London Personal Trainer Reveals Myths And Truths About Nutrition

 

As a personal trainer I am constantly being asked about nutritional myths or explaining how what my personal training clients have heard is wrong. The confusing subject of nutrition has produced many myths that not only make a lot of people wrong but will actually be causing them harm when they are trying to be healthy. I have picked a few of the most common and put them straight.

Myth: Heart disease is caused by consumption of cholesterol and saturated fat from animal products.

Truth: During the period of rapid increase in heart disease (1920-1960), consumption of animal fats declined but consumption of hydrogenated and industrially processed vegetable fats increased dramatically.

 

Myth: Brown grain products are whole grain products.

Truth: Brown dyes and additives can give foods the deceiving appearance of whole grain.

 

Myth: Eating eggs will raise your cholesterol.

Truth: Eggs are one of the best foods you can eat. They are packed with vitamins and minerals, high quality protein, natural fats and yes they have cholesterol in them but you will learn by reading further on that cholesterol is not our enemy.

 

Myth: Alcohol is good for us.

Truth: We were not designed to drink alcohol. Anyone who says alcoholic beverages of any kind are good for you is seriously misinformed. If there were any benefit from drinking alcoholic beverages it would not be the alcohol but the grapes or source material it was made from and nothing else. Red wine contains a very powerful antioxidant called reservatrol which means that in moderation red wine can give 'some' benefits. There was some nutrition in beer fifty years ago but today even the best beer hops are grown on the poorest soils assuring minimal nutrition al value. Plus there are many chemical agents added.

 

Myth: Vegetarianism is healthy.

Truth: The annul all cause death rate of vegetarian men is slightly more than that of non vegetarian men (.93% vs .89%); the annual death rate of vegetarian women is significantly more than that of non vegetarian women (.86% vs .54%).

 

Myth: Children benefit from a low fat diet.

Truth: Children on low fat diets suffer from growth problems, failure to thrive and learning disabilities.

 

Myth: The modern diet does not have enough essential fatty acids in (omega 3 and omega 6).

Truth: The modern diet has far too much of the omega 6 essential fatty acids mostly found in vegetable oils but not enough omega 3 essential fatty acids found in fish, fish oils, eggs from properly fed chickens, dark green vegetables, walnuts, flax seeds etc.

 

Myth: Saturated fat clogs arteries.

Truth: The fatty acids found in artery clogs are mostly unsaturated (74%) of which 41% are polyunsaturated.

 

Myth: Skimmed milk is better for us and will help fat loss

Truth: Skimmed milk has oxidised cholesterol in which causes heart disease. It also has less fat soluble vitamins and has been shown to make people put on more fat than whole milk. The best and probably the only kind of milk you should drink is unpasteurised, unhomogenised milk from pasture fed cows.

 

Myth: Fruit juice is good for you.

Truth: Fruit juice is just sugar water and will make you put on fat and promote a number of illnesses.

 

Myth: Eating fats makes you fat.

Truth: If you don't eat any fat then you die! If you eat very little fats then your body holds on to the fats you do eat as storage. Also you will not be getting your fat soluble vitamins which allow you to digest protein, minerals and water soluble vitamins.

As a London personal trainer I really felt it was almost my duty to clear these myths up. If you stick to the guidelines and advice given in all my other articles you should not have run into these problems. 

 

 

James