
Currently, the wealth of information we receive and to which we have access daily about nutrition, food, diets, ways of eating … It has generated a lot of myths and false beliefs around food. That if taking fruit after eating fattening, that if brown sugar is much better than white, that if light products are ideal for weight loss …
Stop it! In Diario Femenino we believe in healthy eating and a daily diet that is balanced and that really provides us with the components that our body needs to stay healthy and strong. Therefore, in our First #EntreNosotras Meeting, we invited Marina Díaz Naranjo and Axel Ceinos Moraza, dietitians and nutrition experts, to get rid of doubts once and for all regarding these issues and help us eat better. We want to share it with all of you. These are the conclusions we reached:
False beliefs about eating that you should NOT believe
Luckily, every day it seems that society is becoming more aware of what it eats. Unfortunately, not always what we think is healthy really is. But that will change from now on when you stop believing those false nutritional beliefs that circulate through our lives every day. Pay close attention!
The most common myths about calories
+Counting calories helps us lose weight or keep us at our ideal weight: FALSE.
The important thing is not the daily calories we eat, but what foods those calories come from. Many people think they can eat whatever they want as long as it doesn’t exceed the average amount of calories that adults usually expend daily (between 2,000 and 3,000 depending on whether you are a man or a woman). Error! Someone can live eating hamburgers, potatoes and soft drinks and not gain a single kilo as long as they stick to the calorie limit, but their cholesterol levels will be very high and they will have a great risk of suffering from diabetes or other diseases. Conclusion: we should not obsess over counting calories, but worry about eating a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables and fresh foods. This combined with physical exercise is the best formula of all to lose weight.
+Light foods are less fattening: FALSE.
The law stipulates that a product can be labeled as light if it contains less than 30% of calories than a similar non-light product, which does not mean that it is not fattening. In fact, as stated by Axel Ceinos Moraza and Marina Díaz Naranjo, that a certain food is labeled as light (and all the marketing that this entails) makes many people think that they can eat large amounts of that product without gaining weight achieving precisely the opposite effect: more calories ingested in their daily diet.
+Whole grain products have fewer calories than whites: FALSE.
The amounts, nutrients, and components of whole grain products are actually very similar to those of their non-integral counterparts. What really differentiates one from the other is the amount of fiber. Whole foods have the same calories as white foods (sometimes the caloric percentage is even higher), but they contain more fiber which has a satiating effect and helps improve intestinal transit. The conclusion given by nutritionist Marina Díaz Naranjo: if you have to choose, always choose whole grain products over whites, but not because they contain fewer calories (which is uncertain) but because they will bring more benefits to your body thanks to that fiber they have.
+The bread is fattening and the crumb much more than the crust: FALSE.
Although it is true that bread is rich in carbohydrates, a moderate consumption of it does not have to make us gain weight. As for the crumb and the crust both make up the whole of the bread and neither ‘fattening’ more than the other. What happens is that, due to the action of baking, the crust is dehydrated while the inner part (the crumb) retains a greater amount of water which gives it a much more spongy appearance.
3 false myths about water
+Water during meals makes you fat: FALSE.
Water is a caloric element, that is, it has no calories. Conclusion? It does not matter if you drink water before, during or after meals since the fact of doing so will not contribute more or less calories to your daily diet. In fact, it is essential that you drink water since, in addition to being an essential component to stay hydrated, it represents a fairly large source of minerals and electrolytes necessary for the proper functioning of your body.
+You have to drink two liters of water a day: FALSE.
How many times have we heard that you have to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day? Well, it’s 100% fake! It is true that it is recommended to ingest two liters of liquid daily, but that statement does not take into account the amount of water present in many of the foods we eat, especially fruits and vegetables. What Marina Díaz does recommend is to ALWAYS avoid sugary soft drinks.
+Bottled water is healthier than tap water: FALSE.
As Axel Ceinos Moraza tells us, this depends a lot on the water supply system of the town or country where you live. There are certain pathologies for which the consumption of bottled water is recommended for its rich content of minerals such as calcium or sodium, but in general, if the water of the place where you live is of quality there are no contraindications that prevent or limit its consumption.
Myths and truths about dieting and weight loss
+Some diets can help you lose 5 kilos in a week: FALSE.
It is possible to lose 5 kilos in a week, but it is most likely that after that week there will be what is known as ‘rebound effect’ recovering the lost weight again. The important thing, as Axel Ceinos tells us, is to undergo nutritional education, that is, to learn to eat. Know which foods are healthy and which are not and follow a balanced diet from which we benefit in the long term.
+Some diets can cause amenorrhea (absence of menstruation): TRUE.
Very restrictive diets that do not provide us with the necessary amount of nutrients and vitamins can end up having a negative effect on our hormones and our menstrual health.
+Mixing carbohydrates and proteins makes you fat: FALSE.
This is what many so-called ‘dissociated’ diets propagate, but it is not really scientifically proven. It is very difficult to separate foods based on the nutrients they provide because each food is itself a mixture of nutrients. In addition, all these nutrients (fats, carbohydrates, proteins …) are necessary for the functioning of our body and to keep us healthy.
+No se deben comer hidratos de carbono a partir de las 18:00h: FALSO.
Hay una falsa creencia que dice que tomar carbohidratos por la noche hace que engordemos debido a que a partir de esa hora la actividad se reduce y es más complicado que los quememos. Esto no es cierto. Si llevamos una alimentación diaria equilibrada es muy difícil llegar al final del día con las reservas de glucógeno llenas, por lo que si ingerimos hidratos en la cena (o a partir de las 18h de la tarde) estos irán destinados, en primer lugar, al consumo durante la noche (aunque estemos dormidos nuestro cuerpo sigue gastando calorías) y, en segundo lugar, a seguir llenado las reservas.
Los mitos más disparatados sobre el consumo de fruta
+Tomar fruta después de comer engorda: FALSO.
La fruta tiene la misma cantidad de calorías la consumas antes, durante o después de las comidas. Se recomienda consumir cinco piezas a lo largo del día por ser una importante fuente de vitaminas y minerales. Lo que sí es cierto, tal y como nos cuenta Axel Ceinos Moraza, es que la fruta tiene un elevado contenido en fibra lo cual acentúa la sensación de saciedad al comerla. Esto tiene como resultado que en determinadas dietas de adelgazamiento o de control del peso se aconseje tomarla justo antes de comer para reducir el apetito y las cantidades que se ingieren en los platos principales.
+Taking the fruit in juice is the same as taking the whole fruit: FALSE.
Keep in mind that to make an orange juice, for example, not a single orange is used, but at least three are needed. Taking a juice, therefore, more calories and more sugar are ingested. In addition, the juice, when taken much faster than a piece of fruit, provides less feeling of satiety and causes you to lose much of the pulp that is where the greatest amount of nutrients and, above all, fiber is found. In any case, if you choose to consume juice instead of whole fruit, it is always preferable that it is natural rather than packaged which usually contain a greater amount of added sugars.
+If you have diabetes, you should NOT eat fruit under any circumstances: FALSE.
Fruits and vegetables should be the basis of anyone’s diet. In the case of someone with diabetes, what needs to be done is to adjust the carbohydrate intake (which would include fruit consumption) with the specific treatment, needs and lifestyle of the patient.
+If a fruit has the same calories as a cookie, then it doesn’t matter if you eat one thing or another: FALSE.
As we mentioned before, the important thing is not the calories but the quality of those calories and as Marina Díaz Naranjo says: “The important thing is not what you eat, but what you stop eating”. That is, by eating a cookie you are stopping eating a piece of fruit that will really provide you with the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy.
3 totally false myths about sugar, don’t believe them!
+Brown sugar is healthier than white sugar: FALSE.
The composition of both products is practically identical with the only difference that brown sugar is coated with molasses. In fact, the nutritional value of both is very similar: for every 100 grams of brown sugar are about 377 calories, while that same amount of white sugar would be equivalent to about 387 calories. As you can see, an almost negligible amount. In any case, it is convenient to control the consumption of both one and the other in order to have a healthy diet.
+We must eliminate all sugar from our diet: FALSE.
Our body needs sugar to function. The key to controlling its consumption is to eliminate refined sugars and processed products (pastries, snacks …) from our diet and take sugar correctly only and only through healthy foods such as, for example, fruit or dairy products and, of course, in moderation.
+NO sugar equals NO calories: FALSE.
A product has or does not have sugar will ALWAYS have calories. “It is likely that if we compare a product ‘with sugar’ with one ‘without sugar’ the latter contains a lower amount of calories, but at the price that the ingredients that make it up are of quite poor quality,” says Marina Díaz.