Top 13 Nutrition Lies That Made the World Sick and Fat

Nutrition is full of all kinds of nonsense.

The worst examples are listed here, but unfortunately this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Here are the top 8 nutrition lies that have made the world both sick and fat.

1. Eggs Are Bad for Your Health

Eggs are so incredibly nutritious that they're often called "nature's multivitamin." The nutrients in them are enough to turn a single cell into an entire baby chicken.

However, eggs have been demonized in the past because they contain a large amount of cholesterol, which was believed to increase the risk of heart disease.

But the truth is that despite being high in cholesterol, eggs don't really raise the bad cholesterol in the blood. In fact, eggs primarily raise the "good" cholesterol .

If anything, eggs are pretty much a perfect food for humans. They're loaded with protein, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals and unique antioxidants that protect the eyes .

Despite being a "high fat" food, eating eggs for breakfast is proven to cause significant weight loss compared to a breakfast of bagels .

2. A Calorie Is a Calorie

It is often said that the only thing that matters for weight loss is "calories in, calories out." The truth is that calories matter... but the types of foods we eat are just as important.

That is because different foods go through different metabolic pathways in the body .

Additionally, the foods we eat can directly impact the hormones that regulate when and how much we eat, as well as the amount of calories we burn.

Here are two examples of why a calorie is NOT a calorie:

• Protein: Eating protein can boost the metabolic rate and reduce appetite compared to the same amount of calories from fat and carbs. It can also increase your muscle mass, which burns calories around the clock .
• Fructose vs glucose: Fructose can stimulate the appetite compared to the same number of calories from glucose .

Even though calories are important, saying that they are all that matters when it comes to weight (or health for that matter) is completely wrong.

3. Saturated Fat Is Unhealthy

For many decades, people have believed that eating saturated fat can increase the risk of heart disease.

In fact, this idea has been the cornerstone of mainstream nutrition recommendations.
However, studies published in the past few decades prove that saturated fat is completely harmless.

Multiple other studies confirm these findings... saturated fat really has nothing to do with heart disease. The "war" on fat was based on an unproven theory that somehow became common knowledge .

The truth is that saturated fat raises HDL (the "good") cholesterol. It also changes the LDL cholesterol from small, dense LDL (very, very bad) to Large LDL, which is benign .

There is literally no reason to fear butter, meat or coconut oil... these foods are perfectly healthy!

4. Coffee Is Bad for You

Coffee has gotten a bad reputation in the past.

It is true that coffee can mildly elevate blood pressure in the short term .

However, long term studies show that coffee may actually reduce your risk of some serious diseases.
Coffee drinkers: 

• Have up to a 67% lower risk of Type II diabetes
• Are at a much lower risk of getting Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
• Have up to an 80% lower risk of liver diseases like cirrhosis

Many studies have examined the effects of caffeine on the brain, showing that it can improve mood, memory, reaction time, vigilance and overall brain function .

You may be surprised to hear that coffee is also loaded with antioxidants. In fact, it is the biggest source of antioxidants in the modern diet, outranking both fruits and vegetables, combined.

If you're sensitive to caffeine or it tends to disrupt your sleep, then green tea has many of the same health benefits but a smaller amount of caffeine.

5. Meat Is Bad for You

Blaming new health problems on old foods has never made sense to me.

For some very strange reason, many people are now blaming meat for diseases like heart disease and type II diabetes, which are relatively new.

This doesn't make much sense at all and the studies don't support it.

While it is true that processed meat is associated with all sorts of diseases, the same is not true for unprocessed red meat.

Other studies that included hundreds of thousands of people agree with this... processed meat is bad, but unprocessed red meat is harmless .

If there really is an association between red meat and cancer (which has NOT been proven) then it is most likely caused by excessive cooking, not the meat itself. For this reason, it may be important to avoid burning your meat 

 

Also, let's not forget that meat is incredibly nutritious. It is loaded with vitamins, minerals, quality proteins, healthy fats and various lesser known nutrients that are important for the body and brain .

6. Sugar Is Bad Because It Contains "Empty" Calories

Many think that sugar is unhealthy just because it contains "empty" calories.

This is true... sugar contains a lot of calories, with no essential nutrients.

But this is really just the tip of the iceberg.

Fructose also doesn't lower the hunger hormone ghrelin and doesn't affect satiety in the brain in the same way as glucose. This way, sugar causes a biochemical drive in the brain to eat more and get fat 

When consumed in excess, added sugar is associated with multiple diseases, including obesity, heart disease, type II diabetes and even cancer.

Sugar is probably the single worst ingredient in the modern diet.

7. Everyone Should Be Cutting Back on Sodium

The health authorities constantly tell us to reduce sodium in the diet in order to reduce blood pressure.

Whereas most people are eating about 3400 mg of sodium per day, we are usually advised to cut back to 1500-2300 mg per day (about 3/4 to 1 teaspoon of salt).

It is true that reducing sodium can cause mild reductions in blood pressure, especially in individuals who have elevated blood pressure to begin with .

But it's important to keep in mind that elevated blood pressure itself doesn't kill anyone directly. It is a risk factor, not necessarily a cause of disease.

Other studies show that too little sodium can also be harmful, leading to adverse effects such as insulin resistance, elevated LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as an increased risk of death in type II diabetics.

Overall, there is no evidence that healthy people need to cut back on sodium.

8. Fat Makes You Fat

It seems to make sense that eating fat would make you fat.

After all, the stuff that is making people soft and puffy is fat.

For this reason, eating more fat should give us more of it.

However, it turns out that it isn't that simple. Despite fat having more calories per gram than protein or carbohydrates, diets that are high in fat do not make people fat.

In fact, the studies consistently show that diets that are high in fat (but low in carbs) lead to much more weight loss than diets that are low in fat.

source: www.healthline.com