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For years there have been many myths and falsehoods circulating natural food, so it is important to separate the facts from fiction.
You may have heard something about healthy eating and many times the information we find in the most popular media can be misunderstood.
Therefore, it is time to bust the myths that are so present today.
1.- “Fat is bad . ” Surely you have heard countless times – and even thought – that it is not good to consume fat , because it is harmful to the body or because if we want to lose body fat, we cannot ingest it.
In the first place it is very important to distinguish the types of fat there is.
On the one hand we find healthy fats, these are beneficial and necessary for our body and are a good source of energy. Within this group are monounsaturated fats present in olive oil, nuts, egg yolks or olives, and polyunsaturated fats, such as olive oil found in the seeds -omega3- and the fats located in fruits, dried fish, and shellfish -omega 6-.
The fats that should be avoided are hydrogenated and trans fats, which are not natural. These are harmful to health because they raise bad cholesterol and reduce good cholesterol. Other consequences have been shown to in relation with the consumption this type of fat, such as memory loss, and several studies have shown that the consumption of these fats have a higher incidence of cancer.
It is very important to eliminate the consumption of ultra-processed foods from our diet, since they are loaded with this harmful fat.
2 .- “Sugar is not harmful” This is what we have been led to believe and even today the myth strives. This myth was created by the industry , who years ago discovered thanks to numerous studies, that sugar was harmful to our health. Then they buried these studies with the intention of saving their sales numbers. It is true that these studies came to light some time later and several news authors explained that there have been many years in which the sugar industry has been trying to deceive consumers with the sole intention of protecting their economic interest.
The tactic they carried prevented sugar consumption from being related to diseases such as obesity, fats were blamed – myth we have debunked in the article above.
For all this it is very important that we pay attention to what we consume, since when we go to the supermarket we are surrounded by deceptive products, stamped with words such as light, diet, lowcarb and the like, but when carefully observed, the ingredients and the proportions that appear on these “healthy” products are loaded with refined sugar .
3.- “Carbohydrates are the basis of food” The basis of a healthy diet known until now, are carbohydrates , consisting of breads, cereals, rice and refined flours, being 60% of the food around us today.
This is a big mistake, since all the foods listed above also have a high glycemic index , – meaning they are processed quickly and pass to the blood shortly after being ingested carry along very pronounced glucose peaks -, to put it simply, the more hydrates we take, the more insulin we release and this will cause us to feel the need to consume them again within a short period of time. Causing us to overeat with ease.
By really eating a healthy and natural diet, we will ingest carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables, which will provide us with fiber and fat that were previously reduced. In this way, the satiety hormone is correctly stimulated, as the needs of our body are covered, in addition to providing energy; all of which do not happen when we base our diet on the consumption of breads, rice, cereals and refined flours.
4.- “You must take 5 meals a day” Have you ever been told to take five meals a day? In theory by doing so we’ll reach our next meal without feeling any hunger, and thus avoid bingeing or being tempted to eat anything.
Another of the arguments that serves to support this theory, is that eating frequently activates the metabolism, “eating less quantity but in more times causes more calories to be consumed” , this is something completely wrong.
It is true that when digesting meals the metabolism is activated by the so-called thermic effect, so it tends to be thought that if instead of eating larger rations, it would be better to divide them into more meals, the body will need more energy to process them and thus will increase the burning of calories, which is completely false, as indicated by various studies . The important thing is the type of food intake we make throughout the day. The old rule applies here: quality over quantity, if we stick to a measured food intake plan, say 3 meals a day; as long as we ensure that our food is natural, it will always be healthy and sufficient.
5.- “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” This is another of the most widespread myths in history. But the truth is that there are no studies that explain that one meal is more important than another. This thought became very important due, again, to the industry, which encourages breakfast products that bring them great economic benefit, such as dairy with cereals.
There is no scientific evidence to indicate that breakfast is better or worse for our body, the key is to do what we feel is best.
With regard to long-term practice, a natural diet is a lifestyle that can be introduced little by little. Starting to change our eating habits and informing ourselves correctly about what we eat is the beginning of a commitment to our health. The longest journeys start with a single step.