There are two basic reasons why so many trending nutrition myths about weight loss and nutirition keep surfacing and resurfacing. First, many myths can seem to make a lot of sense. If you gain weight by adding too many calories, then cutting calories is a great way to lose weight, right?
Wrong. Cutting calories for weight loss might produce some weight loss in the short-term, but it is not a healthy option for long-term results. In fact, there’s a good chance that cutting calories will actually result in an overall weight gain in the future.
The other reason for the prevalence of so many nutrition myths? Money. Over $7 Billion is spent every year by Canadians on weight-loss diets, diet books and diet pills. And dieting rarely works for healthy, sustained weight loss.
The Top Trending Nutrition Myths
We have covered many of the top nutrition myths before. But this time, we thought we expose some of the myths that seem more popular than others online and in social media.
- Artificial Sweeteners Are a Good Substitute for Sugar – Sound good, but it’s a myth. While non-nutritive artificial sweeteners may help you avoid some of the weight and disease risks of sugar, they have weight and disease risks of their own.
Among others, they are linked to increased risk of type-2 diabetes, and they trick your body into thinking it has received a shot of energy. When your brain realizes the energy isn’t there, it sends out hunger signals to make you eat more. - You Don’t Need Nutrition Supplements – Proponents of this myth say that we get all the nutrients we need from our diets. If we all eat a healthy balanced diet, and we have no physical issues, that may be so.
But if there are any extenuating circumstances, like diabetes, the use of many medications, excess weight, injury or stress to the body, restricted diets, genetic issues, older age, and pregnant or breastfeeding women, the right supplements in the right dosage will help fill in the gaps in your diet. - Weight Loss is Easy – Unfortunately, this one is always trending. If losing weight was easy, we’d all be rail thin. But, if you listen to all the stories and claims about losing weight “fast and easy”, you can be tempted to think it’s possible. The best and fastest way to healthily lose weight, and keep it off, is to find a balanced, nutritious, sustainable diet plan and activity program designed for your needs.
Visit your nearest Herbal One Centre where a nutrition consultant is ready to create a Herbal One Diet Plan based on your nutritional needs and weight loss goals.
To learn the truth about more weight loss myths, check out our post “It’s a New Decade – Let’s Put These Weight-Loss Myths to Rest”.