7 Diet Misconceptions

Weight loss can be difficult, no thanks to popular misconceptions that have the ring of truth but can actually work against you. Among the more commonmyths:

1. Desserts are forbidden. The truth is, there's room in your diet for any kind of food, especially the ones you love most -- as long as you control your total caloric intake (and grams of carbohydrate, if you tally them). Denying yourself your favorite foods can lead to binge eating and, ultimately, discouragement.

2. You have to lose a lot of weight to make a difference. The closer you can get to an ideal weight, the better, but small, sustained improvements at the beginning of a weight-loss program have the biggest impact on your health. Studies show that losing just 5 to 10 pounds can improve insulin resistance enough to allow some people with type 2 diabetes to quit medication or injections.

3. What you eat matters more than how much. Both matter, but recent research finds that the number of calories in your food is more important than where they come from. Example: A bagel might seem healthier than a doughnut hole, but dense bagels have the calorie content of six slices of bread. As long as you're not eating too much fatin other foods, the doughnut hole wins.

4. If you work out, you can eat whatever you want. That's robbing Peter to pay Paul. You can't lose weight if you reduce calories in one way but increase them in another.

5. Skipping meals makes you lose weight fast. Actually, studies show that people who skip breakfast tend to be heavier than people who don't. And skipping meals tends to make you overeat later. If you have diabetes, it's important to keep up a steady intake of small portions of food throughout the day to keep your blood-sugar levels stableand reduce the risk of hypoglycemia.

6. Starches are fattening. If you are insulin resistant, your body may find it easier to convert carbohydrate calories to fat than to burn it as energy, but the fact remains that starches (and other carbohydrates) are less dense in calories gram for gram than other types of food. The main issue is calories, so if you load starchy foods with fat -- sour cream and butter on a baked potato, for instance -- or eat them in large quantities, the caloric load can add up.

7. You should never eat fast food. Never say never. Fast food can be worked into your meal plan if you choose well. Opt for grilled foods instead of fried, avoid or scrape away high-fat condiments like mayonnaise, and share those French fries to keep portion size down.

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Myths and Truths About Fats

(excerpt from the Weston Price Foundation)

Myth: Heart disease in America is caused by consumption of cholesterol and saturated fat from animal products.
Truth: During the period of rapid increase in heart disease (1920-1960), American consumption of animal fats declined but consumption of hydrogenated and industrially processed vegetable fats increased dramatically. (USDA-HNI)

Myth: For good health, serum cholesterol should be less than 180 mg/dl.
Truth: The all-cause death rate is higher in individuals with cholesterol levels lower than 180 mg/dl. (Circulation 1992 86:3:1026-1029)

Myth: Animal fats cause cancer and heart disease.
Truth: Animal fats contain many nutrients that protect against cancer and heart disease; elevated rates of cancer and heart disease are associated with consumption of large amounts of vegetable oils. (Fed Proc July 1978 37:2215)

Myth: Children benefit from a low-fat diet.
Truth: Children on low-fat diets suffer from growth problems, failure to thrive & learning disabilities. (Food Chem News 10/3/94)

Myth: A low-fat diet will make you "feel better . . . and increase your joy of living."
Truth: Low-fat diets are associated with increased rates of depression, psychological problems, fatigue, violence and suicide. (Lancet 3/21/92 v339)

Myth: Americans do not consume enough essential fatty acids.
Truth: Americans consume far too much of one kind of EFA (omega-6 EFAs found in most polyunsaturated vegetable oils) but not enough of another kind of EFA (omega-3 EFAs found in fish, fish oils, eggs from properly fed chickens, dark green vegetables and herbs, and oils from certain seeds such as flax and chia, nuts such as walnuts and in small amounts in all whole grains.) (Am J Clin Nutr 1991 54:438-63)

Myth: To avoid heart disease, we should use margarine instead of butter.
Truth: Margarine eaters have twice the rate of heart disease as butter eaters. (Nutrition Week 3/22/91 21:12)

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