Obesity
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(v) Eliminating proteins will help reduce weight – Not true. Some diets will eliminate all proteins, but even vegetarians eat protein everyday – protein is a necessary nutrient just as carbohydrates and fats are. The protein source and the quality of that protein are what counts. But we’ve been conditioned to believe that the only source of protein is from an animal which is a myth. Good non-animal sources of protein include beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, sprouts, tofu and other soya foods. It is not advocated that you give up meat, but consider replacing some of your protein from other sources and make sure you eat animal proteins sparingly and that too, lean meat as chicken or fish and avoid red meat.
(vi) Eliminating carbohydrates will help reduce weight – Not true again. Dieters feel carbohydrates are bad for you and that they’re to be avoided at all costs. But just as with fats and proteins, there are some carbs that are good for you and some that aren’t. Vegetables and fruits are also carbohydrate foods, but they contain valuable nutrients, your body should not be without. Grains are also not as bad as they are made out to be; just make sure to eat whole-grains. Generally speaking anything that mentions it’s ‘white’, ‘extra white’, ‘refined’, ‘quick cooking’, ‘instant’, ‘ready-to-eat’, ‘cooks in 1 to 3 minutes’ or ‘kids love it’ will generally be loaded with bad carbs that should only be eaten very occasionally.
(vii) Eliminating fats will help reduce weight – Unfortunately, this is another dieting fallacy that has persisted. Fats are essential to health – things like Omega 3, 6 and 9 and important vitamins such as A and E are found in certain fatty foods that most dieters would cringe at. Fats to avoid include saturated fats from animal sources and hydrogenated vegetable oils. Good fats should come from nuts, seeds, oily fruits like olives, oily fish and whole-grains.
(viii) Restricting calories to remain thin is the best way to be healthy and happy – Not strictly true. Healthy relaxed eating in response to hunger and satiety cues is the key to developing a comfortable relationship with food and avoiding disorders. People naturally have different body shapes and sizes, and need to accept themselves for what they are. Disordered eating patterns caused by pressures to be thin can result in zero self-esteem. And by constantly rating yourself against some ideal standard offers little more than a lifetime of dissatisfaction and frustration. But the choice to be healthy and happy by self-acceptance rather than an enforced ideal of thinness is yours and yours alone!
