Nutrition Myths

Welcome back to yet another day of National Nutrition Month®! To keep with the theme of “Nutrition: It’s a Matter of Fact”, I would like to discuss another key message (this is key 8 of 10, so we’re almost done!):

Don’t fall prey to food myths and misinformation that may harm rather than benefit your health. This key point relates to the post on the Nutrition Facts of the Matter.

So what DOES this key message mean? Let’s look at some potential myths that you may think are true.

Potential Nutrition Myths

• Vegetarians don’t get enough protein–this one isn’t true! Protein is also found in eggs, beans, dairy products, grains, and vegetables, many of which are staples to the vegetarian diet.
• Other nutrition myths that you may hear are “eating before bedtime causes weight gain” and “eating excess carbohydrates causes weight gain”. Fortunately, these are NOT true! What does cause weight gain is eating more calories than you burn off in a day.  It doesn’t matter if the excess calories come from bread, meat, or even fruit! Excess calories are excess calories, and THAT causes weight gain. As well, it doesn’t really matter when you eat–although it is best to eat several times a day and not “save up” for that one meal a day.
• “I’m pregnant so I can’t eat fish!” This one is also a myth–pregnant women CAN eat fish, but only certain types of fish. They can eat up to 12 ounces a week of shellfish, canned light tuna, salmon, and other smaller ocean and farm-raised fish and up to 6 ounces a week of albacore (white) tuna. The ones to avoid are mackerel, shark, swordfish, tilefish, and raw seafood.
• Another myth that I hear often: I can’t eat meat, potatoes, and eggs because they are not healthy. This isn’t true! Remember my favorite saying: “Everything in moderation!!” You can eat meat (lean cuts are the best, of course), potatoes (they are such a good source of potassium and the skin contains fiber!), and eggs (they too contain good nutrients); you just need to eat them in moderation (so not every meal every day).

How do you decide what is fact and what is fiction? It is key to analyze what you read and look at the source of the information. And remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

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