How to avoid some common misconceptions on food and nutrition

Good and bad food concepts are often quite misleading and confusing. Today you may find an article telling you that having a cup of coffee is very good for your health. But, in few days another article will tell the reverse sighting various health risks associated with coffee. The continuous research on food and nutrition is giving us new findings everyday and it is becoming very difficult to understand and decide upon your food habits and nutritional goals.

This confusion is further aggravated by the food marketers who promote various products for the sake of marketing and profit. Several terms have been proposed and marketed by them such as “natural”, “light”, “organic” and so on which has no clear meaning. But, these terms sells well as they are attached with a belief that they are nutritious. 

Misinformation and misconception on nutrition is really increasing day by day as noted by several nutrition and health professionals in recent times. So it is no wonder that you get too much confused about what you really need to eat healthy. The following points may clear up some of the common misconceptions about food and nutrition that you may have.

Use of certain foods to detox (detoxify) your body

The word “detox” is quite common in the food marketer’s dictionary, but it should be completely erased from your dictionary. The conception of taking certain food with certain nutrients to detoxify your body is just not right. If you really want your body to be free from toxic substances just focus on not to intake foods that are sources of such toxins. This will help you maintain a good health. 

The concept of bad and good foods 

There are also a common notion of bad foods and good foods among the general population. About course junk food is bad for health (French fries, ice creams, cold drinks, your favorite street foods and chaats) and one should limit intake of these foods. But, there is also a pleasure or enjoyment factor associated with these foods and terming them bad may spire guilt in your mind while having the food. So the situation is that you are taking your favorite junk food and at the same time not enjoying it, when the sole purpose of any junk food is the pleasure of having it (you are not taking junk food for nutritional purpose).

So it is better to enjoy when you are taking a junk food (sometimes we have no other options as well). But, you must try to avoid them as far as possible as they are not so good for your health. 

The concept of clean food 

Do you really know and understand the meaning of clean food? What are clean eating habits? It’s just too weird. The general conception is that clean eating means natural, organic, wholesome foods with less processed food. But, this is what called healthy eating or healthy diet. So, there is no point of clean diet where the term healthy diet seems more appropriate. Moreover, various marketers are stating that they have made their processed food using clean technologies and ingredients. This means an unhealthy product made with clean ingredients. So, it is better to stick to the basic healthy and balanced diet concept than adopting the new clean concept. 

Low carb diet concept 

People often consider cutting down on sugar, breads and wheat products to stick to a low carb (i.e food having a low amount of carbohydrates) diet to maintain proper body weight and blood sugar level. Many of them even discontinue eating fruits due to the fear of sugar (I am not talking about diabetic patients, but about healthy people). In reality, there are enough carbohydrate present in other foods that you may think belongs to low carb group such as vegetables and diet yogurt. Moreover, avoiding fruits will call for other nutritional deficiencies and health issues. So, the low carb diet concept is not totally accurate and you must focus on having a healthy and balanced diet according to your body type and nutritional requirements.

The gluten free diet

Every now and then people stress upon a gluten free diet without even knowing properly what actually gluten is. Gluten is a protein present in wheat and similar grains that gives the elastic texture to the dough and the fluffiness or chewing comfort to the final product (like in breads). Gluten free diet is essential for people suffering from celiac disease (an autoimmune disorder of the intestine that happens in people who are genetically predisposed). In these people there is an immune response against the intestine when gluten is consumed. Mind that only 1% people in the world have celiac disease and the rest of 99% people will have no problem having a gluten rich diet and will serve as a source of protein. So, if you have celiac disease then you should always consider having a gluten free diet, but otherwise there is no need for it. 

Avoiding fruits for fear of sugar 

Though fruits contain substantial amount of sugar it has vital nutrition, including fiber, vitamin C, K in particular and a lot of antioxidants. So it is better not to avoid or drop fruits from your diet unless you are diabetic. If you are worried about sugar, opt out having the candies, sugar added hot and cold drinks, ice-creams, sugar added chocolates and so on. 

The most important meal is the breakfast 

Four years there is a concept of having a heavy breakfast, especially in western culture and considering it as the main and most essential meal. Breakfast is indeed a very important part of daily meals and a heavy breakfast is always helpful. But, this does not mean that you can ignore other meals of the day after having a good breakfast. All the meals are important and each of them plays a vital role in your daily nutrition.