Gluten-free? Plant-based? To fast or not to fast? This week Emmet from Rushe Fitness gym debunks some common nutrition myths:

Nutrition can be confusing.

Every time something is proclaimed a ‘saviour’ for being overweight or obese another ‘saviour’ will be heralded in a few weeks later that gives the opposite advice.

This goes on and on, month after month, year after year and nothing ever changes.

It is no wonder that we have no idea what the right information is, and which is the wrong information.

It is always interesting when you are out and about, because people’s conversations tend to drift into dieting once they are sitting for any period of time.

It is a subject that seems to be an inevitable part of conversation.

But, what is being said and the actions that are being taken are usually two different things.

What people believe to be the right thing and what is actually right are quite often, two different things.

Below are 4 of the things I hear the most and why they may not be correct.  

  1. I’M CUTTING OUT BREAD BECAUSE BREAD HAS GLUTEN AND GLUTEN MAKES YOU FAT.

    1st off, Gluten isn’t bad for you unless you have a gluten intolerance.
    But people started to believe that it was, and the gluten free trend went into overdrive.

    There was then a belief that gluten free was also linked with weight loss and things got a bit off track.

So, when people went into shops, they order a ‘gluten free’ chocolate brownie because gluten is ‘bad’ for you and gluten free has to be ‘healthy’ and should help with weight loss, right?

Unfortunately, not.

Whether a food is gluten free or not gluten free, calories count, and most gluten free products can actually have more calories that their gluten counterparts.

The Costa ‘Gluten free’ brownie comes in at 418 calories.

Where as if they had ordered a ‘Gluten free’ roast chicken salad sandwich, it would only have had 355 calories.
Gluten free isn’t better for you unless you have a gluten disorder, so don’t assume it is the better option when you see it if weight loss is your goal.

2. YOU NEED TO DETOX YOUR BODY REGULARLY TO KEEP YOURSELF HEALTHY.

This is another thing that I tend to hear quite regularly. With January coming up, you will hear this more and more often.

The idea is that if you drink these drinks, which are usually juiced fruit or veg with some herbs or spiced mixed in, you will ‘cleanse’ your system of harmful toxins.

This unfortunately is nonsense. You cannot detox your body by drinking these products.

You have a liver and a set of kidneys and as long as you are drinking enough water, you will be able to do all the detoxing yourself.

The reason these products and drinks tend to be popular, is because they usually have strict rules on not eating much food whilst using them and the end result is quick weight loss.

Which you will regain once you start eating food again.

3. TRAIN ON AN EMPTY STOMACH TO BURN MORE FAT.

There is little to no difference in the number of calories you will burn if you are training fasted compared to training after eating.

If you normally train 1st thing in the morning or straight after work, then it comes down to personal preference and how you feel during training.

Some of my Rushe Fitness members can train on empty quite well in our morning sessions, while others need something like half a banana before they come in or they will get a light head.

So, pick what suits you best so you can get a good training session in and don’t do it because you think you will burn more bodyfat.

4. A PLANT BASED DIET IS THE BEST FOR OUR HEALTH.

With yet another nutrition documentary hitting the headlines this year, you would be forgiven for thinking that if you eat meat you are damaging your health.

You are not.

The documentary was unfortunately full of misinformation and bias and made some incorrect claims about meat consumption.

So, lets make it easy to understand.

The best diet is a plant-based diet that includes meat, fish, eggs and dairy in it.
(If you eat meat)

The best diet is a plant-based diet if you are plant based.

However, Plant-based diet tend to fall short on some vitamins like B12, Magnesium, Vitamin D and some Omega fatty acids and you will need to supplement to get these in if you are completely plant based.

If you are not you can get them through meats, fish, eggs and dairy.

Just so we are clear, I am not saying that a plant-based diet is wrong. But it is misleading for a documentary to state that eating meat is bad and harmful to our health when the science states otherwise.

People tend to need more fruit and veg in their diets, so eating more of these and less junk food is never a bad thing.

As always, I am just trying to keep nutrition and training simple and easy to understand.

There are loads of myths and misinformation out there and these 4 are just some of the most prevalent that I have come across this year.  

If you have any others that you are not sure of, you can always message me on my socials, and I’ll be happy to help.
#leanin2019

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