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Busted! 10 myths about diet you believed with your eyes closed

Last updated on: April 08, 2015 13:49 IST

Fitness entrepreneur Nawaz Modi Singhania (below, inset) and founder of Body Art Fitness Studio does the honours! :-)

 

Myth#1: Drinking warm water cuts/breaks fat!

Warm water acts as a laxative for those who have a problem with a slow/sluggish digestive system.

Therefore a person can feel light better post consumption of warm water due to the resulting evacuation process.

Be clear that drinking warm water has nothing to do with the fat stores that are otherwise on you.

Those remain unaffected.

Fat is a fuel, to be utilised or burnt as other types of fuel.

It can't be "cut" or "broken".

Myth#2: If I'm on a healthy diet, low in fat, sugar, bad carbs high on fruits vegetables, I don't need to watch the quantity that I consume for fat, inch weight loss.

Remember that an excess of anything -- even fruits vegetables -- will get you to put on fat, inches weight.

Even with the healthiest foods, portion control is vital, or then inch weight gain is inevitable.

Myth#3: High energy drinks are important before, during after a workout.

It's actually far better to just go with plain room temperature water a balanced, healthy diet. Stay far away from anything that's bottled, canned has a shelf life if you know what's good for you.

They are full of preservatives, colorants, chemicals, more you really don't want to get near to.

Myth#4: Fad diets is the way to go in order to achieving your ideal body.

This is the most common myth of them all!

Whether it's the Atkin's, the Glycemic Index, Herbal Life, the General Motor's Diet or whichever fad diet that grabs your current fancy, you will receive inadequate nutrients in imbalanced proportions, aside from playing with your health, your diet will never work long-term.

You'll end up with more weight inches on you than you started out with.

The only thing that gets fat inches off, keeps them off, is a sensible, low-fat, low-sugar food plan, high on fresh fruits vegetables, nuts seeds, which limits caloric intake, combined with the correct type amount of exercise.

Myth#5: You must consume more protein if you're trying to build on muscle mass.

For all the efforts people make at getting more protein in, did you know that even Indian vegetarians get 2-3 times more protein than their bodies require?

Remember that excess protein can damage the kidneys deprive your body of calcium.

Additionally, excess protein is stored by the body in the form of fat!

Even intense training won't deplete most people's protein supply.

Unless you're training heavy duty for competition, you're not going to need protein supplements.

Myth#6 Diet pills that suppress the appetite is one sure way of knocking those extra kilos off.

These ought to be avoided entirely!

They usually contain a stimulant such as amphethetamine.

Firstly, the effect of the drug is temporary, so the rate of fat/ weight reduction tapers off with time.

Secondly, these can cause health problems such as insomnia, high blood pressure, dizziness, headaches, etc.

They are also very addictive.

Myth#7: Foods are categorized as "good" or "bad".

All foods are good, IF they are consumed in moderation.

Don't banish certain foods altogether from your diet -- that'll make you crave them all the more.

That leads to bingeing.

Control the size of the portion and find healthy substitutes instead.

Myth#8: Don't keep snacking all the time!

Please do!

The problem with square meals is that they make you round!

Consume small meals through the day.

Avoid sticking to just two or three large meals.

This way the body uses up the calories from your meal rather than storing the excess in the form of fat.

Myth#9: Stick to brown sugar brown bread instead of white.

Technically this is true, however watch out.

Often you'll find the brown sugar you thought to be healthier is actually just white sugar coated with caramelized sugar!

The test for this is to drop a few crystals of this brown sugar into half a glass of water.

If you see the crystals sink to the bottom while the brown colour moves up to the top leaving the sugar crystals exposed to their original colour -- stay far away!

Brown bread too is often made brown by caramelising sugar is not brown due to the usage of healthier grains.

Myth#10: Have more fruit vegetable juices to lose fat, inches weight.

Rather than have a fruit juice, eat the whole fruit.

Eat a salad rather than have a vegetable juice.

You'll get a lot less volume in that way.

Remember that too much of anything -- even of a good thing -- is going to hang around the body in the form of unwanted pockets of fat.

Nawaz Modi Singhania runs Body Art Fitness Studio in Mumbai: +919987683883/+919167935857

Lead Photograph: TipsTimesAdmin/Creative Commons (For representational purposes only)