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March 2025

TEN NUTRITION MYTHS DEBUNKED

Within the sea of information about nutrition resides a tide of inaccuracies. When searching for what is healthy, it might seem challenging to attempt to distinguish between myth and fact.  Generally, choose whole foods instead of processed, stay hydrated and ask a nutrition professional for the most appropriate guidelines for your specific needs and preferences.

  • Eating healthy food is too expensive. It may take some planning and a bit of time in the kitchen, but eating healthfully on a budget is possible.  Some helpful hints include planning meals and snacks around sales and creating and then using a shopping list.  Stock up on seasonal vegetables and fruits as well as staples such as brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, dry beans, and lentils, especially when they’re on sale.  Consider purchasing frozen items in the off-season.  Check ingredient lists to avoid added sweeteners or sodium.
  • Everyone should follow a gluten-free diet. Gluten is the protein found in wheat, barley, and rye.  Unless you have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance, you don’t need to avoid it.  Whole-grain foods have nutritional benefits including B vitamins and dietary fiber.   When manufacturers remove gluten, various sweeteners, sodium, or refined starches are often added to enhance the flavor and texture.  If you follow a gluten-free diet for medical or nutritional reasons, check the ingredient list and Nutrition Facts to ensure you’ve chosen a healthy option.
  • Full-fat products equal weight gain. Fat-free and low-fat diets are a thing of the past.  Some people remain fearful of fat, believing it will make them fat.  Fat is an essential macronutrient and it has beneficial functions, including protecting and cushioning organs, maintaining cell membranes, providing essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins, and promoting cell growth and development.   Heart-healthy unsaturated fats should comprise most of your fat intake, and some saturated fat is necessary for good health.  Choose olive or avocado oil, nuts and natural nut butters, avocados, olives, and cold-water fish such as salmon, tuna, or sardines. 
  • If you want to lose weight, avoid carbohydrates. Over the decades, low-carb diets continue to be popular.  These diets give healthy carbohydrates: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds a bad rap.    Restricting processed carbohydrate foods such as chips, cereals, cookies, and white bread/crackers is a healthful way to reduce calories and body weight.  Any nutrition program that restricts an entire food group should be avoided.  Eliminating an entire food group can cause serious health problems, because when you eliminate a food group you eliminate nutrients critical to good health.
  • Stop using salt to decrease your sodium intake. The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend having no more than 2,300 mg sodium per day.  The average American consumes more than 3 times this amount.   The solution isn’t found by taking the salt shaker off the table.  Much of the sodium that is consumed is found in processed foods such as canned, boxed, and ready to eat foods as well as restaurant meals.  Limit processed foods and enjoy more meals that are fresh and prepared at home.
  • Use unrefined sugars in place of white sugar. Sugar is sugar.  Although unrefined sweetener options such as honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar may contain a small number of nutrients, the advantage is minimal.  All sugars end up as glucose in the blood, so the end stage is identical, regardless of the source.  Consider all sugar sources in the diet when adhering to the recommended daily limit on added sugars.
  • A detox diet will clean toxins out of the body. There is little evidence that dietary cleanses do any of the things they promise.  The ultimate detoxifiers for the body are your liver, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract, and for most people they do an excellent job of removing toxins from the body.  If you’re looking for rejuvenation, focus on consuming more whole foods and water.
  • You shouldn’t eat anything after 7 PM. While late-night snacking can lead to weight gain, it’s not because of the time of day.  It’s about why you’re eating.  In the evening it is more common to reach for food for reasons other than hunger, whether it be boredom, craving or habit.  Be mindful about what you eat more so than when.
  • Diets focusing on certain foods can burn fat. No food increases your metabolism enough to affect weight loss.  Diets that focus on single foods are restrictive and lack critical nutrients.  They are also unsustainable and any weight lost will likely be regained when old habits creep back in.
  • ‘Low-fat or ‘fat-free’ are healthier choices. Many products labeled fat-free or low-fat contain added sweeteners, sodium or other processed ingredients meant to enhance flavor and mouth-feel.  In addition, fat contains essential nutrients and helps you feel full longer.  Choosing a fat-free item to reduce calories may backfire as you may eat more of the item than you intended or find yourself snacking later.

 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

*For more information contact your physician or registered dietitian