Top 5 Nutrition Myths Debunked

Soy milk has been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer. Fat-free foods are better for you than high-fat foods. Vegans and vegetarians are protein-deficient. Some nutrition myths appear to linger like a bad song stuck in your brain.
So, to clear the air, we asked some leading nutrition experts a simple question: What is one nutrition misconception you wish would go away – and why? Here's what they had to say.

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Nutrition Myth 1: Only Fresh Fruits and Vegetables are Healthy

Despite the long-held idea that "fresh is best," studies have shown that frozen, canned, and dried fruits and vegetables can be just as nutritious as fresh equivalents. "They can also be a money saver and an easy way to make sure there are always fruits and vegetables available at home," said Sara Bleich, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's outgoing director of nutrition security and health equity and a professor of public health policy at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. There is one caveat: According to Dr. Bleich, certain canned, frozen, and dried types have deceptive components like added sugars, saturated fats, and sodium, so study nutrition labels and choose brands that limit such ingredients to a minimum.

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Nutrition Myth 2: Fat is Harmful to Health

When research published in the late 1940s discovered links between high-fat diets and high levels of cholesterol, scientists reasoned that lowering the number of total fats in your diet would lower your risk of heart disease. By the 1980s, doctors, federal health experts, the food industry, and the news media were reporting that a low-fat diet could benefit everyone, despite the lack of good proof that it could avoid diseases such as heart disease, overweight, and obesity.

According to Dr. Vijaya Surampudi, assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, Center for Human Nutrition, the vilification of fats has led many people — and food manufacturers — to replace calories from fat with calories from refined carbohydrates such as white flour and added sugar. "Instead of assisting the country in remaining slender, rates of overweight and obesity increased considerably," she stated.

Dr. Surampudi went on to say that not all fats are unhealthy. While saturated and trans fats can raise your risk of heart disease and stroke, healthy fats like monounsaturated fats (found in olive and other plant oils, avocados, and certain nuts and seeds) and polyunsaturated fats (found in sunflower and other plant oils, walnuts, fish, and flaxseeds) help lower your risk. Good fats are also necessary for the production of essential hormones, the support of cell function, and the absorption of some nutrients.

If a product is branded "fat-free," don't automatically think it's healthy, according to Dr. Surampudi. Instead, choose items with simple ingredients and no added sugars.

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Nutrition Myth 3: Calorie Counting is the only way to Gain Weight

True, if you consume more calories than you burn, you will most likely gain weight. And if you expend more calories than you ingest, you will most likely lose weight – at least temporarily.

However, the findings do not indicate that eating more would result in long-term weight gain, resulting in being overweight or obese. "Rather, the types of foods we eat may be the long-term drivers of these illnesses," according to Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a nutrition and medicine professor at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Ultra-processed foods, such as refined starchy snacks, cereals, crackers, energy bars, baked goods, sodas, and candies, can be especially bad for weight gain because they are quickly digested and flood the bloodstream with glucose, fructose, and amino acids, which the liver converts to fat. Instead, a shift from tracking calories to focusing overall healthy diet is required to maintain a healthy weight.

Nutrition Myth 4: People with Type 2 diabetes Should Avoid Eating Fruits

This fallacy originates from confusing fruit juices with whole fruits, which can elevate blood sugar levels due to their high sugar and low fiber content.

However, research has revealed that this is not the case. According to several studies, those who eat one serving of whole fruit each day — notably blueberries, grapes, and apples — had a lower chance of acquiring type 2 diabetes. Other research suggests that eating whole fruits can help you control your blood sugar if you already have type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Linda Shiue, an internist and the director of culinary medicine and lifestyle medicine at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco, says it's time to dispel this myth, adding that everyone, including those with type 2 diabetes, can benefit from the health-promoting nutrients found in fruit, such as fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Nutrition Myth 5: Plant Milk is Better than Dairy

Plant-based milk, such as those derived from oats, almonds, rice, and hemp, is said to be more nutritious than cow's milk. "It's simply not true," said Kathleen Merrigan, an Arizona State University professor of sustainable food systems and a former U.S. deputy secretary of agriculture. Consider the following protein: Cow's milk normally contains around eight grams of protein per cup, but almond milk contains about one or two grams per cup and oat milk contains about two or three grams per cup. While the nutrition of plant-based beverages varies, many include more additional substances — such as sodium and added sugars, which can contribute to bad health — than cow's milk, according to Dr. Merrigan.

Source-Medindia