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After years and years of hearing the same old “diet facts,” most women think they’ve already learned everything they need to know about dieting and weight loss.
Unfortunately, many of these “facts” have actually already been debunked and exposed as myths for years now.
The problem is that we’ve all believed in them for so long that it’s nearly impossible for us to understand when research ends up proving them wrong.
Before you start your next big diet, take a look at these surprising truths behind 4 of the most common diet myths:
Diet Myth 1: Healthy food is more expensive than junk food.
Diet Facts: It may take a little planning, but buying nutritious whole foods can easily cost less than unhealthy snacks and fast food. In fact, a study at the Mary Imogene Bassett Research Institute in Cooperstown, New York, found that a person who follows a diet rich in heart healthy foods can reduce their weekly grocery bill by $8—that’s $416 a year! By swapping meat products for legumes and potato chips for fruits and veggies—like apples, carrots, oranges, cabbage, and spinach—you can start saving dollars while shedding pounds!
Diet Myth 2: Only eat when you’re hungry.
Diet Facts: Even if your stomach isn’t growling for a snack, your body still needs substantial nutrition to keep you alert and energetic. If you’re not eating healthy meals every 4 to 5 hours, your body will eventually crash and go into panic mode. This is when you’ll start craving snacks with empty calories, like salty chips and candy. The worst part is that going long periods of time without eating makes people feel like they’ve “skipped” a meal, so they deserve to gorge on unhealthy foods. If you think you might be guilty of bingeing at the end of the day, it might be time to start keeping track of calories with a food journal.
Diet Myth 3: Certain diets can get rid of cellulite.
Diet Facts: In the medical realm, cellulite actually isn’t a real thing. Although 50 to 90 per cent of women have it to some degree (particularly in the thigh area), cellulite is basically just plain old fat. This clumpy looking fat occurs when fat cells are stored just under the skin in honeycomb-like structures. So, because cellulite is really just normal fat, there’s no specific diet or cream to remove it. The only real way to get rid of this lumpy fat is to try losing weight overall through healthy diet and exercise.
Diet Myth 4: All food is good in moderation.
Diet Facts: You’ve probably heard that nothing is bad for you, as long as you eat everything in moderation. This is true—to a certain degree. But there are plenty of foods that just don’t make the cut, nutritionally speaking. Yes, eating whole foods—like a baked potato—is very healthy in moderation. But you really can’t say the same about a bag of salty potato chips. These are empty calories that provide very little nutritional value. More often than not, telling yourself that everything is healthy in moderation is usually just an excuse for binge eating.
Which of these "myths" surprised you the most? Tell us in the comments!
Photo Copyright © 2015 Brian PDX/Flickr
