It’s no wonder people have a hard time losing weight these days! All the conflicting information and outright misinformation out there is downright confusing. It can be extremely challenging to say the least. One week you are told that soy milk is amazing, and the next week you hear it causes cancer. Then, you hear that almond milk is the best new thing, but you read a blog article that tells you to ditch it. Which is it?

I am going to share with you the top 3 nutrition lies that are still being perpetuated to this day! These three, in my opinion, are by far the absolute worst offenders. If all we could do is get more people to understand these three lies, I believe this alone would make a huge impact on the health of our nation.

So, on with the lies...

Nutrition Lie #1:  Fat Makes You Fat

Nothing could be further from the truth! It never ceases to amaze me how this lie is still being perpetuated.  Even though this lie was destroyed by science years ago!  Let’s just look at some extremely simple logic here for a second: If our metabolism (i.e. fat burning) is regulated by hormones, most of which are primarily derived from cholesterol (i.e. FAT), then wouldn’t it make sense that we need the building blocks (i.e. FAT) to make these hormones so that they can help us burn fat?!  The truth is that fat doesn’t make you fat!  Inflammation from a carbohydrate rich diets is what makes you fat. Fat from things like coconut oil, avocados, and butter made from grass fed cows is awesome for you and will actually help you burn fat.

Nutrition Lie #2:  Cholesterol is Bad For You

Much like the first lie, the whole cholesterol myth/lie is just nuts! Again, our body absolutely NEEDS cholesterol. We use cholesterol to synthesize a wide range of critical hormones.  When we attempt to interfere with cholesterol production (via statin drugs), we wind up creating more problems, such as a condition known as statin induced myopathy (see Statin Induced Myopathy), or an increased risk of diabetes, that’s always fun! (Increased Risk of Diabetes)

The truth is cholesterol doesn’t cause heart attacks, inflammation causes heart attacks. Cholesterol is an essential part of our natural biochemistry. We need cholesterol. Cholesterol is not bad for you.

Nutrition Lie #3:  A Calorie is a Calorie

How many times have you heard, “You just need to watch your calories” or “Lower your caloric intake” or something similar? How many times have you seen different types of low calorie snack foods being marketed as somehow “healthy” for you simply because they don’t exceed a certain caloric threshold? They seem to shout “Hey, I’m only 100 calories! But please ignore the fact that they are primarily made up of carbohydrates and chemical preservatives.” Calories are meaningless if you are using that as your primary indicator of a certain food’s nutritional merit. 100 calories from cookies, versus 100 calories from raw vegetables is really a no-brainer. While caloric intake can be a helpful general rule of thumb in some instances, it should be clear that calories are not all equal. A calorie is not a calorie.

While this article isn’t intended as a comprehensive blueprint on nutrition, hopefully it has opened your eyes to some of the most common lies and misunderstandings that some still encounter in the world of nutrition. Just remember, healthy fats and cholesterol are awesome and not all calories are created equal. Remember to contact our chiropractor Meridian Idaho team.