I was fortunate enough as a child to grow up with an obsession of health and fitness; this allowed me to experiment with different styles and methods of nutrition.

I’ve gone from having the dogma of making sure I got my supply of fruits here, my supply of fruits there, and I couldn’t forget my supply of fruits in every smoothie I made, too making sure I ate enough whole grains to supply me with the adequate amount of grains a “health” diet should have.

Back then this was what I was reading in magazines and websites.

Unfortunately I decided to blindly follow that advice. Not knowing why I was doing it or what effects it had on my body. Now I’m not gonna trash this style of eating because some people do find it effective, and even beneficial to their health. (You know, everyone reacts different to food. Someone might see great results with a high fat/ high protein diet; while someone else might see great results with a high carb diet – there’s even people that respond better to a mix of both high fat and high carb diets. It all depends on what your body needs).

But from what I have seen; most people respond better to a high fat/ high protein diets.

Why you ask?

I’m not entirely sure. Maybe it’s cause I haven’t encountered high carb kinds of people or maybe high carb people are scares?

Whatever the case may be; if you want to find out what types of foods your body would respond better too I encourage you to check out a metabolic typing test.

Now the nutrition myths that I’m about to explain pertain to the majority of you. Like I said most people are high fat/high protein kinds of people.

But even if you are a carb or mixed type some of these myths will still pertain to you. So make sure you read and absorb the information.

Cause it’s time to put an end to all the lies!

Nutrition Myth #1 

“If you want to be healthy, make sure you eat a good amount of fruits every day”

The Truth– Fruits are a great. They can give you a boost of energy, they supply your body with vitamins and minerals, and they taste pretty damn good.

But unfortunately most people take it to the next level.

When people get into their health kick and decide to make a change and start eating healthier; I couldn’t be happier. What they proceed to do is what gets me frustrated.

They fall for what they read in magazines (just like I did) and start eating fruits like crazy.

They have a fruit with every meal and some meals even contain just fruits – you have no idea how many times some of my friends have sent me pictures of their fruit salad with yogurt and granola.

At the moment I tell them good job because I don’t want to discourage them. When someone gets on a health kick I support them no matter what – change is change. But I do tell them that fruit is good, BUT in moderation.

Fruit contains fructose, a sugar that really has no purpose in your body. Your cells can’t use it for energy and your body has to metabolize through the liver.

Making it work harder than is needs too, and if you’re in your 20’s like me and like to go out for a night of fun every now and then, while maintaining a set of abs, then you need to make sure your liver is working at it’s best.

Nutrition Myth #2

“Avoid fats – they cause fat gains and can lead to heart disease”

The Truth– This is probably the most idiotic “advice” I’ve ever heard and unfortunately it was one I followed in my early years.

No wonder I was skinny fat.

It wasn’t until a couple a years ago that I started reading up on how beneficial fats were to human beings. I started reading information that even stated that saturated fats were the reason human beings became problem solving primates.

During the time of the ice age the only food people had to eat were fats. There were no plantations and there were only a few animals that could survive that kind of weather.

So the people did what they had to. They ate the blubber and meat from the animals they killed.

According to Nora T. Gedgaudas; fat, to all humans, means “survival” to our physiological functioning. Diets low in fat paradoxically cause the body to more easily synthesize fat from other sources, most notably carbohydrates, and to absorb and store this unwanted fat. Diets high in carbohydrates trigger our master hormone, leptin, to become severely dysregulated. Blood sugar surges lead to leptin surges, and ultimately to leptin resistance, in which leptin signaling is no longer effectively heard by the brain. This sends a message of “starvation” to the hypothalamus, which then reacts promptly with increases in appetite or cravings.

So you see, it’s a whole cycle. If fats are low, your appetite will increase and you’ll grab some food which most likely will be a carbohydrate which will ultimately restart the cycle that I explained above.

Fats, especially saturated fats play a huge role in your bodies daily activites.

Fats are even needed to produced hormones; Testosterone, Estrogen, Growth Hormones, Cortisol, Vitamin D, and DHEA.

So if you want your body to run optimally do yourself a favor and start adding animal based fats into your diet.

Nutrition Myth #3

“Use olive oil to cook everything; it’s healthier!”

The Truth- Olive oil’s great. It’s high in healthy fats and can definitely be beneficial when added to your diet.

But using olive oil to cook with is a big NO NO

Olive oil is a cold oil – which means that its best used for cold stuff like salad dressings or even just adding a table spoon to your protein shake.

The heat threshold of olive oil is pretty low and cooking with it will only lead to destroying the fat. You don’t want to be consuming fats that have been molecularly changed. Your body won’t be able to use it.

Instead cook with saturated fats. These fats have a high heat threshold so cooking with it isn’t a problem.

I like to save my fat drippings from my bacon and buy rendered duck fat. You can also use coconut oil.

Nutrition Myth #4

“Eat eggs in moderation – they are high in cholesterol and can lead to heart disease”

The Truth– To me this is complete and utter bull shit. I’ve been eating eggs my whole life and not just 1 or 2 a day. I’ve eaten as many as 6 eggs a day because my macros required high protein and fat.

And to this day I know I don’t have high cholesterol.

Eggs are one of the best foods you can eat. They are a complete protein which means they carry all 9 essential amino acids in sufficient quantities

This is a good thing for us because the only way to get essential amino acids is through our diet.

Our bodies can’t synthesize them.

These essential amino acids include; methionine, tryptophan, lysine, threonine, phenylalanine, histidine, leucine, valine, and isoleucine.

Now to get down on the cholesterol issue – the misconception is that eggs adversely affect cholesterol levels in the body.

I have known this to be false for a while since I’ve always eaten eggs and never suffered from high cholesterol. But I have recently read an article on Mercola.com that stated that Dr. Donald J. McNamara, PhD noted that studies demonstrated that dietary cholesterol increases both LDL and HDL cholesterol with essentially no change in the important LDL:HDL cholesterol ratio.

What this basically means is that the cholesterol eaten from eggs does not change the ratio that our bodies require between LDL and HDL for optimal health.

The study showed that the LDL to HDL ratio change per 100 mg per day only changed dietary cholesterol from 2.60 to 2.61

A change so insignificant that it would not have any negative effects on your health. So do yourself a favor.

Eat more eggs – especially free range eggs.

Nutrition Myth #5

“You need to eat every 2 to 3 hours to keep your metabolism high”

The Truth- You’re probably surprised to see this on the list. I know it’s probably one of, if not thee top given advice related to health and fitness; not just from personal trainers but also from dieticians and doctors.

This advice has been around for decades. Body builders use this type of meal frequency to constantly supply their bodies with nutrients for repair.

Regular Joes and Jane’s use it to “keep their metabolism high to avoid fat gains”. Whatever the case may be this is outdated and it’s time for a change.

New research has come out that dispels this myth but I guess no one has read it since 90% of the population still consumes 5 to 6 meals a day.

You see the reason eating every 2 to 3 hours became so popular is because of the notion that eating increases your metabolic rate because your body has to digest the food you just consumed. This is called the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF).

Well if this is true then eating 5 to 6 meals would keep your metabolism high all day. Right?

Well not so fast, fortunately in the study I mentioned above they concluded that TEF is related to the total amount of calories you consume by the end of the day.

So whether you eat 5 meals totaling 2000 calories or eating 2 meals totaling 2000 calories – your body will have the same TEF.

And for me; eating 2 to 3 meals a day takes a shit ton of stress off my shoulders. I don’t have to worry about prepping my meals ahead of time.

I don’t have to feel guilty that I missed a meal and my gains will suffer.

By eating 2 to 3 meals a day I’m able to concentrate more on my mission and less on whether or not it’s been 2 hours since my last meal.

Hope you enjoyed learning about the top 5 nutrition myths that have been around for years. Keep yourself informed about new information coming out. It’ll help you simplify your life.

p.s. If you found this post helpful and you want to see part 2 of the top nutrition myths of all time give this post a like and share. I really appreciate it.