The nutrition industry is saturated with bad advice, most of it based on misunderstandings or outdated information—and, it’s understandable. Nutrition science is not only complicated, but it’s rapidly changing as researchers understand more about the interactions between food and the human body.
For example, take this story from health and fitness coach Gillian Goerzen, author of “The Elephant in the Gym,” which was released in late 2018: “One of my favorite stories around food was when a client came to me genuinely concerned about eating carrots,” Goerzen recalls. “She worried about their sugar content. A misinformed trainer obviously told her that the glycemic index of carrots was on the higher side for veggies, but the trainer did not explain what that means. We had a giggle once I explained it to her—seriously, carrots are not our problem, people!”
It’s true that carrots are higher on the glycemic index, a measurement of how a food impacts your blood sugar levels, particularly compared to other vegetables. However, without context, Goerzen’s client was unnecessarily left to stress about how carrots might negatively affect her health. Regrettably, there’s many other pieces of nutrition advice out there that you’d do well to ignore.
Ignore That: Certain foods or beverages—green tea, cayenne pepper, and so on—will rev your metabolism, so eat or drink a lot of them.
Listen to This: Clinical studies might show some evidence that certain foods will increase metabolism, which refers to the rate at which your body burns calories, but the amount studied versus the amount a typical person ingests often differs drastically. The increase in metabolism also is so slight that it’s unlikely to make a lick of difference in weight-loss efforts. Sip on green tea because you like it, not because you think it will turn you into a calorie-burning machine.
Ignore That: Skip all foods that have ingredients that you can’t pronounce.
Listen to This: Eating clean is a worthy goal, but unless you have a degree in chemistry or food science, you’re going to run into ingredients with which you’re not familiar—but are perfectly acceptable on any eating plan. Acetic acid? That’s vinegar. Absorbic acid? Vitamin C. Inulin? A type of fiber harvested from chicory root, a plant. The moral of the story: Unpronounceable ingredients aren’t always bad.
Ignore That: You need to do a cleanse every once in a while to get rid your body of toxins.
Listen to This: Your body has an entire organ dedicated to cleansing your body of toxins—it’s called your kidney, and it filters your blood to extract waste products and excess water. Juice cleanses—or any other variety of “cleanse”—are typically high in sugar (because of all the fruit juice) and have minimal lasting effect on weight loss. Now, if you want to add some green juice or a fruit and veggie smoothie to your daily diet to increase your vitamin and mineral intake or cut back on higher-calorie food, that’s a fantastic idea—but keep the nutrient-rich solid food in there, too.
Ignore That: Use honey, brown sugar, or maple syrup as more “natural” forms of sugar.
Listen to This: Sugar is sugar. Honey or maple syrup might be less processed than refined table sugar, but they all have the same number of calories—four per gram—and the same number of nutrients—zero (for the most part). If you want to cut back on sugar, go ahead and do that—but don’t think that replacing it with some other form of sugar is going to benefit your health.
