Over the years, old fashion myths or misconceptions about nutrition have been perpetuated by the media, magazines and even some health care professionals. Here are some examples.
Previous studies have suggested that eating breakfast might be linked to maintaining good health and a healthy weight, but recent evidence suggests that no meal is more important than the other.
People that eat breakfast are not thinner or healthier than those that skip it, in fact, breakfast eaters in general consume more calories at the end of the day than not breakfast eaters.
A croissant is not healthier in the morning than another time of the day, it is just the same amount of flour, butter and sugar and it doesn’t matter when you eat it.
So in general, if you are not hungry in the morning do not feel you need to eat breakfast to be “healthy”, just eat whenever you get hungry.
There is a general belief that if you eat earlier in the evening it is healthier and it helps you to lose weight than if you eat late at night.
There is nothing to suggest that eating earlier in the evening is healthier than later. A long period of fasting has many health benefits, it doesn’t matter what time your last meal is. What counts is the amount of macronutrients and calories you have in 24 hours, not the time you have them.
Low fat products are advertised and sold to us as a healthy alternative for those who want to lose weight or keep a healthy diet. In reality, these products are ultra processed and they have no health benefits whatsoever.
Antiquated health advice about fat and foods containing fat like full fat yogurts or butter have been carried over the years with the food industry taking advantage of those nutritional myths to develop ultra processed low fat foods. We already know that processed and ultra processed foods damage our health and do not help us with weight loss. Instead of having a low fat product just eat a natural whole food like a full fat Greek yogurt or a piece of cheese, you will feel more satiated which in time will help you lose weight by eating less in 24 hours.
Blaming a high cholesterol on the consumption of eggs has been a popular belief for many years.
Despite the fact that eggs do not increase our blood cholesterol and are not bad for our cardiovascular health, they have been and still are very unpopular.
Eggs are mainly made of cholesterol and protein and they are one of the best sources of amino acids and healthy fats that we have available.
Eating small frequent meals has been used for years as advice to achieve optimal health and weight loss. However, there is no evidence that backs this claim up. As long as your meals are nutritious and made of real food the size and amount of times you eat a day makes no difference, in fact, now we know that long periods of fasting might be more beneficial than eating more regularly causing spikes of insulin production.
