Myth: Cutting carbohydrates helps you lose weight
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. Experts suggest a minimum of 130 grams of carbs a day—a far cry from low-carb diets that start with 20 grams or less. Short-term effects of such diets include fatigue, constipation and irritability; long term, you could be putting yourself at risk for heart disease and colon cancer.
Fad diets aside, what may matter most is how refined the carbohydrates are. 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.
Myth: Diet foods help you drop pounds
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. Prepackaged diet foods can have a lot of sugar and trans fat.
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.
A recent study 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 avocado to your salads. Just watch your daily calories to keep them in check.
Myth: The more you cut calories, the more weight you’ll lose
That can actually hurt you. Cut your calories too far—below 1,200 a day—and you’ll end up with a double whammy that quickly decreases your metabolism and muscle mass. To get the most out of the calories you do eat, choose whole foods such as produce, fresh meat and fish, and whole grains that are as close to their natural state as possible. They have a higher “nutrient density” than refined foods, because they pack more vitamins and minerals into fewer calories.
Myth: Dairy makes you fat
Cutting dairy just shoots you in the foot (and fat cells). Combined with calorie control, a dairy-rich diet can nearly double body-fat reduction and weight loss and help prevent weight gain. Part of the reason is the hormone calcitriol, which helps conserve calcium for stronger bones while telling fat cells to convert less sugar to fat and burn more body fat. The result is leaner fat cells and a leaner you. Stick to the government’s latest dietary guidelines, which recommend three servings of low- or nonfat dairy a day.
Myth: Brown equals whole-grain
There are lots of whole-grain poseurs out there. Look for labels where “whole-wheat” or “whole-grain” top the list. It’s worth the extra effort: More and more research is finding that whole grains reduce your risk of many chronic ailments, from obesity and diabetes to cardiovascular disease. The extra fiber in whole grains is key: It makes you feel full, which means you eat less. It also helps level out the peaks and valleys of insulin that a meal produces. An added boost: Whole-grain foods tend to be higher in vitamins B and E than refined grains.
By Lia Huber
Comments (8)
whait can i do to be slin
Good day!,
When you don’t qualify ‘carb’ then yes, it is a myth, but state it correctly as one of the diets quoted in the article then it’s not a myth, it works. The deal is cutting complex carbs, i.e. starches, sugars, etc., not just any old carb, does help you lose weight. Diets such as Atkins, has you eating 20 grams of carbs or less only in the 1st 2 weeks, still promotes eating vegetables and fiber, along with at least 64 oz of water daily along with proteins, as well as increasing the carb limit if you do find yourself groggy. Personally I have lost 20 lbs in 2 weeks and 80 lbs in about a year on limiting my carb intake and only eating good carbs which keeps me healthy and regular. I’ve tried all other sorts of weight loss programs and this is the only one that has made sense to me and works. Finally even now doctors are recommending reduced carbs for diabetic patients. It’s basic, if you are not active enough to burn the excess carbs you eat, reduce that amount or gain weight. Read the complete books people instead paying head to these little half-truth sound-bites which cause more harm than good.
Isn’t that exactly what was stated above in the article? You (Melinda) just restated what was written above, just more elaborately….What are you so ‘miffed’ over?
The first 20 pounds you lost was mostly water weight. Although low carb works, you shouldn’t go too low. The science behind super low carb diets is to put the body into ketosis. Although if done properly, super low carb diets work to reduce weight, you are also reducing LBM. The weight lost will also come back extremely fast when you come off the diet. The most effective and healthiest way to lose weight is done with a balanced deficit diet and cardio.
interesting article, last year I lost 7 stone via increased exercise, reduced food intake and a prescription tablet Reductile. great you say so did I problem is I have reached the 12 month limit of prescription and 6 months on I have gained 1 stone, I really want to acheive my goal weight of 14 stone and I am 2 stone off it, what do I do now?
Personally, if I want to drop fat I use fat burning supplements. They get a lot of bad press, but they genuinely do work.
Here’s my favourite
http://www.quickfitness.co.uk/maximuscle-thermobol-review.html
Well I find that having a regular plan and consistently adjusting my diet to take into account the calorie works fine. The key is to break down meals into smaller portions. I still take carbs but as the rest says, good carbs and not those refined carbs.
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