Be it about anything, myths influence the common man’s mind. It’s natural to incline towards an instant solution for every problem. Without thinking for a second before following a commonly told myth, unfortunately, means putting the health at risk. Of all, people who are looking to lose weight fall into the trap of these myths and try them for a long time with the anticipation of reaching the goal.
Let’s read about a few of the weight loss myths around us.
Eating Low-Fat Foods will help with Weight Loss
Fats are important for survival and to carry out various functions in the body. When people look at low-fat foods on the shelf thinking they will help them lose weight, they might have lesser fat content but with added sugars, high sodium, or carbohydrates. There is no evidence to say eating low-fat foods will make one lose weight. Eating low-fat food and consuming them more than required would still make one gain weight. You can choose to avoid saturated fats like margarine and refined oil or keep them <10% of total fat intake. So overall calories matter over any ‘low’ labelled food products.
To Lose Weight, we need to include Organic and Expensive Foods
Daily staple food that is most affordable can be easily consumed by all populations, rather than the expensive foods or those with the ‘organic’ tags. Organic foods are grown without pesticides, which is a time-consuming and expensive process. One doesn’t need to rely on other expensive foods as well to lose weight. Including all food groups that are commonly available within the deficit calories, following proper hygiene of cleaning vegetables and fruits would help a person feel more natural and normal to weight loss regime.
Skipping Breakfast helps you to Lose Weight
Breakfast is the first meal of the day after a long fasting period that happens during sleep. Though restricting eating one meal indirectly helps people to consume less food, many studies show that skipping breakfast can lead to weight gain due to the consumption of more calories. Though few studies are inconsistent, one study (Ma et al., 2020) showed an increased risk of high waist circumference associated with being overweight or obese.
Avoid Sugar to have a Healthy Weight
Sugar is a simple carbohydrate. A simple carbohydrate can be easily digested and absorbed by the body when consumed, raising the blood glucose levels also quickly to provide short-lasting energy. Consuming white sugar and its other forms like jaggery, honey, etc. have the same number of calories (1g carbohydrate = 4kcals). Since sugar is highly palatable, which can be consumed beyond control, it is often avoided. Let’s not demonize sugar or any specific food.
As long as a person includes sugar within their daily intake of food calories, sugar or any other simple carbohydrate can be consumed even during the weight loss phase.
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Performing more House Chores will help you to Lose Weight
Performing daily activities such as walking, climbing stairs, house chores constitute NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis) which is an important component of total daily energy expenditure. Unless the energy balance is maintained, doing enormous amounts of daily physical work would not help one lose weight. Moreover, when there is less emphasis on balanced intake of food and food with less nutrients is consumed, over a period of time various physical symptoms such as fatigue, pains, aches and low strength levels would affect day to day performance. One needs to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight.
Skipping Rice will help with Weight Loss
Rice is the most consumed staple food. It is a complex carbohydrate that gives satiety and provides energy. People might want to avoid it as it is rich in carbohydrates, but as long as the amount consumed is within the calorie deficit, it can be consumed safely. Rice has good nutritional value with protein, vitamin B, and fiber in its unprocessed form (bran or brown rice).
Intermittent Fasting helps with Weight Loss
Intermittent fasting is not a diet, but a strategy that aids in weight loss. People who want to lose weight and have no control over consuming high palatable foods can implement this protocol where they restrict the foods in the fasting phase and consume during the feeding window. But as we know, calorie balance plays a key role. If the person consumes more calories than required in the feeding window, he/she still gains weight.
In fact, it might not be a sustainable approach for a long time and the person fall off the rigid restriction of fasting over time.
Cardio will make you Lose Weight Faster
Exercise definitely plays a major role in energy expenditure, but again no specific exercise will boost weight loss. Cardio exercises can burn more calories comparatively, but without a proper plan from a nutrition standpoint, a blind approach to cardio only might impact the muscles and strength negatively.
Fat Loss Supplements will boost Weight Loss
Many supplements in the market claim to reduce weight. But these supplements might have hidden unsafe ingredients that are banned by the Food and Drug Association. Though few supplements or substances such as caffeine, green tea (A. E. Jeukendrup et al., 2011) are backed with fat metabolism enhancing properties and aid in fat loss, most other fat burner supplements available on rack or online are unauthentic and ineffective and can also be very dangerous for the body if consumed.
Specific Exercises can help burn Fat
No specific single exercise(s) can help burn or reduce the fat. Moreover, no single exercise can burn fat in one specific part of the body. Fat is lost throughout the body only by creating a deficit. Consistency with exercises like weight training preserves muscle mass and over-time one can get the conditioned or toned look. Spot reduction by performing any exercise is again a myth.
Conclusion
There is no single food at large that directly can reduce weight. The only way to lose weight is by eating food that is lesser in calories than the calories you spend. In technical terms, a calorie deficit, which means eating lesser calories than the total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) helps an individual to lose weight/fat with adequate nutrition and sustainably for a longer time. Including all food groups to reach nutrient adequacy is also important.
Author: Praveena Kuchipudi (INFS Faculty)
References
https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.orcp.2019.12.002
https://sci-hub.se/10.1136/bmj.l2251
https://www.nature.com/articles/1602950
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32428300/
