Ten Diet Untruths
Dieting and weight loss are surrounded by urban legends and old wive's tales. This article, Ten diet lessons to unlearn, refutes ten of the most common:
2. Your metabolism is slower at night. Contrary to popular belief, your metabolism doesn't slow down after a certain time. This legend probably stems from the fact that many of us eat a larger proportion of calories in the evening, for example, snacking in front of the TV. If that's you, making a general rule about not eating after a certain time may be effective. Just be clear about one thing: the bag of crisps you eat at 3pm will do the same amount of damage as the one you have at 9pm. It's the calories, not the time of day, that matters.3. Grapefruit has negative calories. If you've tried many of the fad diets that have been around for decades, you're likely to have run across terms like fat-burning foods or negative-calorie foods. The idea is that you burn more calories to digest them than they actually provide. But the fact is, there is no such thing as a negative calorie food. While some fruits and vegetables are extremely low in calories, none actually burn fat. Eat them to fill up on fewer calories, but make no mistake: they will not reverse the calories from the chocolate cake you eat in the same day.
4. Carbohydrates cause weight gain. This is perhaps the most common diet misconception out there, thanks to several high-protein fad diets on the market. But talk to just about any nutritionist, and he or she will tell you carbohydrates are your body's first source of fuel. The key is the type of carbs you eat. In other words, replace sugary foods (simple carbs) like biscuits and sweets with complex carbs, such as fruits, vegetables and whole-grain breads and cereals. There's no reason to ban this very important food group from your healthy diet.
5. Cold water burns calories. A popular diet myth of recent years is that drinking iced water speeds weight loss because the body has to raise its own temperature to warm the water up, thereby promoting burning. There is no evidence to show that this actually works. However, drinking plenty of water, no matter how cold it is, will keep your metabolism on track.
It is calories, and not carbohydrates, that make you fat. In other words, your weight is determined by the total amount of calories you consume, and not the type of food that the calories come from.
Replythey leave out that many of the low carb diets have you control carbs_NOT eliminate_ by cutting down on sugary foods and making the carbs you eat to be concentrated more on the whole grains and vegetables.
it's the consistent misinfo about low carb that's annoying.
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