In the pursuit of preventing diseases and achieving a healthy balance of our mind and body, the solution is rooted in adequate nutrition. A wholesome diet not only contributes to maintaining physiological balance but also facilitates faster recovery from illnesses. However, the path to achieving this balance is not easy and full of challenges. Widespread ignorance about human nutrition fuels confusion regarding what constitutes a healthy diet.
This new digital age, fuelled by swift content creation, has ushered in an era where the online nutrition landscape is clouded with myths and misinformation. Unlike the time of our grandparents, these myths proliferate easily due to the unrestricted sharing of information online without proper fact-checking. Additionally, inadequate regulation in the nutrition industry allows companies to make unsubstantiated claims about their products, perpetuating false information.
Let’s delve into a few prevalent nutrition and exercise myths that have caught my attention.
Carrots and Night Vision
The childhood belief that carrots can give you night vision holds a partial truth. While carrots do enhance night vision, they fall short of granting the ability to see in complete darkness. This myth may have dated back to World War II, when the British Air Ministry promoted carrots through propaganda against Germans during enforced blackouts, where it was actually British top secret RADARS that actually repelled German aircraft and bombers on dark foggy nights. Despite the myth, carrots positively affect our eyes by providing Vitamin A or retinol, essential for synthesizing rhodopsin, the pigment necessary for low-light vision.
The 10,000 Steps Myth
Walking stands as the most popular form of exercise globally as it needs no equipment or training and is done at one’s own pace. While brisk walking is known to build stamina, burn excess calories, and strengthen the heart, the idea that you must walk 10,000 steps daily for optimal health is more of a marketing gimmick with a random figure that is not scientifically substantiated. Originating from a 1960s Japanese marketing campaign, the number 10,000 was arbitrarily chosen and embedded in global consciousness. Contemporary research suggests that health benefits from walking peak at around 7,500 steps, with no additional increase in health or longevity beyond this point.
Superfoods Reality
The health industry has been buzzing with the term Superfoods, mostly due to the recent interest of people looking to improve their health. Ironically, there is more marketing than just science in superfoods. Any food offering ‘cholesterol-lowering’, ‘cancer preventing’, or ‘performance enhancing’ properties and believed to offer multiple health benefits over and above its nutritional value is a great choice for healthy food. Interestingly the word SUPERFOOD was not coined by food experts, rather it was more a marketing strategy to increase interest and justify selling items of exaggerated cost, riding the wave of food fad. The problem is not in promoting healthy eating, but in labeling some selected costly items as only superfoods, ignoring cheaper options. Thus, the usage of the term superfood on labels has been banned by The European Union unless accompanied by explicit detailing of the product’s nutritional content. One can have a nutritious diet even without adding any so-called costly superfood to the diet. For example: Apples are highly nutritive but they are not part of the superfoods.
Runners Don’t Need to Lift Weights
Running is an age-old sport due to its minimalistic need for equipment and gained special interest during the COVID pandemic when all gyms and pools were locked out. People start running to remain fit, but somehow fail to remember it’s more important to remain fit to run. So they fall for the wrong trap – run more to run better, who needs to train for strength! They miss on the right balanced training that comes from many variables such as power, balance, strength, flexibility, movement mechanics, endurance, etc. A non-trained body tires faster and gets injured more. As per the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports too, resistance training improves running economy and builds muscle fibers. 6-20 weeks of strength training improves running economy in distance runners by 2% to 8% and also faster speed. It helps by better body composition and resting metabolic rates. For age-related lean muscle wasting, only running offers no protection, while adding strength – provides distinct benefits through different physiological stimuli.
Health has no one-stop solution. Achieving holistic well-being extends beyond debunking myths. It involves cultivating a mindset that recognizes the interconnectedness of physical and mental health. A balanced lifestyle encompasses not only nutritious eating and regular exercise but also adequate sleep, stress management, and mindfulness. Don’t get led away by spot solutions, there is no gain without pain. Be health conscious, aware, and informed about a healthy life, but not misguided by fads and myths that find their origin in our urge to cut corners.
References
- https://www.lenstore.co.uk/eyecare/myth-or-truth
- https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/do-carrots-help-you-see-in-the-dark
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10484191/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/06/well/move/10000-steps-health.html
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337659383_Nutrition_-_facts_and_myths
- A WWII Propaganda Campaign Popularized the Myth That Carrots Help You See in the Dark | Arts & Culture| Smithsonian Magazine
- https://www.zmescience.com/science/how-steps-a-day-should-i-walk/
- https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/training/cross-training/a26822418/strength-training-myths-runners-need-to-stop-believing/
- https://www.thehealthjournals.com/strength-training-for-runners-dispelling-the-common-myths/
- https://www.issaonline.com/blog/post/strength-training-for-runners-overlooked-or-overhyped
- https://runsmarter.online/strength-training-myths-for-runners/
- https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/superfoods/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0148296321005798
- https://www.healthyman.com.au/superfoods-myths-vs-reality/
- https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/superfoods-fad-or-fact
Author – Dr. Sonali Kanchan