3 Popular Food Myths

 

 

 

A lot of what we "know" about diet and nutrition and food we absorb from our families as we grow up. Add in some of the nonsense you routinely hear from the media and the deliberately misleading marketing done by food producers and its no wonder people get confused. Here are three very common myths about food and nutrition.

1. You need to eat more protein as you age to protect against muscle loss.

The truth is, nearly all Americans get plenty of protein very day from their regular diet. A good rule of thumb is to divide your body weight in pounds by 2 and consume that many grams of protein per day. This is going to put you in the right range. There are plenty of online calculators that can give you a more customized number. Here is an example.

While it is true that most people begin to lose muscle mass by age 50, it is a myth that simply eating more protein will slow or stop this loss. Only exercise will preserve or build muscle mass. And unless you are an athlete, 1/2 gram per pound of body weight is plenty. More than that is just converted into body fat - probably not your goal.

2. In order to get complete nutrition, you must eat at least some animal products.

When people speak of "complete" proteins, they mean that the food contains all 9 of the essential amino acids that your body requires but cannot produce for itself. While meats generally provide all nine, so do many plant foods (albeit at lower concentration, but see myth #1). The difference is that where you can get all 9 from a steak, you would need to eat a variety of plant foods to do so. Soy products are one example of a complete plant-based protein. But you can achieve the same results by combining, say, rice with beans.

3. A healthy diet must limit carbohydrates.

The truth is, carbohydrates should be the most plentiful component of your diet, as much as 70% of your daily calories. The key is the type of carbohydrates that you consume. 

There are plenty of terribly unhealthy carbs to be had: pizza, chips, white bread or pasta, sugars, sweetened drinks. But all fruits and vegetable contain carbohydrates and no one would ever tell you to limit those. Make your grains whole and not overly processed. A plant based diet is a carb based diet.

 

If you'd like to assess your present diet, go ahead and visit DietID.com to take their diet quiz and get customized suggestions for improvement.