Top Nutrition Myths

There is a lot of bad nutrition advice out there. Here are a few of the most common nutrition myths I hear on daily basis.

Myth #1: Fruit juice provides us with the same health benefits as whole fruit

The reason why fruit juice is less healthy than whole fruit is because it contains MUCH more sugar. For example, an 8oz glass of orange juice contains almost 3X as much sugar as 1 orange. This is because fruit juice contains the concentrated sugars of multiple whole fruits. The sugars of 3 whole oranges are contained in 1 8oz glass of OJ. In addition, fruit juice does not contain fiber, the protective element in whole fruit that slows down the release of sugar into our blood stream. High blood sugar=high insulin. Chronically high insulin can lead to many chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease (just to name a few). Moral of the story, we should be choosing WHOLE fruit over fruit juice to keep our blood sugars within normal range!

Myth #2 Eating 4-6 small meals a day can help us loose weight by increasing our metabolism.

Eating food has very little impact on our metabolism. Therefore, eating more frequently will NOT increase our metabolism. We gain weight by constantly elevating insulin in the body. Insulin is a hormone that is released into our blood stream every time we eat. Sugar (candy, soda) and refined grains (bread, pasta, crackers, pretzels) raise insulin higher than whole foods like meats, fruits and vegetables. Therefore in order to loose weight, we need to lower that release of insulin. We can lower that insulin release by eating LESS frequently. That means 2-3 nutritious meals a day centered around WHOLE FOODS like meats, vegetables and fruits.

Myth #3: Eggs Yolks should be avoided because they are high in cholesterol. Eating foods high in cholesterol will increase our risk of heart disease.

Yes egg yolks are high in cholesterol but food cholesterol has very little impact on our blood cholesterol. Egg yolks are a very nutritious food, containing many vitamins and minerals that most of us lack. We should instead focus our attention on reducing chronic inflammation in the body to reduce our risk of heart disease. Chronic inflammation causes damage to our blood vessels, increasing our risk of heart disease. Many factors influence inflammation such as stress, smoking, poor nutrition and physical inactivity. Therefore, a more effective strategy in preventing heart disease is to reduce the factors that cause inflammation so that our blood vessels can stay healthy and strong!