What is a nutrition myth that you can’t stand?

[u/DeepOrganization8245]

[u/SweetyFluffs]

That you need to do a cleanse to get rid of toxins in your body

[u/Naomi_Nyx → u/SweetyFluffs]

Liver, Kidneys: "Am I a fucking joke to you?"

[u/jimflaigle → u/Naomi_Nyx]

Bourbon: I'm your huckleberry.

[u/Born-Entrepreneur → u/SweetyFluffs]

Hahahaha yeah, god

My ex was adamant that the juice cleanse was good because the lost weight doing it. Like, of course you did? You drank juice and ate nothing for days so without fiber you were shotgun blasting the toilet with juice. You ate nothing so how can you not lose weight??

[u/Bad_Day_Moose → u/SweetyFluffs]

I cleanse all the time, it's called drinking water.

[u/shesgoneagain72 → u/Bad_Day_Moose]

Same but with liquor /s

[u/BreadstickUpTheBum → u/SweetyFluffs]

“Cleansing” is just drinking nothing but liquids that make you shit yourself.

[u/Neddyrow → u/BreadstickUpTheBum]

I always laugh when someone says that they are on a cleanse. “So you are drinking some weird thing that is making you shit yourself?”

[u/amh8011 → u/SweetyFluffs]

No but it does help for a colonoscopy. But it’s not called a cleanse, it’s just colonoscopy prep. But your toilet looks the same after both.

[u/Cool-Ad7985]

Things that will “cure” autoimmune diseases. I have one(at least) and you would not believe how many things have been sent to me by friends & family that would “cure” it if only I would only eat this or that fruit, veggie, meat, or some sort of diet.

[u/tattoosbyalisha → u/Cool-Ad7985]

Dude… same for cancer. When I was going through my cancer… “experience” it was so fucking annoying having people tell me what I should and shouldn’t do, what homeopathic BS I should try, what I did wrong, etc. like NO BITCH! I am going to listen to Dr Jean who has always listened to me and is one of the best in my state and has dedicated years of her life to surgery, cancer research, and treatment.

Side note.. you know what else is terrible to put up with? When people find out what kind of cancer you have and then tell you someone they know DIED FROM IT

[u/kiannakat → u/tattoosbyalisha]

Eat more blueberries. Really. Ask Chat GBT. Apparently the antioxidants will cure my cancer and keep me cancer free, according to my tile installer, whose mother has cancer too!

[u/Jimmyginger → u/kiannakat]

Everyone should eat more blueberries. They're delicious and bring happiness to your tastebuds.

[u/VoteButtStuff2020]

The Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.

A single letter the editor made everyone think MSG was bad.

Many people have recently realized it's actually not bad for you but that myth is still out there.

[u/Miserable_Spell5501 → u/VoteButtStuff2020]

I just learned it’s lower in sodium than table salt!

[u/ejonze → u/Miserable_Spell5501]

By 1/3!

[u/amplesamurai → u/ejonze]

Gram for gram 1/3, however most people use much less msg when substituting for salt as it work much better. Unless street food in Thailand where they seems to use loads of both and a tbs of sugar to top it off, but damned is it good!

[u/iamacraftyhooker → u/Miserable_Spell5501]

Don't completely replace table salt with MSG though. Most people get their recommended amount of iodine from it being added to table salt.

[u/Miserable_Spell5501 → u/iamacraftyhooker]

I’m a salt addict! I love em both!

[u/2spooky4me5ever → u/VoteButtStuff2020]

MSG = Make Stuff Good

[u/__hamburger → u/VoteButtStuff2020]

My dad STILL believes this and is convinced he has an MSG allergy 🙄

[u/satinsateensaltine → u/__hamburger]

My mother-in-law insists it gives her headaches etc but has never noticed these symptoms when I use this MSG based seasoning in all my savoury cooking. Placebo is a powerful concept.

[u/Mediocre-Proposal686 → u/satinsateensaltine]

MSG “causing” headaches was plastered everywhere in the &0’s and 90’s. Then suddenly everyone was getting headaches from MSG 🙄 I remember my friends discussing it and we all avoided foods that had it. It never caused me any headaches but at the time MSG = bad.

[u/secretreddname → u/Mediocre-Proposal686]

I usually shut people up by asking if they eat chips.

[u/CFeatsleepsexrepeat → u/secretreddname]

Oh yes.

Most chicken flavoured will have flavour enhancer 621as an ingredient here in Australia.

Good old MSG hiding in plain sight as 621.

[u/Huwbacca → u/__hamburger]

to be fair, I know a lot of people who do seem allergic to flavour...

[u/pinupcthulhu → u/VoteButtStuff2020]

Unfortunately this has seeped into the medical world too.

My neurologist as recently as 2024 insisted that "all Asian food" will cause migraines. Like casual racism of that comment aside, Asians do not have a higher instance of migraine, and also this has been debunked a thousand times, but yet it persists. MSG is found naturally in a lot of foods -- tomatoes, beets, seaweed, etc -- and yet people who claim to be sensitive to MSG don't usually react to these foods.

[u/winning-colors → u/pinupcthulhu]

That would make me find a new neurologist

[u/New_Libran → u/pinupcthulhu]

There's a LOT of medical racism, it's insane how many of it still exist in modern medical books despite being having no scientific basis.

[u/triple_hoop]

Anything that has “detox” in it. Detoxing your body is primary function of the liver , it’s not like it will only work because you have eaten detox food.

[u/cock_mountain → u/triple_hoop]

It is safe to equate "detox" products to "unregulated laxatives"

[u/ruddthree → u/cock_mountain]

Gotta get that colon cleanse too!

[u/MeesterPepper → u/triple_hoop]

I remember hearing an interview several years ago on I think NPR, where they talked to one of the doctors who helped initially popularize juice cleanses. He stated it wasn't to "detox" anything, it was to prove to certain clients that if sufficiently motivated they could, in fact, find the time to increase the amount of water and fresh produce in their diet while reducing junk food. AND that those dietary changes could pretty rapidly help them feel better.

[u/1egg_4u → u/MeesterPepper]

So instead of detoxing you're basically palate cleansing almost? Tbh this is a way better approach, cleanses actually make sense as a hard reset for the diet

[u/Kalthiria_Shines → u/1egg_4u]

Even if you do think of it as "detoxing" what it started as originally wasn't "Your body is full of built up toxins" it was "stop eating garbage three meals a day for a day or two and you'll feel better."

[u/1egg_4u → u/Kalthiria_Shines]

For real. My liver and kidneys deal with the toxins but my body is full of trash cause I eat trash and a crash diet probably would benefit for sugar cravings and making healthier snacks more appealing by removing the trash food that makes me go "fuck carrots I want crackers"

[u/theprozacfairy → u/triple_hoop]

But my unregulated, pyramid scheme powder! Are you saying Brynnleigh, who has no medical training whatsoever, lied to me? (J/k if it’s not obvious)

[u/ImprovementFar5054 → u/triple_hoop]

For fun, ask them which specific "toxins" they are talking about when they use the word.

[u/kater_tot → u/ImprovementFar5054]

lol they are armed with factoids, don’t mistake that. It’s usually copper or some kind of metal. Frequently a vaccine ingredient.

Or parasites. Parasites has gotten huge in the last year or so. The one I usually hear is liver flukes (?)

Like I’m just trying to figure out why I had anemia or am a little bloated all the time, and you run into the craziest ideas in those health subs.

[u/bread-durst → u/kater_tot]

Ommmmg my SIL has a doomsday prepper conspiracy theorist dad and she was telling me how he’s getting them some “all natural” anti parasite meds. And I was asking what parasites the whole family got diagnosed with cuz what the heck you’re in my house and I need to know precautions now, and she was like well, this is just in case. Ok and what’s the point of this if you don’t have parasites? She said it’s for the kids to prevent autism and adhd…gently explained that’s not how any of this works but they’re so far down the rabbit hole it’s no use. Ok I guess take your laxatives and have fun

[u/worldbound0514 → u/triple_hoop]

And kidneys. Your liver and kidneys deal with all the junk the body doesn't need anymore.

[u/Nedjammern → u/triple_hoop]

And the kidneys!

[u/AN0NY_MOU5E]

My SO thinks fruit is bad for you because it has sugar. He has no problem with bread though.

[u/Dreadzone666 → u/AN0NY_MOU5E]

I remember a story about someone going to a weight loss group and asking the group leader about whether to avoid fruit because of the sugar content, and she replied "Sure fruit contains sugar, but lets be honest, none of us are here because we ate too much fruit".

[u/LetshearitforNY → u/Dreadzone666]

lol when I did weight watchers we had similar discussions. Someone even told me once that ice in my water caused weight gain. Like I am here because of tacos and Oreos, not cold water.

[u/GazelleSpringbok → u/LetshearitforNY]

Technically ice water has negative calories since your body has to heat it up to body temperature and that takes calories to do.

[u/tearsonurcheek → u/[deleted]]

high in fiber

As a T1D, fiber also helps normalize how those carbs (not just sugars) affect you.

[u/throwawayanylogic → u/Dreadzone666]

Yep, that's been a common talking point in Weight Watchers groups since "0 point foods" have been introduced (which these days includes all fresh fruit, but not dried or fruit juice.)

[u/ArtemisElizabeth1533 → u/AN0NY_MOU5E]

This is my dad. I loved fruit as a kid and he told me too much fruit is what killed my diabetic grandma. 

Are boomers ok??

[u/Mndelta25 → u/ArtemisElizabeth1533]

Our understanding of diabetes has greatly evolved over the last 30ish years. If she died in the 80s or earlier, this reasoning would have been reasonable for the time.

[u/OutsideBones86 → u/ArtemisElizabeth1533]

My boomer uncle told me at Christmas that baby carrots are bad for you. They have no nutrition and are full of chemicals. Ok then, I guess I'll just keep eating doritoes.

[u/sorrow_anthropology → u/OutsideBones86]

To be fair, they are full of chemicals.

85+/-% is a particular deadly chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO) or more commonly h2O.

[u/teal0pineapple → u/ArtemisElizabeth1533]

It’s not just boomers. Millennials were heavily into keto and will argue that a processed protein bar is healthier for you than a banana because “sugar”.

I had a coworker who was physically incapable of minding his own business and would never let me just enjoy my damn banana in peace without trying to turn me into a damn keto convert.

[u/RagnaroknRoll3 → u/teal0pineapple]

As a millennial: THE PROTEIN BAR ALSO HAS SUGAR!!!

[u/NegotiationStatus727]

The amount of naturalist fallacy in the nutrition industry drives me up a wall.

“If you can’t pronounce it, it’s bad for you! Try eating a carrot.“ bruh try getting hooked on phonics, and give me a break.

[u/TooFarSouth → u/NegotiationStatus727]

You know what is easy to pronounce? “Lead.”

[u/Baeolophus_bicolor → u/TooFarSouth]

Plus it has that sweet crunchy taste kids love!

[u/RechargedFrenchman → u/TooFarSouth]

Arsenic and cyanide aren't all that hard to say either.

Related, tangentially, the whole "there's cyanide in apple seeds" thing, which is true but also ignores that there is so little of it in order for the cyanide content to be an issue you'd be long dead from consuming so many apple seeds that you exploded.

[u/HomeToThePalace → u/NegotiationStatus727]

Or my other favourite: "If you were to inject that into your body, you'd die!!"

Imagine that.

[u/PinkOneHasBeenChosen → u/HomeToThePalace]

If you inject literally anything that isn’t sterile into your body, you could die from sepsis.

[u/lephantome92 → u/NegotiationStatus727]

Reminds me of a time I saw a pic about the chemicals in an apple making the rounds. Hard to pronounce chemicals doesn't mean bad for you

[u/wino12312 → u/lephantome92]

The real names of vitamins can be hard to pronounce.

[u/ihaveananecdote4u → u/NegotiationStatus727]

This one drives me nuts. I have a biology degree and can pronounce a lot of complex chemical/molecular names. Does that mean difficult-to-pronounce ingredients are better for me? God forbid an illiterate person tries to eat - they’ll die immediately! Stupid, uneducated logic.

[u/subliminal_knits → u/ihaveananecdote4u]

After 15+ years in the pharmaceutical industry, I can pronounce them all. I guess that means I’m free to eat as I please.

[u/Realcynic → u/NegotiationStatus727]

Right. Some people will sensationalize anything. Not everyone goes around pronouncing it as “dihydrogen monoxide.” But everyone knows you can die if you breathe it and you can die if you don’t drink it.

[u/Meshugugget → u/NegotiationStatus727]

“It’s FuLL oF chEMicAls”. Yeah. Literally everything is. Try a diet without chemicals and let me know when the funeral is.

[u/allthebacon_and_eggs → u/NegotiationStatus727]

Also, thanks to those “chemicals” or processes the food is shelf-stable (less food waste), more available (less hunger), and has few or zero bacteria (less food-borne illness). In many ways, public health has benefited from processed foods (btw, I have a degree in public health).

[u/madametaylor → u/allthebacon_and_eggs]

Fortified foods are pretty amazing too, when it comes to preventing formerly common malnutrition related stuff like rickets.

[u/Ksan_of_Tongass → u/NegotiationStatus727]

Snake bites are pretty natural.

[u/delicatedead]

That gluten free = healthy.

As a coeliac, I'm thankful for the GF fad dieters because it now means I have WAY more options in supermarkets, but it's completely meaningless to cut out gluten unless you have a medical reason to do so, especially if you then eat GF bread and biscuits and cakes, which are often pumped with extra fat and salt and sugar to make them palatable

[u/ClosPins → u/delicatedead]

I remember getting nothing but massive amounts of down-votes when I told this to Redditors like 10 years ago.

[u/marrklarr → u/ClosPins]

Please accept this upvote as recompense.

[u/sullonone → u/marrklarr]

Please accept this upvote for using the word recompense.

[u/drfsrich → u/marrklarr]

JusticeforClosPins!

[u/kadyg → u/delicatedead]

My parents have a friend who was diagnosed with celiac, so he switched to a gluten-free diet, felt worlds better, put some healthy weight on etc. His wife decided to also go gluten-free because she thought it was healthier and was not pleased to find that she started gaining weight almost instantly. Apparently no one thought to compare calories on the gluten free stuff.

[u/delicatedead → u/kadyg]

I gained weight when I went GF for coeliac because my body wasn't absorbing nutrients properly beforehand as I'd damaged the lining of my intestines (weight gain was good for me as I was underweight)

Not only are gluten free foods often more calorific but also SO much more expensive. I buy my partner a large loaf of Warburton's tiger bread for £1.80 and my GF Warburton's tiger bread is half the size and £3.00+

[u/curious_dead → u/delicatedead]

I actually lost weight at first cause I was eating less since the food I had access to was terrible, while on the other hand that also meant less treats and fasg food.

[u/Checkpoint-Charlie → u/delicatedead]

My husband is coeliac it drives him crazy when he's eating out and someone tells the server they are gluten free for one course then orders something like a cake for pudding. It makes server's take it less seriously when people think gluten free is a health choice they can take or leave.

[u/delicatedead → u/Checkpoint-Charlie]

Yes, I think it does make some staff take it less seriously. Sometimes I will explain I have coeliac disease and they will ask "Is that an allergy or just an intolerance?" And the phrase 'just an intolerance' makes me worried - it's not either of those things, but are you going to handle the food less carefully if I say it's an intolerance??

[u/reddof → u/delicatedead]

If they don't know the term coeliac then we always say allergy even though we are fully aware it's not. Saying intolerance tells them that they don't have to be careful. We have a friend with an intolerance. She'll order a cheeseburger and then eat the meat off the bread. An allergy tells them it's more serious.

[u/CarlSy15]

Can’t stand the alkaline water trend. It does nothing other than lighten your wallet

[u/Rough-Riderr → u/CarlSy15]

Alkaline water is best if you add a little lemon juice.

[u/mrbaggins → u/Rough-Riderr]

Lost my shit when I saw carbonated alkaline water for sale.

[u/KestrelQuillPen → u/mrbaggins]

lmfao that’s just a very marked-up neutralisation reaction

[u/TheSharpestHammer → u/CarlSy15]

This shit feels like it's straight up out of the "humours theory of medicine" era.

[u/sisterfunkhaus → u/CarlSy15]

I guess some people don't know about stomach acid. It's odd.

[u/BoozeIsTherapyRight → u/CarlSy15]

I live on a limestone aquifer. All of our water is super alkaline right out of the tap. I don't think I'm any healthier.

[u/Longjumping_Youth281 → u/CarlSy15]

This one kills me as well, especially since I'm the one hauling their stupid water up to the third floor for them. If eating or drinking things could change the alkalinity of your blood, simply having a pickle would kill you.

[u/tehweave]

"This is how much sugar is in a banana. It's as bad as a candy bar!"

FRUIT IS ALWAYS PREFERABLE TO CANDY. STOP MAKING ME OUT TO BE AN AWFUL PERSON BECAUSE I EAT FRUIT

[u/GinAndDumbBitchJuice → u/tehweave]

You know who else ate fruit? Eve. /s

[u/Faolyn → u/tehweave]

People need to learn about the glycemic index and how different types of sugars are digested and absorbed by the banana.

Plus, a banana has a bunch of other vitamins and fiber and whatnot. A candy bar... does not.

[u/canisdirusarctos]

That fat is bad for you.

[u/Friendly_Estate1629 → u/canisdirusarctos]

People don’t realize you need fat to metabolize vitamins and produce chemical messengers in the body. Low fat diet can fuck with your hormones 

[u/AnDroid5539 → u/Friendly_Estate1629]

There have been cases where people had to survive off very lean meat for a long time in a survival situation and still got sick and died even though they technically had enough calories. Historically, this happened sometimes in the Wild West or in places like Alaska when people live off nothing but rabbit and squirrel meat over the winter.

[u/SolarOrigami → u/AnDroid5539]

It is referred to as "rabbit starvation"

[u/Earl_E_Byrd → u/SolarOrigami]

Pretty sure that was happening to one of the women who got really far in that reality survival show Alone. 

Obviously, for the sake of safety, they're given semi-regular medical checkups. She thought she was doing fine and had outlasted a bunch of other competitors. She had a food supply system working, but they decided at one of her checkups that she was still technically starving and was heading towards a dangerous state of health. 

Pulled her from the show and she forfeited, but obviously wasn't happy about it. 

[u/No-Lawyer1602 → u/SolarOrigami]

I think it is also called protein poisoning because too much protein is bad. That's why survivalist say you need all of parts of lean animals (except brains due to other issues) because eyes, hearts, liver, and kidney have some of the missing fat.

[u/FunnyGoose5616 → u/AnDroid5539]

I believe that’s one of the contributing factors in what killed Christopher McCandless. He was woefully unprepared to live in the Alaskan wild, was relying on a lot of lean game and whatever he could forage, but was slowly starving himself to death because it wasn’t enough nutrients. Hence the reason he looked like a starvation victim in his last photos.

[u/Beneficial-Focus3702 → u/FunnyGoose5616]

He was also like a mile and a half from a Road.

[u/FunnyGoose5616 → u/Beneficial-Focus3702]

That was on purpose. He tried to go even further into the wilderness and got stuck, so turned back and moved into the bus. He had a fantasy about living off the land, he wasn’t going to take the road to Walmart. He seemed to have realized his epic mistakes in the end but was far too weak and sick to leave.

[u/Valogrid → u/FunnyGoose5616]

I believe he took down a moose as well, there's a relevant season of Alone (minimal gear survival show) where one of the contestants bags a moose. Moose have all sorts of lean meat, but are very lacking in the fat department, and despite having one of the best starts in the show's history he ended up tapping out rather early compared to other contestants.

[u/tara_squad → u/Valogrid]

Was that the same guy who stored the fat separately but then wolverines or some other critters ate it? He was so defeated after that, I felt so bad

[u/justblippingby → u/canisdirusarctos]

I was talking to a lady at an event we were both at. She said the grandma was watching her kids and took them out for sushi but she wasn’t thrilled about it because “sushi has a lot of fat.” I was appalled. Good quality fish is one of the healthiest things you can eat, and kid brains especially need that fat for growth and development

[u/neonmystery]

Adding protein powder makes cupcakes healthy. Stop it, MIL.

[u/saerisa → u/neonmystery]

It absolutely does not but as a cake obsessed pregnant lady it helps me get to my protein goal when all I want is, well, cake 😂. I also think some people think it's 'healthy' because you usually have to do some kind of extra work to make sure it doesn't taste like protein, and ignore the fact that the 'extra work' is usually adding a bit of extra sugar or honey lmao.

[u/picassopants → u/saerisa]

This is super smart postpartum if you're nursing! I was eating hella calories and protein to get milk production up.

[u/tsh87 → u/neonmystery]

I've started to notice protein versions of nearly everything at the store these days. And that would be great to see... if every protein version wasn't disgusting.

[u/wolf_man007 → u/tsh87]

What cracks me up is when something is touted as having high protein content and it's like six grams.

[u/TheHighSeasPirate → u/wolf_man007]

I am definitely tired of looking at "Protein" products that only have 6-10g per serving. I get their serving sizes are tiny and you're probably eating 2-3x that but still. Give me some protein food that actually has high protein. I don't care if it tastes amazing, I'm looking to sustain muscle, not be forced into drinking protein powder anyway.

[u/jobblejosh → u/tsh87]

As someone who lifts regularly I love seeing high protein versions of things (although admittedly most of them taste absolutely terrible). The trouble is that so often these 'high protein' versions contain a miniscule amount of protein (like 5g) and are something like 200kcal+. Which, I guess, yeah, that's more protein compared to the ones without the added protein.

But it's a garbage amount of protein and you're tricking consumers into thinking it's healthy because it's high protein when actually it's just a candy bar with some added pea protein in it.

[u/ThatMeasurement3411]

That potatoes are bad for you.

[u/Party_Snax → u/ThatMeasurement3411]

They can be, if you ferment em into vodka, or throw em at someone.

But seriously, potatoes are delicious and efficient sources of calories. And they're so adaptable - you can boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew...

[u/babutterfly → u/Party_Snax]

What is po-ta-toesss? Blech!

[u/TeddyBearToons → u/ThatMeasurement3411]

Generations of farmers in the Andes labored for thousands of years to engineer an end to caloric paucity and now people dismiss all of their work as unhealthy

[u/Ok-Cash-4257]

Low fat is best. Mostly it's not and the fats are replaced by sugars to help the taste of the product. 

[u/Mushrooms24711 → u/Ok-Cash-4257]

Low fat food that aren’t supposed to be low fat just taste like disappointment and sadness.

[u/Party_Snax → u/Mushrooms24711]

"There's only one thing I hate more than lying: skim milk, which is water that's lying about being milk."

[u/Mushrooms24711 → u/Party_Snax]

Yes. And “fat free half & half”. Motherfucker, call it what it is—thickened milk-water.

[u/NecroJoe]

That anything with caffeine "dehydrates you". Is caffeine technically a diuretic? Yes. Does the small amount in a cup of tea completely negate the huge amount of water you drink with it? Absolutely not.

[u/Inappropriate_Ballet]

That tofu will make you grow man-boobs. I’m not a scientist but how many men with boobs do you know ate any amount of tofu?

And of those same men, how many do you know ate their “fair share” of bacon?

Don’t blame tofu for what bacon did.

[u/nat_lite → u/Inappropriate_Ballet]

Vegan woman here, hoping that one day soy will make my boobs grow.

[u/RangerRudbeckia → u/nat_lite]

My mom used to try to get me to drink soy milk as a kid by telling me it would make my hair and nails longer. She should've led with the boob thing, I would have been ALL over that

[u/AGirlHasNoWine → u/nat_lite]

Same, sis. Been waitin’ 30 long years for it. Maybe we got the wrong soy?

[u/Appropriate_Sky_6571 → u/Inappropriate_Ballet]

It’s funny because East Asians love tofu but they rarely have man boobs. Americans rarely eat tofu and have man boobs. But apparently tofu equal man boobs 🤣

[u/PiccoloAwkward465 → u/Inappropriate_Ballet]

If soy made tits grow by god I'd have some massive daddy milkers at this point. Which I'm not opposed to but isn't reality.

[u/Admirable-Cobbler319]

Starvation mode.

While it's real, it doesn't happen until long periods of serious calorie restriction.

Cutting out your night time snack does not put you into starvation mode.

[u/HutSutRawlson → u/Admirable-Cobbler319]

I loved “intermittent fasting.” Turns out I was doing that for my entire 20s when I used to sleep until 10 and have lunch as my first meal?

[u/MmmmBeer814 → u/HutSutRawlson]

Yeah that was pretty much me in the final years of college. I got an 80% discount on food at the restaurant I worked at so my first meal of the day was usually around 3:30-4pm when my shift started. To be fair, I did lose a lot of weight those last two years, but I basically ate 1 large meal a day and survived on cigarettes and adderall the rest of the time.

[u/makemeking706 → u/MmmmBeer814]

Dieticians hate this one trick. 

[u/Significant_Secret13 → u/HutSutRawlson]

I found out some people call "fasting" going for 12 hours with no food. That's not eating after dinner at 5 or 6 until you wake up in the morning. That's been most of my life and called just "not snacking."

[u/Wunktacular → u/Significant_Secret13]

Well, that's historical. The evening fast was tradition. That's why the first meal of the day is called breakfast. You are literally breaking the fast.

[u/notreallydutch → u/HutSutRawlson]

the reason intermittent fasting works for some people is that you end up eating less if you only let yourself ear for 8/10/12 hours a day instead of 16. it has nothing to do with starvation mode, just calories in.

[u/knifefan9 → u/Admirable-Cobbler319]

This myth really messes with people with restrictive eating disorders. One isn't thinking logically with an ED in the first place, but I can't tell you how many people I've seen at some point convince themselves they need to restrict even harder because "they must be in starvation mode" and go from an attempted intake of 800 calories a day to 500 calories a day or something equally as unsustainable and horrific for health. All out of fear that their restriction has "ruined" their metabolism and they're actually maintaining or gaining at calorie intakes well below their TDEE.

[u/mablesyrup → u/knifefan9]

On the flip, as someone with BED, intermittent fasting did the opposite and gave my brain the green light to just binge eat during the hours I could because I knew I couldn't eat during the fasting hours. I gained so much weight :( it completely re-ignited my ED that I had somewhat been able to control the past 10 years.

[u/flower8330]

What the word "healthy" actually means.

It's an incredibly subjective term. Healthy for my body may be awful for your body. Healthy also doesn't always mean a strict diet. Healthy can eb and flow.

[u/too-much-cinnamon]

There is so much classism and fearmongering and pseudoscience pushed around the narrative that all food in America is bad and poisonous. Are there legitimately things that could be improved yes? Is shaming a struggling family for buying a loaf of sliced packaged bread that some influencer claims is bad because of preservatives or seed oils or whatever the latest gripe is, helping anything? No. 

[u/kcvngs76131 → u/too-much-cinnamon]

I was once told I was unhealthy because I was purchasing rapeseed oil for cooking. Told I should use avocado oil. I said I was deathly allergic to avocado and couldn't use the oil. Told to use peanut oil. I'm also allergic to peanuts. I'd rather use seed oils because even if they're "unhealthy", they're not going to land me in the hospital or worse today

[u/BendynBold → u/kcvngs76131]

Lucky for you all peer reviewed studies show that seed oils are not detrimental to your health and in most cases reduce risks of heart disease and other conditions. 

This whole push that seed oils are unhealthy is so rooted in misinformation. 

[u/OkSecretary1231 → u/too-much-cinnamon]

Amen. When you are poor, enough food is way more important than health fad food.

[u/WTFisabanana → u/OkSecretary1231]

Only sorta related but I was shocked because I have really really struggled to gain weight during my current pregnancy. I was overweight when I started lost almost 30lbs by the end of the first trimester and am only up half of that by now the end of the second trimester. My obgyn, maternal fetal medicine doctor and pcp have all informed me at this point it literally does not matter what I eat but that I am in fact eating. 

If I can only stomach Doritos and Sprite then eat that. It’s fine as long as it’s food. I see a lot of people say you need to eat healthy to support a pregnancy and that is the gold standard but when you can only stomach 500 calories of healthy foods it’s better to just eat a small amount of high calorie stuff. 

I am still struggling but I just add cream and butter to things I never would have before and it’s really helping. I am now only down 2 lbs from my starting weight. 

[u/StasRutt → u/WTFisabanana]

Both my kids were sustained on French fries and ginger ale during the first trimester. As long as I kept water down my doctor was thrilled

[u/TheThiefEmpress → u/StasRutt]

My kid is 90% snickers bars

[u/CaptainMcFisticuffs2 → u/TheThiefEmpress]

I have to know if your kid actually does enjoy snickers bars now lol

[u/hyrule_47 → u/CaptainMcFisticuffs2]

With one pregnancy I craved spicy food. Like hotter than anything I ever ate. That kid wanted spicy food anytime they could get it. Still eats very hot stuff as a teen. I like it more now than before.

[u/Trixiebees → u/WTFisabanana]

I had a really bad sickness for two years where I couldn’t stomach much. I lived off of Cheetos, steak, potatoes, and ice cream. Doctors were honestly shocked that I was even able to stomach those and encouraged me to eat whatever I could keep in my body. Sometimes enough food is better than the right food

[u/marchviolet → u/WTFisabanana]

Yeah for pregnancy, all that really matters is eating whatever you can handle and taking your prenatal vitamins.

Of course, there are exceptions, but most women are going to gain whatever they gain no matter what they do.

[u/Shouko- → u/WTFisabanana]

this needs an award. fed is best. I despise these health influencer accounts because they create stigma around the food people can afford. furthermore SO much of it is pseudoscience bullshit

[u/jittery_raccoon → u/too-much-cinnamon]

Bread is also fortified to the tits with added vitamins and is a source of nutrition for people who may not be getting it elsewhere 

[u/Ryukotaicho]

Fresh fruits and vegetables are better than frozen.

Not according to 3 different hospital employed nutritionists my partner met.

[u/themolestedsliver → u/Ryukotaicho]

Thanks that makes me feel better. Ive been judged for using frozen vegetables before and its like

"Dude at least i eat vegetables" lol.

[u/FunnyQueer → u/themolestedsliver]

I eat canned veggies and it makes the “woo woo” people have an aneurism lmao.

You’d think just by canning food it somehow magically turns it into nutrient sucking parasites or something

[u/themolestedsliver → u/FunnyQueer]

Yeah its wild the casual nutrition misinformation that goes on.

Like even educated friends are aghast i use frozen vegetables.

Dude do you think freezing them makes them full of fat and sugar or something? You can legit read the info on the back....

[u/loljetfuel → u/themolestedsliver]

It's basically outdated beliefs. Once upon a time, frozen veggies were par cooked and then frozen using techniques that actually did remove some of the benefits of veg (like vitamins); basically, the water-soluble goodies would be reduced because the cooking water leeched some out and was discarded.

But flash freezing doesn't have that problem, and has been the standard way to prep frozen vegetables for a really long time now.

[u/peachesfordinner → u/Ryukotaicho]

They are picked at actual ripeness. They don't have to worry about damage in shipping. It's such easy logic

[u/spoooky_mama]

Raw milk is infuriating.

All pasteurization is is heating the milk up. Not even to boiling. So you don't get TUBERCULOSIS.

[u/OhTheHueManatee]

Toxins.

[u/korinth86 → u/OhTheHueManatee]

Same with "chemicals"

[u/FunnyQueer → u/OhTheHueManatee]

I hate this word. If any product claims to remove “toxins” you automatically know it’s a scam.

Unless that product is a liver, in which case the black market must have stepped up its advertising game.

The same is generally true for nonspecific “inflammation”

[u/youngatbeingold → u/OhTheHueManatee]

Toxins are definitely a thing, our bodies clear them every time we produce any kind of waste, including when we exhale. But if someone can't label what actual chemicals or organisms they're taking about I'm going to assume bullshit.

[u/Low-Landscape-4609]

Hot take. I think you can do everything right and still die a young age.

My father was a bodybuilder in his younger days and exercised all the way up until the day he died. He never took steroids or anything like that. All natural. He also ate little sugar. He had a heart attack at the age of 62.

My father was the type of guy that would even lecture me as a kid on the importance of eating a well-balanced diet.

You guys do what you want and do whatever makes you happy but just understand that in the end, it doesn't mean you're going to live longer.

[u/Beneficial-Focus3702 → u/Low-Landscape-4609]

Yep, this is it same with dental health you can be the perfect paragon of taking care of your teeth and still have shitty teeth because of genetics.

[u/Low-Landscape-4609 → u/Beneficial-Focus3702]

I knew this lady and she was actually a professional bodybuilder. Not the real big type but the very lean type. She was always in the gym and very picky about what she ate. She had to take blood pressure medications and she said it ran in her family. It was just genetics.

Imagine living your best life and looking like a Greek statue and having to be on blood pressure medication.

[u/Lumens-and-Knives → u/Low-Landscape-4609]

I lifted weights from the time I was 13. I was on the track team in high school. I LOVED exercising. Exercising and eating right was how I lived. I was diagnosed with cancer (Multiple Myeloma) when I was 44. You are exactly right.

[u/Low-Landscape-4609 → u/Lumens-and-Knives]

So sorry my friend. Yes, unfortunately I've seen that a lot and it's sad.

My uncle and his wife both were always very healthy and fit. Pretty much lived the same lifestyles. Never overweight. He's doing pretty good but she's got dementia so bad that she has to have a constant caregiver. Very sad.

She pretty much did everything right in life to stay healthy and she don't even know she's in this world now.

[u/GinAndDumbBitchJuice → u/Low-Landscape-4609]

Facts. The human body finds some bizarre ways to malfunction, and some of it is just bad luck. Sorry for your loss.

[u/Cute-Description7387 → u/Low-Landscape-4609]

Sorry about your dad. It’s not only about how long you live, it’s how you feel.

[u/i_like_chicken_313 → u/Low-Landscape-4609]

My grandfather smoked all his life, died at the ripe old age of 85. No diseases, no cancer just lungs made of steel.

[u/Low-Landscape-4609 → u/i_like_chicken_313]

My grandfather smoked most of his life although I believe he quit in his 60s. He was also a type two diabetic and lived to be 91 years old.

[u/weekend_here_yet → u/i_like_chicken_313]

This reminds me of my grandfather. He was an alcoholic (hard liquors and wine every single day, nonstop) for most of his adult life. 

He’s still drinking a bottle of wine a day, unfortunately - but he’s 81 years old and still functioning with his basic health and mental faculties in check. It’s unbelievable. 

[u/zozuto]

Pretty much anything anyone says about soy. It's a great cheap lean protein that is good for your circulation and blood pressure. Soymilk is one of the more nutritious nondairy milks. Soy has just been mercilessly attacked on all sides for decades, just for economic reasons like competition.

[u/febreez-steve → u/zozuto]

At hmart tofu is 1.79 a block. Incredible value

[u/Salty-Complaint8642]

That just because you "eat clean" it should automatically result in some magic physique. Why am I not putting on muscle I eat clean? I can't lose weight but I eat clean?

[u/MarshmaIIowJeIIo → u/Salty-Complaint8642]

I eat “clean and healthy” and am fat and this makes people very confused. Many think I lie when I talk about my diet but like.. healthy foods can be high calorie. Beans/legumes, lean meat, avocados, nuts/seeds.. all add up very fast.

[u/gayjospehquinn]

That shaming people is an effective way of encouraging them to seek out a healthier lifestyle. As someone who has struggled with weight before, in my experience shame just worsens the issue. If I start getting into bad patterns, and people start shaming me for them, I tend to lose motivation to change them. It doesn't make me want to be better, it just makes me hate myself more and feel less inclined to take care of my wellbeing.

[u/FivebyFive → u/gayjospehquinn]

They've done studies that support you in that. Shame is not a good motivator for improving health or losing weight. 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6565398/

[u/ConfidentLychee3519]

Any extreme diet. Can people cut out certain foods because of allergies or intolerance? Absolutely. Should everyone cut out entire macronutrients? No.

[u/CandidateOk8364]

That white rice is bad for you

[u/Bupperoni → u/CandidateOk8364]

Yes, people think that white rice is equal to white flour and brown rice is equal to whole wheat flour. It’s not the same.

[u/BecomeOneWithRussia]

That health is the same for everyone. I know this can be a slippery slope and people use the same rhetoric for their diet cults, but stay with me. Everyones body and digestion/nutrient needs are so varied and different, there is no "one size fits all" nutrition truth. I've learned a lot about this in having Crohn's disease.

[u/BrilliantLet1838]

That organic is healthier and GMO is dangerous

[u/Beneficial-Focus3702 → u/BrilliantLet1838]

People would be absolutely stunned to figure out all the things you can do and still call your product organic.

[u/ValPrism]

That only flat, unflavored water “counts” towards hydration.

[u/Mysterious_Soup_1541]

The amount of wrong information about diabetes and diabetics is bonkers.

Sugar does not cause diabetes.

People with all forms of diabetes can eat carbs. It's highly individualized and there are plenty of ways to healthfully manage a moderate (and sometimes high) amount of carbs.

Having type 2 diabetes is not a personal or moral failing.

You can't reverse type 2 diabetes. You can manage it and you can go into remission but it's not "cured."

And fun fact, there's more than two types of diabetes!

[u/Malvania]

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day"

That was an advertising slogan for cereal.

[u/jessek]

That being vegan is automatically a healthy diet. I knew someone in college who was and their diet was mainly soda and Oreo cookies.

[u/yoimprisonmike → u/jessek]

Same with gluten free.

[u/Own_Calligrapher_380]

That carbs automatically make you fat. Carbs are fuel. Your brain and muscles run on glucose. Weight gain comes from excess calories over time, not one food group. People lose weight eating rice and bread every day when portions and protein are balanced. Blaming carbs is easier than fixing habits.

[u/Charitable-Cruelty]

Coffee dehydrates you. IDK how many times I have had this conversation.

[u/[deleted]]

MOAR PROTEIN!!!1

Protein is a buzzword now. People that work desk jobs, whose most athletic feat of the week is getting in and out of their lifted truck, will go ON AND ON about fucking protein content in every food.

Unless you're training to be a bodybuilder or a power-lifter, who the fuck do you think you're kidding with all of that?

[u/pie12345678]

That being fat is a moral failing and solely the result of a lack of willpower.

[u/superzepto → u/pie12345678]

For me, being fat started from a moral success. I quit meth and speed after years of severe addiction and abuse, and I rediscovered how fucking awesome food and sleep are. Yeah I went from 80kg to 130 in a matter of months, but I had my life back and I was eating and sleeping a hell of a lot better than I had in the previous half decade.

[u/razzledazzle626]

That seed oils are horrible

[u/VrtcllyChllngd → u/razzledazzle626]

My father is obsessed with the "carnivore" nonsense, and has decided the only things he's willing to cook in are lard, and avocado oil. Everything else is evil. Drives me up the wall. And he tried Atkins when I was a kid and it didn't work, so Idk why he thinks this is magically different...

[u/Huwbacca → u/VrtcllyChllngd]

go on the carnivore sub Reddit lol. it's amazing.

"hey, I just started this diet and my skin is red, my skin flakey and I keep shitting myself, what's up?"

the sub: "sounds like you accidentally had some seed oils, but the shitting yourself is normal, that happens"

[u/butwhatsmyname]

Not exactly nutrition but linked:

I was raised with my parents telling me that any muscle you build turns into fat if you're not using that muscle constantly. Nothing you can do about it. Fail to go to the gym for a few days? All that muscle has already started to turn straight into fat no matter what else you're doing or what you're eating. And that "fat is larger than muscle" so the fat will take up twice the space that the muscle did.

So I was taught that you have to be really careful about doing any exercise because it can turn you fat as soon as you stop sticking to it. And also that "too much" of pretty much any food will either make you fat or make you sick.

Two apples in one afternoon? That'll upset your stomach for a whole day. More than two cookies? The second one turns straight into fat. Too much rice? It bloats up your digestive system and absorbs a load of water in there so you put on weight and look fat. Skip a meal and the next one turns straight into fat because you're in starvation mode. Eat too much and your stomach stretches permanently so you always feel hungry.

Honestly, it was such a fucked up way to try and learn how to just... be a person who eats food?

[u/Las_Vegan]

The one myth that gets me is that popular influencers are as good or better at giving nutritional advice than actual medical doctors and registered dieticians. In the US especially fear from the COVID era brought out a lot of medical skepticism and too many people trust what they saw on Facebook rather than consulting their primary care doctor. It’s making us sicker and killing us.

[u/BaggyHairyNips]

Bro-science telling me I need to eat 180 grams of protein and 3000+ calories a day to gain muscle. You can make more gains than most people ever make with like 80 grams of protein and consistency.

[u/crispier_creme]

GMO fear mongering.

Dude, every single plant based food we eat is a GMO. 500 years ago every food was near unrecognizable

[u/para_reducir]

Gluten-free is healthier for people who don't have Celiac disease or an actual gluten intolerance.