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Top 10 Diet Myths
There are a lot of diet myths out there. Here are 10 of the most common ones.
1. Drastically reducing calories is the best way to lose weight. You'll lose weight initially on a
very low calorie diet, but much of the weight loss will be water, not body fat. Also, a drastic reduction in
calories will cause your body to go into "starvation mode." Once your body is in starvation mode, your metabolism
will slow down, you'll lose muscle, and fat loss will come to a stop. You have to cut back on calories in order
to lose weight (fat), but you should never drastically reduce calories. For more information on weight loss, visit
the Best Way to Lose Weight page.
2. All fat is bad. The truth is that the body needs fat in order to function properly, but you need to
eat the right type of fat. Unsaturated fat is healthy fat that can lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and reduce the risk
of heart disease. Some saturated fat is needed by the body, but too much can raise LDL cholesterol and increase the
risk for heart disease. Trans fat raises LDL cholesterol, lowers HDL (good) cholesterol, and increases the risk for
heart disease. For more information on fat, visit the Healthy Eating Plan page.
3. Carbohydrates make you fat. What makes you fat is eating more calories than your body needs, regardless
of if the calories come from carbohydrates, fats or proteins. Carbohydrates are your body's primary energy source
for both physical and mental energy, so they need to be a part of your diet. But some people are more "carbohydrate
sensitive" than others, and they would need to limit their intake of carbohydrates, especially simple carbohydrates,
if they're trying to lose weight. For more information on carbohydrates, visit the
Healthy Eating Plan page.
4. Dietary cholesterol causes high blood cholesterol. The truth is that most of the cholesterol found
in the body is produced in the liver and only a small part of it comes from dietary cholesterol. As long as you
don't have a genetic predisposition for high cholesterol, dietary cholesterol will most likely have minimal effect
on your blood cholesterol level. For more information on cholesterol, visit the
Healthy Eating Plan page.
5. Eating at night makes you fat. This is one of the newer diet myths. The truth is that no matter when
you eat, if you don't use all of the calories you've consumed, your body will store the extra calories as fat. If
you're less active at night, then you need to eat less at night. If you work out at night, especially if you lift
weights, then you need to make sure that you eat enough after your workout to fuel muscle recovery and growth.
Adjust your food intake based on your energy expenditure.
6. Low-fat or fat-free means low calories. Even though a gram of fat contains 9 calories and a gram of
protein or carbohydrate only contains 4 calories, don't assume all low-fat and fat-free foods are low in calories.
Many low-fat and fat-free foods are actually high in calories because sugar and refined starches have been added to
them to make up for the lost fat. Don't just check the fat content of your food, also look at the ingredients list
and the calorie content.
7. Diet sodas help you lose weight. Not necessarily. Even though diet sodas contain little or no calories,
recent research strongly suggests that the artificial sweeteners in diet sodas may actually increase your appetite.
8. Certain foods can burn fat. This is one of those diet myths that comes and goes. There are some foods,
such as fibrous vegetables and lean proteins, that have a high thermic effect and a low calorie density. This means
that a lot of the calories in these foods are burned off during digestion. But there are no foods that can burn fat
from your body.
9. Brown color equals whole grain. Just because a food is brown in color doesn't mean it contains whole
grain. You need to look on the label to see if "whole wheat" or "whole grain" is one of the listed ingredients.
10. Skim and low-fat milk have less calcium than whole milk. Skim and low-fat milk actually have more
calcium than whole milk because the calcium is in the watery part of the milk, not the creamy part.
Don't be fooled by any of these diet myths. Rely on proven information to help you meet your fitness goals.
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