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Nutrition Myths

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Nutrition Myths

The Nutrition Myths That Shocked Us

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This article was originally published on Authority Nutrition.

There is a lot of misinformation circling around in mainstream nutrition.

I have listed the worst examples in this article, but, unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg.


1. Eggs Are Unhealthy

There’s one thing that nutrition professionals have had remarkable success with, and that is demonising incredibly healthy foods. The worst example of that is eggs, which happen to contain a large amount of cholesterol and were therefore considered to increase the risk of heart disease.

But recently it was proven that cholesterol in the diet doesn’t really raise the cholesterol in blood. In fact, eggs primarily raise the “good” cholesterol and are not associated with increased risk of heart disease.


To top it all off, eating eggs for breakfast is proven to cause significant weight loss, compared to eating bagels for breakfast.


2. Saturated Fat is Bad For You

A few decades ago it was decided that the epidemic of heart disease was caused by eating too much fat — in particular, saturated fat.




Eating saturated fat raises the amount of HDL, the “good” cholesterol in the blood, and changes the LDL from small, dense LDL (very bad) to Large LDL, which is benign. Meat, coconut oil, cheese, butter… There is absolutely no reason to fear these foods.


3. Everybody Should be Eating Grains


Grains are fairly low in nutrients compared to other real foods like vegetables. They are also rich in a substance called phytic acid, which binds essential minerals in the intestine and prevents them from being absorbed.

The most common grain in the Western diet, by far, is wheat, and wheat can cause a host of health problems, both minor and serious. Modern wheat contains a large amount of a protein called gluten, but there is evidence that a significant portion of the population may be sensitive to it.


Bottom Line: Grains are relatively low in nutrients compared to other real foods, like vegetables. The gluten grains in particular may lead to a variety of health problems.



It is true that eating protein increases calcium excretion from the bones in the short term, but the long-term studies actually show the opposite effect.



In fact, two of the main risk factors for kidney failure are diabetes and high blood pressure. Eating a high-protein diet improves both.



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