Protein actually becomes part of new muscle tissue. Yet carbohydrates do provide the fuel for most of the body’s various systems and are essential if youre going to train with enough intensity to stimulate muscle growth.

A rule of thumb is to consume roughly 2-3 grams of carbs daily for each pound of lean body mass. This should be sufficient to restore muscle glycogen depleted during training and supply the energy you need on a daily basis.

MYTH 4:

YOU DONT HAVE TO EAT MUCH PROTEIN IF YOU WANT TO TONE

First of all, theres no such thing as toning. Muscle cells either grow (hypertrophy) or break down (catabolise), and body fat deposits either grow or shrink – those are the only adjustments you can make. Toning is usually understood to mean adding minimal amount of muscle, increasing muscle tonus (degree of firmness) and reducing body fat.

To create an environment favourable for building even a little muscle, consume about 1gram of protein daily per pound of lean mass.

When your protein intake is too low, the body can cannibalise its own tissue to obtain the ammino acids it needs to support various biological functions. This results in higher body fat-to-muscle ratio – exactly what you dont want.

MYTH 5:

THREE SQUARE MEALS PROVIDE ALL THE NUTRIENTS YOU NEED TO BUILD MUSCLE AND BE HEALTHY

Not likely, getting all the macronutrients you need in three feedings is very difficult, and requires those meals to be rather large. This creates two problems, larger meals are harder to absorb and large infrequent meals can stimulate fat storage.

Three square meals per day is a custom, the result of social norms and work schedules. An improved stratagy for better health, energy levels and absorption of nutrients is to eat 5-6 smaller meals each day. The only problem with this is that our social and work habbits dont often allow to be able to do this.

MYTH 6:

FAD DIETS WORK

Diets Dont Work! They do I accept promote temporary weight loss, yet long term it effects your lean mass also. You will loose both fat and muscle tissue on a diet and loosing muscle tissue slows down your metabolism as your lean mass to fat percentages start to favour the fat. This then has a knock on effect to further weight loss of fat as your metabolism then isnt as efficient.

MYTH 7:

YOU CAN MAKE UP FOR EATING TOO MUCH ONE DAY BY EATING LESS THE NEXT

Consuming too many calories in one day will stimulate fat storage. Trying to make up for it the next day will always fail! Low-Calorie Dieting even for one day can slow your metabolism so you will end up burning less calories and drain your body of energy, making is difficult to exercise at full capacity.

MYTH 8:

SKIPPING BREAKFAST WILL HELP CONTROL YOUR APPETITE

Skipping breakfast can often lead to bingeing late at night, which is exactly when you dont want to take in major calories if you are trying to get lean.

An age old saying “Eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a prince and eat dinner like a pauper”. Remember breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so dont skip it.

MYTH 9:

RED MEAT IS HIGH IN FAT:

Not all red meat contains a lot of fat. Try grilling lean red meat instead of marinading in sauces that may contain oils.

MYTH 10:

YOU SHOULD AVOID STARCHY CARBOHYDRATES IF YOU WANT TO LOSE FAT:

This will leave you with fruit, vegetables and milk products as your only sources of carbohydrate, an approach that will make it very difficult to consume adequate amount of calories, which in turn can lead to a slower metabolism.

MYTH 11:

FRUIT JUICES ARE A GOOD REPLACEMENT FOR SOFT DRINKS:

While fruit juices may provide more vitamins, they are an extremely concentrated source of calories. A tall glass of apple or grape juice has approx 200 calories, about the same as two apples. The juice takes up little room in your stomachand is very easy to absorb, while the fruit take longer to digest, occupy more room and leave you feeling more satisfied.

By Mike Buss | Celebrity Trainer