Busted: 10 COMMON MYTHS ABOUT NUTRITION

​Nutrients are substances (fat, protein, carbohydrate, vitamin, minerals) that we absorb from our food. They are the building blocks that our bodies are made of and the helper molecules that make all our bodily processes work. They are what we consist of and what keeps us not only alive, but healthy, happy, and thriving. It is easy to understand that the lack of nutrients can cause poor health and loss of mojo or worse, and that getting the nutrients we need is of utmost importance for anyone wishing to live well and for a long time. 

Most people have neither the time nor interest to obtain an in-depth understanding of nutrition, and most of the articles aimed at the general public are written more with what- gets-people-to-click-on-the-link in mind than a comprehensive analysis of facts. This makes it easy for misunderstandings and myths to creep in and distort our sense of what we need from food and how to get it. 

Here are 10 common myths related to food and nutrition it is time to let go of:


1) You can get all the nutrients you need from a balanced diet

Our farming practices have actually led to depletion of the soil in which our produce is grown. A Kushi Institute analysis of nutrient data from 1975 to 1997 found that average calcium levels in 12 fresh vegetables dropped 27 percent; iron levels 37 percent; vitamin A levels 21 percent, and vitamin C levels 30 percent. Many common nutritional deficiencies, such as Magnesium deficiency, are not detected in routine lab tests and since the potential symptoms are so many, non-specific and varied (for magnesium deficiency symptoms may include fatigue, high blood pressure, anxiety, trouble sleeping, osteoporosis, muscle cramps, headaches, constipation, etc.) people are rarely aware of them. Since we have changed our dietary practices so much over the past generation or two what might be perceived as a “balanced diet” today is very different from what is was for your grandmother. Highly nutritious foods such as organ meats and collagenous cuts of meat have recently fallen out of favor, while a whole host of non-food food-like substances have crept into our food supply. Cheese-like spread, anyone?

Nutrient deficiencies are actually quite common, and thirty-one percent of the U.S. population is at risk of at least one vitamin deficiency or anemia.


 2) Our food is more nutritious than it used to be, so we don’t have to worry about nutrition

While it’s true that we are luckier than some of our forebears in terms our access to fresh and nutritious food, there have also been many detrimental changes to our food supply. We are exposed to large amounts of low-nutrient foods that have been engineered to be enticing, rather than healthy. Our produce is harvested long before it ripens and travels long distances, and our food is prepared  and packaged (heated, exposed to light, soaked, mixed with preservatives, etc.) in ways that lead to a loss of nutrients. One change that is likely to have far-reaching consequences is the processing of food, and the change in our eating habits that leaves us with less fiber.

The loss of fiber and other pre-biotics, together with the many additives to our food (preservatives, artificial sweeteners, antibiotics, and more) starves our gut microbiome. This is significant because the health of the gut microbiome has been correlated with virtually every aspect of our health and well-being, affecting mood, skin, digestion and colon health, brain health, cardiovascular function and more. A recent study found that even fibromyalgia, or widespread pain in the body without an apparent physical cause, may be rooted in an altered gut microbiome affecting pain sensitivity and processing.

Understanding that the changes to our food supply have been both good and bad, and that these changes have occurred so gradually that we may not even be aware of them at all, is important for anyone interested in obtaining optimal nutrition from food.



3) You can be equally well-nourished on different diets. It’s literally just a matter of taste


It’s hard to deny that we are living in the age of food fads. We have gone from "All Fat is Bad" to Atkins to Low-Carb/High Fat (LCHF) to Paleo to Vegetarian to Vegan to the Ketogenic diet, and predictably the next fad is just around the corner. Adherents of all popular fads tend to be equally enthusiastic, and reading an account of the wonders of any particular diet can make the most equanimous among us feel worried that we might be missing out on something important.

These food fads create confusion among the general public and a reluctance to listen to any dietary advice. They obscure the fact that there is real and ongoing research in the field of nutrition that is quite different from the breathless headlines about the latest “news” about the supposed danger of eggs (spoiler alert: eggs are really good for you). The truth is that following any diet that is defined by an exclusion of certain food groups leads to a real risk of dietary deficiencies. As an example, the vegan diet excludes all animal products, and because of this vegans tend to be deficient in vitamin D, B12, zinc, iron, calcium and the important fatty acids EPA and DHA.

4) Carbs/eggs/red/meat/fat/ (did miss something?) are bad

Most people get their nutrition-related information through articles they happen to come across online or while waiting for their dental or hair appointment. Usually these types of articles are sensationalistic (and highly unscientific) click-bait reporting based on an isolated study, and only serve to confuse and frustrate the reader.  Scientific consensus, on the other hand, is built slowly but surely, based on accumulated scientific findings (the results of many studies, replicated over many years). 

                              Food should not be thought of as either “good” or “bad”, but as a
                                             source of nutrition to be used appropriately.

Are you sedentary? Eat fewer carbohydrates, as these are mainly needed as a source of energy. Are you bicycling hundreds of miles per week? Eat many more carbs. In both cases, eat mainly unprocessed carbs that come with the free bonus of fiber and plant nutrients, and are absorbed more gradually in the body.

The same is true for other oft’ maligned foods. Eggs are great , especially if you choose pastured eggs; red meat is great if you choose grass-fed, organic meat, in appropriate amounts for age and activity level. Avoid less healthy fats such as heated vegetable seed oils (yes, as in fast food fries) and fats become your friend, too, helping you absorb fat soluble vitamins, build cell membranes, and more.


5) Nutritious food is less tasty than junk food

Our taste buds have evolved in order for us to be able to tell a nutrient form a toxin, and our preferences for taste and texture have evolved to guide us to the nutrients we need from food. But manufacturers of modern-day food products employ food scientists to manipulate the taste and texture of processed foods to make them more appealing to consumers, in essence to trick our tastebuds into finding very low nutrient density foods appealing (think: Doritos or fast food, for example). 

That does not, however, mean that nutritious food is low in flavor.  On the contrary, we can still use our tastebuds to guide us. We simply need to use our logical understanding of the nature of processed foods to motivate us to avoid them, and then use our sense of taste and smell to help us find the best and most nutritious real, unprocessed or minimally processed food. Italians, for example, are famously picky about the quality and freshness of their food, simply because high-quality food tastes better. (Perhaps unsurprisingly, they are also long-lived.) But the reason high quality food tastes better to us is that our tastebuds are still able to detect nutrients as an appealing flavor, texture and smell. 

Our taste preferences also change with exposure. Eating a lot of sugar gets our tastebuds used to the taste of increasingly sweet foods, and exposing them to bitter tastes more often “programs” them to enjoy bitter foods. In other words, your current preferences say more about what you have been eating than what foods objectively taste like.


6) If you’re recovering from an injury or surgery and being less active, you should eat less

It may perhaps sound a bit counter-intuitive, but during recovery from injuries and surgeries your protein need is actually increased, and intakes of 2–2.5 g/kg/day  are recommended during immobilization, up from the RDA of the modest 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. You'll find a helpful online RDA calculator here. Physical activity actually stimulates muscle building in such a way that the body uses the protein it's given more effectively.



7) Senior citizens need much less food than younger people

As people get older they often choose to or think they ought to be less physically active. When this is the case, they of course need fever calories. Therefore, as the amount of food decreases it becomes increasingly important to pay attention to food quality, especially since the same population also, for a number of reasons, tends to absorb nutrients less efficiently. ​Eating less also leads to taking in fewer important substances, such as vitamins, minerals, choline, fiber, phytochemicals etc, while our need for them remains the same. As a matter of fact, older adults may actually have elevated needs for vitamins and minerals due to use of pharmaceutical drugs, lack of exposure to sunlight, lower levels of sex hormones, decreased endogenous production of certain substances and neurotransmitters.

As we get older we also become less sensitive to the muscle-building effect of protein in our diet, and actually need to increase our protein intake after the age of 65.




8) If a diet is helpful for sick people, it’s proof that it’s the best diet for all.

The Ketogenic diet  is a low carb/high fat diet. It has historically been used as a non-pharmacological treatment of childhood epilepsy and has more recently gone mainstream and is being studied as an intervention for other neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, as well as diabetes and obesity with varied success.

Does the fact that a friend lost 20 pounds on the Ketogenic diet mean that this diet is superior to others and that everyone should be on it? As mentioned above, following any diet that is defined by an exclusion of certain food groups leads to a real risk of dietary deficiencies. The Ketogenic diet can be low in fiber and certain nutrients, and has to be followed with careful attention to food choice and supplementation. The diet can be directly harmful and be contraindicated for many people, including those who are pregnant, stressed, have a genetic predisposition for high cholesterol, or have low thyroid hormone levels.

The most direct route to health, with the fewest potential pitfalls, continues to be a varied diet, ideally including foods and food preparation methods that maximize nutrient density (think organ meats, soaking legumes prior to cooking, sprouting, sourdough, etc.) that is based on high-quality food with as few harmful substances (antibiotics, pesticides, products from inproperly fed animals) as possible. In other words, a truly healthy diet is based on inclusion of nutritious food through an understanding of what humans need for optimal health, and not solely on the exclusion of certain foods.



9) If you’re recovering from an injury or surgery and being less active, you should eat less

It may perhaps sound a bit counter-intuitive, but during recovery from injuries and surgeries your protein need is actually increased, and intakes of 2–2.5 g/kg/day  are recommended during immobilization, up from the RDA of the modest 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. You'll find a helpful online RDA calculator here. Physical activity actually stimulates muscle building in such a way that the body uses the protein it's given more effectively. 



10) OK, got it. So I’ll take a multivitamin, that will cover all the bases.


Not so fast! While taking a high quality multivitamin can be better than nothing for some people, some times, multi-vitamin preparations are often of low quality, (for example containing synthetic versions of nutrients instead of the form found in food) and may even pose an added disease risk for certain people.

                        The greatest risk multivitamins pose may be a false sense of reassurance,
                                               a belief that one has covered all the bases.

Unfortunately, there are many potential problems with relying on a multivitamin. One of them is that minerals are way too bulky to fit into one. You can never get all the potassium, magnesium, or calcium you need from a multivitamin pill. Another potential problem is that they do not exclusively contain vitamins or minerals that many people are deficient in, but also those that most people are able to get in sufficient amounts from quality food. Genetic variations, health status, drug use, activity level and age are all factors that may affect both the need for and absorption of nutrients, and a one-size-fits-all multi can’t stretch to fit these varying needs.


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11) Colorful vegetables are good, white food is bad and other oversimplifications


I know, simple rules of thumb feel helpful, but “no white foods” is not a helpful one. While large amounts of rice and pasta may give you more carbohydrate and less in the way of micronutrients, potatoes are very nutritious - yet also very white.

Avoiding any food without a firm scientific reason to do so imposes unnecessary restrictions, increases the risk of nutrient deficiencies, and helps build an image of food as a dangerous enemy instead of as a source of pleasure, health, and life.

To quote Harvard professor David Sinclair, PhD once more: “Truth is, moderation is key. Don’t eat too often and too much of anything.”


Bon appetit :-) !
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