I’ve noticed recently fierce debates on social media and other news sources about things like calorie counting, eating vs. avoiding fat and genetics.
When it comes to overall health and weight loss, there’s an excess of advice out there. Unfortunately, most of it is terrible, misguided, outdated and scientifically disproven.
This ubiquitously poor advice can create weight loss roadblocks and even damage your health. Here are four prevalent misguided myths that drive me nuts.
Myth #1 – All Calories are Created Equal
A calorie is a calorie, right? Wrong. This myth that refuses to die keeps people from getting and staying healthy, as well as losing weight and keeping it off.
The current thinking is as long as we burn more calories than we consume, we will lose weight. The multi-billion dollar weight loss industry perpetuates this lie and actually relies on you believing it to stay afloat.
Thinking that losing weight is all about energy balance or calories in/calories out, vastly oversimplifies the truth. The food industry and government agencies love this myth because it keeps you buying more junk food, which they suggest you eat in moderation. How’s that working out for America?
Truth is, there are good and bad calories. Your body is much more complex than a simple math problem. When we eat, our food interacts with our biology, a complex adaptive system that instantly transforms every bite. Food is more than just calories and flavours. Food is information telling our cells what to do.
In fact, every bite you eat affects your hormones, brain chemistry and metabolism. Sugar calories cause fat storage and spike hunger. Calories from fat and protein promote fat burning. What counts more is the quality, not the quantity, of the calories.
The highest-quality calories comes from whole foods. Calories from high-quality whole foods are naturally lower in calories as compared with processed foods. This is why calorie counting isn’t necessary when you eat fresh foods like those your great-grandma made.
These foods include quality small wild fish, nuts and seeds. It means good fats like avocado, extra-virgin olive oil, coconut butter and omega-3 fats from fish. And it includes good carbs like vibrantly coloured vegetables (the brighter the better), fruits like wild berries, apples and kiwis, and super foods like chia and hemp seeds.
Myth #2 – Your Genetics Define You and Your Health
Many doctors still believe we have a predisposition to weight gain due to familial history. In other words, if your mum is fat and your grandma is fat, that’s why you became fat. You drew the fat card or the diabetes card in the genetic lottery.
Consider this: There are 32 obesity-associated genes in the general population that account for only 9 percent of obesity cases. Even if you had all 32 obesity genes, you would put on only about 22 pounds.
Our genes only change 2 percent every 20,000 years. About 35 percent of Brits are obese today, yet by 2050 that number will rise to over 50 percent. Our genes simply don’t evolve that fast to keep up with the increase.
What changed drastically wasn’t our genes. It was that we went from eating about 10 pounds of sugar, per person, per year in 1800 to 152 pounds of sugar (and 146 pounds of flour) per person, per year today. These amounts of sugar and flour hijack our metabolism and make us fat and sick.
Numerous factors contribute to obesity, but the least of them is genetics.
Myth #3 – You Can Out-Exercise a Bad Diet
The myth that you can eat whatever you want and burn the calories with exercise is completely false and makes no sense if you understand how the human body works.
If you think you can exercise your way to weight loss, you’re in for a big disappointment if you treat yourself to a post-workout sugar-laden smoothie, muffin or other “healthy” snack.
If you’re relying on exercise to lose weight without changing your diet, you’re setting yourself up for failure. You can change your diet and lose weight, but if you exercise and keep your diet the same, you may gain some muscle, improve endurance and be healthier overall, but you won’t shed many pounds.
Put this into perspective: If you consume one super-sized fast-food meal, you’ll have to run four miles a day for one whole week to burn it off. If you eat that every day, you have to run a marathon every single day to burn it off.
You simply cannot exercise your way out of a bad diet. Yes, exercise is extremely important, but to lose weight and keep it off you need to couple exercise with a healthy diet filled with plenty of plant foods, healthy fats and protein.
Myth #4 – Fat Makes You Fat
Here’s another nonsense : Eating fat makes you fat.
Fat is not a four-letter word! Eating fat not only doesn’t make you fat, it’s critical to health and weight loss.
Studies comparing a high-fat diet that is identical in calorie count to a high-sugar diet had totally different effects on metabolism. The higher-fat diet caused people to burn an extra 300 calories a day. That’s the equivalent of running for an hour without doing any exercise.
Dietary fat actually speeds up your metabolism, while sugar slows it down. The right kinds of fat cool down inflammation, while sugar fuels it.
The right fats are actually your cells’ preferred fuel, especially those fats called medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) that come from foods like coconut oil and coconut butter.
Yes, stay away from trans fats, but good fats like extra-virgin olive oil, coconut butter, avocado, nuts, seeds and nut butters keep us full and lubricate the wheels of our metabolism.
Please stop fearing fat!
Hivi karibuni nimegundua mjadala mkali kwenye media ya kijamii na vyanzo vingine vya habari juu ya mambo kama kuhesabu kalori, kula dhidi ya kuepuka mafuta na urithi. Linapokuja afya ya jumla na kupoteza uzito, kuna ushauri mwingi sana. Kwa kusikitisha, mengi yake ni mabaya, yanapotosha, yamepitwa na wakati na yamethibitishwa kisayansi. Ushauri huu mbaya unaweza kuunda vizuizi vya kupoteza uzito na hata kuharibu afya yako. Hapa kuna hadithi nne za uwongo zinazonifanya niwe wazimu. Hadithi ya uwongo # 1: Kalori zote zimeundwa sawa - Kalori ni kalori, sawa? Si kweli. Hadithi hii ya kukataa kufa inazuia watu kupata na kukaa na afya, na pia kupoteza uzito na kuuweka. Kwa kawaida, watu huamini kwamba ikiwa tutayatumia kalori nyingi kuliko tunazotumia, tutapoteza uzito. Sekta ya kupoteza uzito ya mabilioni ya dola inaendeleza uongo huu na kwa kweli inategemea wewe kuamini ili kubaki juu ya maji. Kufikiri kwamba kupoteza uzito ni juu ya usawa wa nishati au kalori katika na nje, inarahisisha sana ukweli. Kampuni za chakula na mashirika ya serikali hupenda hadithi hii kwa sababu inakufanya ununue chakula cha haraka zaidi, ambacho wanapendekeza uchukue kwa kiasi. Hilo linafanyaje kwa Marekani? Ukweli ni kwamba kuna kalori nzuri na mbaya. Mwili wako ni tata kuliko tatizo la hisabati. Wakati tunakula, chakula chetu huingiliana na biolojia yetu, mfumo tata wa kubadilika ambao hubadilisha kila kinywaji mara moja. Chakula si tu kalori na ladha. Chakula ni habari inayowaambia chembe zetu nini cha kufanya. Kila kitu unachokula huathiri homoni, kemikali ya ubongo na kimetaboliki. Kalori za sukari husababisha kuhifadhi mafuta na kuongeza njaa. Kalori kutoka kwa mafuta na protini huchochea kuchoma mafuta. Jambo la maana zaidi ni ubora, si wingi, wa kalori. Kalori zenye ubora wa juu zaidi hutoka kwa vyakula vyenye virutubisho. Vyakula vyenye ubora wa juu vya chakula cha kawaida vina kalori chache kuliko vyakula vilivyotengenezwa. Hii ndiyo sababu kuhesabu kalori si muhimu wakati wewe kula vyakula safi kama wale bibi yako kubwa alifanya. Vyakula hivyo vinatia ndani samaki wadogo wa porini, karanga, na mbegu zenye ubora. Kwa mfano, mafuta ya avocado, mafuta ya mzeituni ya bikira, mafuta ya mafuta ya mafuta ya mafuta ya mafuta ya mafuta ya mafuta ya mafuta ya mafuta ya mafuta ya mafuta ya mafuta ya omega-3 kutoka kwa samaki. Kwa kweli, hii ni pamoja na wanga mzuri kama mboga zenye rangi nyangavu (ng'ao mkali zaidi, bora), matunda kama matunda ya mwituni, apples na kiwis, na vyakula bora kama chia na mbegu za hemp. Hadithi ya uwongo: Genetics yako huamua wewe na afya yako Madaktari wengi bado wanaamini tuna mwelekeo wa kuongezeka kwa uzito kwa sababu ya historia ya familia. Kwa maneno mengine, kama mama yako ni mafuta na nyanya yako ni mafuta, kwamba ni kwa nini wewe akawa mafuta. "Kama unajua, ""kadi ya mafuta"" au ""kadi ya kisukari"" ni moja ya kadi za bahati nasibu za maumbile." Kwa mfano, kuna jeni 32 zinazohusiana na unene wa mwili ambazo husababisha asilimia 9 tu ya watu wenye unene wa mwili. Hata kama ungekuwa na jeni zote 32 za unene wa kupita kiasi, ungeongeza pauni 22 tu. Chembe zetu za urithi hubadilika kwa asilimia 2 tu kila baada ya miaka 20,000. Kwa mfano, asilimia 35 ya watu wa Uingereza wana uzito wa kupita kiasi, lakini kufikia mwaka 2050 idadi hiyo itapanda hadi asilimia 50. Jeni zetu hazibadiliki haraka sana ili ziweze kukabiliana na ongezeko hilo. Kile kilichobadilika sana si chembe zetu za urithi. Kwa mfano, mwaka wa 1800, kila mtu alila karibu pauni 10 za sukari kwa mwaka, lakini leo tunatumia pauni 152 za sukari na pauni 146 za unga kwa mwaka. Kiasi hiki cha sukari na unga huathiri kimetaboliki yetu na kutufanya tuwe wanene na wagonjwa. Kuna mambo mengi yanayofanya mtu awe mnene kupita kiasi, lakini jambo la chini zaidi ni chembe za urithi. Hadithi ya 3 - Unaweza Kupita Mlo Mbaya - Hadithi ya kwamba unaweza kula chochote unachotaka na kuchoma kalori kwa kufanya mazoezi ni ya uwongo kabisa na haina maana ikiwa unaelewa jinsi mwili wa binadamu unavyofanya kazi. Kama unafikiri unaweza mazoezi njia yako ya kupoteza uzito, wewe ni katika kwa ajili ya tamaa kubwa kama wewe kujipatia baada ya mazoezi sukari-laden smoothie, muffin au nyingine "salama" vitafunio. Ikiwa unategemea mazoezi ili kupunguza uzito bila kubadilisha lishe yako, unajiweka tayari kushindwa. Unaweza kubadilisha mlo wako na kupoteza uzito, lakini ikiwa unafanya mazoezi na kuweka mlo wako sawa, unaweza kupata misuli, kuboresha uvumilivu na kuwa na afya zaidi kwa ujumla, lakini hautapoteza pauni nyingi. Weka hii katika mtazamo: Kama wewe kula moja super-ukubwa chakula cha haraka-chakula, utakuwa na kukimbia maili nne kwa siku kwa wiki moja nzima kuchoma ni mbali. Ikiwa unafanya hivyo kila siku, lazima uende mbio za marathon kila siku ili kuondoa mafuta. Huwezi tu kufanya mazoezi ili uondoke kwenye lishe mbaya. Mazoezi ni muhimu sana, lakini ili kupoteza uzito na kuhifadhi uzito, unahitaji kuunganisha mazoezi na lishe nzuri iliyojaa chakula cha mimea, mafuta na protini. Hadithi ya 4 - Mafuta hufanya wewe mafuta Hapa ni nonsense nyingine: Kula mafuta hufanya wewe mafuta. Uzito si neno lenye herufi nne! Kula mafuta si tu haina kufanya wewe mafuta, ni muhimu kwa afya na kupoteza uzito. Uchunguzi uliofanya kulinganisha chakula chenye mafuta mengi ambacho kilikuwa sawa kwa hesabu ya kalori na chakula chenye sukari nyingi kilikuwa na athari tofauti kabisa kwa kimetaboliki. Kwa sababu ya chakula chenye mafuta mengi, watu walichoma kalori 300 zaidi kwa siku. Hiyo ni sawa na kukimbia kwa saa moja bila kufanya mazoezi yoyote. Kwa kweli, mafuta huongeza kasi ya kimetaboliki, lakini sukari huipunguza. Aina sahihi za mafuta hupunguza uvimbe, huku sukari ikiuchochea. Mafuta ya kawaida ni mafuta ya kawaida ya chembe zako, hasa zile zinazojulikana kama triglycerides za mlolongo wa kati (MCT) ambazo hutoka kwa vyakula kama mafuta ya kokoni na siagi ya kokoni. "Kama vile mafuta ya trans, mafuta mazuri kama mafuta ya mizeituni ya extra virgin, siagi ya kokoni, avocado, karanga, mbegu na siagi ya karanga hufanya tumejaa na kuimarisha mfumo wetu wa kimetaboliki. """ Tafadhali acha kuogopa mafuta!