In a world filled with nutritional information, we always come across diet tips (usually diet myths) from various sources such as medical papers, social media, health experts and most often from our best friends and relatives. You may go by tips such as "drink slim milk, avoid egg yolk, drink 4-5 cups green tea daily, eat a low-fat diet, avoid ghee, eat only fruits and vegetables, try GM diet, avoid curd to lose weight" etc. However, we are most often unsure about what is right and what is not, and honestly, there is no one single solution towards weight loss. We live by these diet myths and wonder why we have not lost weight, in spite of giving up our favorite foods and putting our will power to test. Here are a few common diet myths that we literally live by.
1. Rice makes you gain weight:
Typically, if you are a rice eating person since birth and if your ancestors ate rice, it simply means that it is in alignment with your genetic make-up. Only replacing rice with chapatis won't help. Firstly, the "not so good" feeling of missing your favourite rice will build up stress which slows down your fat burning and secondly, rice cannot become our rival when on diet - especially when you have eaten for ages and never put on before, it cannot suddenly become the food which is making you gain weight. All we have to deal with is the portion size of rice as we get older because it is definitely high in calories and low in nutritional value when compared to red rice or brown rice which is healthier due to its unpolished nature, high fiber, protein, minerals and vitamins. Eating smaller portion and preferably including it during lunch is wiser than avoiding it completely.
2. Avoid ghee to lose weight:
It is true that we need fat to lose fat. Including a good amount of healthy fat is necessary for one to lose weight. Ghee is one of the fats that should not missed, as it is rich in medium and short chain fatty acids which are easily absorbed and help with digestive health, vitamins, protein and more. Since ghee also has a higher smoke point, it's stable when heated and does not turn toxic. Moreover, when added with carbohydrates such as rice, roti etc. it slows down the pace at which glucose gets released in the bloodstream thereby keeping your energy levels stable. Ghee is a great medium for fat soluble vitamins such as Vitamin A, D, K & E. Also, ghee adds a feeling of satiety and helps in overall brain performance to regulate your hormones which in turn helps in weight management. Like any other fat, ghee is high in calories and hence should not be included in huge quantities but just a teaspoon of ghee per day should be good enough.
3. Fruits & Vegetable Diet to lose weight.
Every other day I hear someone going on a "fruit and vegetable diet" to lose weight. Fruits and vegetables are great sources of vitamins, minerals and fibre and are definitely healthy. However, ignoring the macronutrients such as protein and fat and replacing it with just fruits and vegetables is not the right way. One of the purposes of micronutrients is to help with the functions of macronutrients - namely protein and fat, and hence there should be a good balance of all the major 5 nutrients to see results in weight loss. The weight loss we see when on fruit and vegetable diet is mostly the water weight which often bounces back the moment we get back on the normal diet.
Balance is the key - its all about the teamwork between the nutrients. So, there is no single thing that helps in weight loss. One has to look at balanced nutrition over any short cuts or quick fixes. It is also wise to understand the science behind any similar weight loss tips or diet myths before following it. It is also very important to follow something realistic and practical over any fad diets. Moderation is the key and ensuring we include a variety of foods from different food groups to fulfill our nutritional requirement will definitely provide long-term weight loss results.