Diet Myths

[VK]

Hi,

Common myths about Diet...............

Diet Myths Debunked

In a society that is becoming increasingly health conscious, more and more information is constantly coming out on how to lose weight, how to get fit, how to eat, sleep, breathe—everything under the sun that will help you get healthy! It’s a wonder that before this information was available people were able to survive—let alone live healthy lives!

The fact is, people did survive, and were—and are—still healthy without all the weird, scientifically suspect practices that people get tricked into. Nutrition is one of those fields that is inundated with quacks who will try to sell you the latest secret to weight loss. A basic myth-spotting motto: If it sounds too good to be true—it is.

Don’t Be Tricked

Here are some common diet myths that people futily follow in hopes of losing a few pounds.

Eating late at night will cause you to gain weight

Eating late at night, or at any particular time of day, will not cause you to put on more weight than what is normal for what you ate and the activity you did. Weight gain occurs when you consume more calories than you expend, whether that occurs in the middle of the day, the morning or at night. However, in reality, people who eat a lot of food late at night tend to consume more calorie-dense foods and thus eat more calories—which can cause weight gain.

You should eat each food group separately for optimal digestion

Your digestive system is made to handle more than one type of food at a time. It is true that carbohydrate, protein and fat are all digested by different mechanisms, but they can all work simultaneously. Keep in mind that few foods are purely carbs, purely protein or purely fat—so it doesn’t make sense that you can’t mix them.

Low-carb/high-protein/no-fat diets are optimal for weight reduction

A type of diet consistently shown to cause weight loss is a low-fat diet. The key is that you have to eat fewer calories to lose weight, and fat has the most calories per gram, so it’s easiest to cut calories by trimming the fat. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend 20 to 35% of dietary calories come from fat, 10 to 35% from protein, and 45 to 65% from carbohydrate. All of these macronutrients, as well as micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) are essential in the proper amounts for optimal health.

Carbohydrates are bad for your health and cause weight gain, and therefore should be avoided

As far as weight loss goes, the proportion of macronutrients—carbs, fat and protein—consumed is not as important as the total caloric intake versus caloric expenditure. However, foods rich in fiber and protein tend to be the most filling, which in theory would lead to a reduced intake of food and calories compared to high-fat foods and low-fiber carbohydrates. From a heart-health perspective, the healthiest overall meal plan appears to be a Mediterranean-type eating plan, which is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and omega-3 fatty acids from fish, and low in saturated fat, trans fat, sodium and added sugars.

Skipping meals is a good way to lose weight

In theory, skipping one meal while keeping everything else in your diet the same will help you lose weight. But when you skip a meal, your eating pattern changes and you tend to overeat and overcompensate later—which will likely lead to weight gain.

The number of meals eaten each day

Three square meals or five or six small meals—has a huge impact on weight management—Because weight control is achieved by balancing the number of calories consumed with the number burned, it doesn’t really matter if the calories come in the form of three large meals or five or six smaller ones. However, some people find that they’re better able to control their intake one way or the other. In the end, it’s a matter of preference.

Grapefruit will speed up your metabolism

We’ve all heard of the grapefruit diet, the lemon juice diet and a number of other diets that focus on the “secret ingredient” or “magical compound” found in certain foods. Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet to weight loss. There is no food that will help you burn more calories. The only surefire way to speed up your metabolism is to exercise and build muscle.

Rapid weight loss can be maintained

There are many diets out there that promise rapid weight loss, even 10 to 20 pounds in a week. This amount of weight loss is possible on extremely restrictive diets, but it can’t be maintained. A large portion of the weight lost on these types of diets is water and lean tissue, so the minute you get off the diet and go back to eating normally, you’ll gain the weight back—and probably more.

You have to stop eating your favorite foods to lose weight

The most successful approach to weight loss and weight-loss maintenance is to make permanent lifestyle changes that include a healthful eating plan and ample physical activity. A “diet” is not the answer. A healthy lifestyle allows for all foods in moderation.

The Truth

Losing weight and achieving health-related goals requires effort and commitment. Lifestyle behavior changes are typically required to maintain weight loss. Anything above a weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds per week is difficult to maintain. For healthy weight loss, follow these science-based tips:

Follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These are summarized at www.MyPyramid.gov, which provides tools to help you plan and track your diet and physical activity.

Get moving! Increase your physical activity with an exercise program, or do simple things like take the stairs, park farther from your destination or walk to do your errands.

Surround yourself with support. Encouragement from friends and family is essential when you find yourself unmotivated. If you know someone with similar goals, make him or her your diet/workout buddy and keep each other accountable.

**Source - Ace Fit Facts**

[imaneggspurt]

Diet Coke ,dosent work, been drinking it for 10 years, im still 95 kilos !

[VK]

Diet Coke ,dosent work, been drinking it for 10 years, im still 95 kilos !

A little something for you my friend.............please do go over it!

Facts About Diet Coke

"Diet and light brands are actually health and wellness brands. It is consider as the healthiest beverages" Is it really healthy?? me not sure bout that. Some say its poisoned, some say its healthy.

Where do I start?

Diet Coke consists of artificially blackened water tinged with synthetic chemicals. Here are its ingredients, from most prevalent to least: carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame (Nutrasweet), phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate (to protect taste), natural flavors, citric acid; and caffeine [emphasis added].

Here are some interesting facts that I accumulated: The Nutrasweet used in Diet Coke isn't actually sweet. It is a chemical that makes your brain think that what it's tasting is sweet. That is why you may eat something after taking a sip of Diet Coke and it has an odd sweet taste to it. When Nutrasweet heats up to a temperature of 86 degrees it breaks down into fermaldehyde (the same chemical dead animals and scientific specimens are be preserved in).

The temperature of your stomach is around 98.6 degrees. When in desert type temperatures, many Nutrasweet consumers have gotten Methanol poisoning, no wonder... as it is made up of 10% Methanol (the same stuff comonly found in wood laquer). Nutrasweet commonly causes carbohydrate craving, and the average person who stops drinking Diet Coke loses fifteen pounds! So, while you may think it's a great weight loss drink, you may be wrong. Nutrasweet can also cause: nerve cell deteriation, migrane headaches, leg cramps, and apparently... kidney stones

Aspartame is poison!

Aspartame/Nutrasweet is not very sweet in itself, that may be why Equal puts Dextrose (sugar) and maltodextrin as the first ingredients, so that it tastes sweet.

Aspartame/Nutrasweet is a brain drug that stimulates your brain so you think that the food you're eating tastes sweet. If you pay attention you'll notice that when using Aspartame/Nutrasweet, everything you eat at the same time also tastes sweet! This may be why Aspartame/Nutrasweet causes you to crave carbohydrates. Hence, you won't lose weight using it.

Aspartame/Nutrasweet (aspartylphenylalanine-methyl-ester) breaks down to its poison constituents at 86 degrees (Aspartic Acid 40%, Phenylalanine 50%, and Methanol 10%). Remember your stomach is at 98.6 degrees! Therefore you should never use Aspartame/Nutrasweet in hot beverages or cooked foods such as Jello. How the FDA allows this remains a mystery. There is mounting evidence that the "Burning Mouth Syndrome" experienced by the Desert Storm troops was actually Methanol poisoning from the Diet Coke they drank lots of, after being exposed to desert temperatures.

Aspartame/Nutrasweet's 10% Methanol appears in the body quickly and is the same alcohol (wood alcohol also in lacquer thinner), that your mother correctly warned you could make you blind. Many skid-row alcoholics had major problems with this cheap but deadly form of alcohol.

Aspartame/Nutrasweet's 40% Aspartic Acid is an "excitotoxin" in the brain and excites neurons to death, i.e. it kills brain cells and causes other nerve damage.

Aspartame/Nutrasweet triggers Migraine Headaches. This even happened to me!. The Usenet is filled with posts by people who have pinned their migraines down to aspartame/Nutrasweet consumption. (This is so true)

Aspartame/Nutrasweet's breakdown products attack the bodies tissues and create Formaldehyde which builds up in the tissues forever. Remember the smelly, eye watering fumes from the frogs you dissected in school? They were preserved with Formaldehyde! Formaldehyde is thought to cause cancer. The American Bottlers Association did not want the FDA to approve Aspartame/Nutrasweet because of what the test report showed. But the FDA approved it anyway!

Airline pilots stay away from Aspartame/Nutrasweet because they are well aware of the documented dangers.

Aspartame/Nutrasweet also breaks down to diketopiperazine [DKP] which is proven to cause Brain Tumors! Brain Tumors used to be rare. Several of the rats in the original study formed brain tumors during their Aspartame/Nutrasweet exposure. The researchers surgically removed the tumors and returned the rats to the study and discounted the tumors.

[Benjie]

I think I need to apply a 2nd tin foil hat.

[twschw]

VK, please cite your sources.

[Sheryl]

Yes, do, as this appears to have been copied verbatim from somewhere.

It also contains a number of factual inaccuracies and exaggerations.

Aspartame does indeed contain methanol, as do many other foods and drinks; it is a naturally occurring alcohol.

A 12 oz diet coke would have about 25 mg of it. The recommended daily limit is 10mg/kg/day. So for a 60kg person, 600mg.

[MMR]

Here are some interesting facts that I accumulated: The Nutrasweet used in Diet Coke isn't actually sweet. It is a chemical that makes your brain think that what it's tasting is sweet.

I like this part.

[PeaceBlondie]

I liked VK's first post. The later ones are misleading

[VK]

VK, please cite your sources.

**Source - thesebruneians.blogspot.com/2007/06/facts-about-diet-coke.html**

[VK]

I liked VK's first post. The later ones are misleading

Hi,

I do apologize, did not do enough research on my second post(the "lazy bug" got the better of me).

But I did find something interesting at

http://food-facts.suite101.com/article.cfm...about_diet_soda

Best Regards

[twschw]

VK, please cite your sources.

**Source - thesebruneians.blogspot.com/2007/06/facts-about-diet-coke.html**

Thank you. Will check it out.

[Gary A]

The best diet is everything in moderation. To lose weight, you have to build up your arm muscles. You need that strength to push yourself away from the table. Smaller portions of everything is the answer.