Diet advice to avoid
Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to your diet. Although many nutritionists happily share theirย best healthy eating secrets, some people still believe bad dieting advice from others. We asked experts to share the worst diet and nutrition advice they’ve heardโand what to do instead.
โLoad up on supplements to burn fatโ
You might need certain vitamin and mineral supplements if youโre not getting them in your diet, but they wonโt magically help you lose weight. โOnce a patient asked me if taking excessive amounts of vitamin E would burn fat, based on information she found on the Internet,โ says registered dietitian Shannon Giese, clinical dietitian at University of Kansas Hospital. But thereโs no scientific evidence behind the claim. Worse, taking unnecessary vitamins could have negative impacts on your health or be dangerous if taken with other medications. Talk to your doctor about which supplements (if any) may be appropriate for you.
โThe fewer calories, the betterโ
Actually, the fewer you consume, the more likely you are to overeat later. โI had one patient, a nurse, who thought a very low-calorie diet was a good idea for losing weight,โ says Samantha Heller, senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Medical Center and author of The Only Cleanse. โShe came into my office and told me she couldnโt climb up a flight of stairs. Other people have passed out in gyms because they thought they couldnโt eat any carbohydrates.โ Fasting can put you in a mental fog and causes your body to go into starvation mode, with your metabolism adjusting accordingly to conserve energy. Also, weight lost during extremely calorie-restricted diets is usually a combination of muscles, fluid, and fatโbut if you overeat later out of starvation, the pounds regained are just fat.
โEliminate carbs! Or fat!โ
Balance, balance, balanceโitโs what nutritionists stress most. โWhen you eliminate either fats or carbohydrates, youโre probably eating way too much of whatโs left over,โ says registered dietitian Kristin Kirkpatrick, manager of wellness nutrition services at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. โIf youโre on a very low-fat diet, youโll probably eat way too many carbohydrates. This can stimulate insulin, which is a fat-storing hormone, and make it difficult to lose weight.โ If you cut out all carbs, you may overeat other food groups, feel sluggish, or become constipated. โYou can modify an entire food group, but you canโt take it away,โ adds Kirkpatrick. For example: Instead of cutting carbs out completely, have one carbohydrate at each meal that is a whole grain (like a corn tortilla or whole-grain bread). Rather than cutting out fat, opt for low-fat dairies and lean meats. (Check out these 50 things your doctor wants you to know about weight loss.)
โA daily tablespoon of coconut oil helps shed poundsโ
Save it for cooking, or one of these beauty uses for coconut oil. โPeople eat tablespoons of coconut oil, thinking itโs a miracle cure for disease or weight loss,โ says Heller. โNot only is there no science to support that, but coconut oil is saturated fat. As far as we know, it has very similar effects of other saturated fats like lard.โ One tablespoon of coconut oil has 12 grams of saturated fat (the American Heart Association recommends limiting saturated fat to no more than 13 grams per day) and 117 calories. Coconut oil does have antioxidants, which may help reduce the risk of disease, but youโre better off getting antioxidants from vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. (Make sure you always have these nutritionist-approved snacks in your bag for when you’re on the go.)
โDetox to lose weight fastโ
Your body cleanses itself 24 hours a day. โThere is no current scientific evidence that suggests juicing, special herbal blends, or other โdetoxesโ cleanse the body of anything,โ says Heller. If you want to get back on track after, say, an indulgent vacation, keep a food diary. โIt sounds simple, but it makes us more mindful so we don’t keep up the โfunโ eating we experienced on vacation,โ adds Heller.
โUse an app to balance exercise with dietโ
You broke a sweat at the gymโcongrats! But that doesnโt mean you can feast with abandon, even if your smartphone says you can. Apps that calculate how many calories you can consume based on your physical activity may cause you to overeat. โApps can sometimes report more calories than you actually burned, and people will say, โYes, I exercised today so now I can have whatever I want,โโ says Kirkpatrick. โI tell clients not to track exercise on apps. When people stop tracking the exercise, they start losing weight.โ
โEat six small meals a dayโ
This may not be a bad idea, based on your lifestyle and your doctorโs recommendations. Small meals throughout the day are sometimes recommended to help keep blood sugar and hunger levels stable. However, one Canadianย study in the British Journal of Nutrition found that splitting a low-calorie diet into six meals rather than three had no effect on weight loss, and related research shows eating six meals a day may actually make you want to eat more. One big reason: What defines โsmallโ varies from person to person. โSometimes when you give this advice to people, and donโt go through whatโs defined as small, it can quickly turn into bad advice,โ says Kirkpatrick.
โHave this food every dayโ
Two words to nix from your vocabulary: cabbage soup. Any diet that puts an excess focus on one foodโlike cabbage soup or even grapefruit with every mealโis likely lacking in vitamins and minerals. โYouโre cutting out a lot of different nutrients that other foods can offer,โ says Giese. โPlus, eating plays an important role in your daily life. These diets can become repetitious and dull, and you want to enjoy your meal plan so you can stick with it.โ (And never buy these 50 unhealthy foods at the supermarket ever again.)
โSwap meals with juice to lose weightโ
That juice is probably loaded with sugar and might leave you hungry, causing you to overeat later. โJuice is one of the most worthless foods on the face of the Earth,โ says Kirkpatrick. โThereโs really no benefit to it, it is high in sugar, and thereโs a benefit to eating and chewing your calories.โ One study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found participants ate about 10 percent less food (corresponding to 70 fewer calories) when they increased chews by 50 percent. By doubling their chewing, they consumed 15 percent less food and 112 fewer calories.
โA big breakfast is importantโ
Breakfast may fuel you for the day, but itโs possible to over-fuel. โTypically when you tell people to have a huge breakfast, it includes a lot of carbohydrates,โ says Kirkpatrick. โPlus, itโs just not great advice to eat a huge amount of anything.โ Instead, opt for a regular-sized breakfast with a good source of protein (important for resisting cravings later in the day), such as Greek yogurt or an egg and bean breakfast burrito. Next, check out the 17 “healthy” foods that actually aren’t that great for you!
- Shannon Giese, RD, LD, clinical dietitian at University of Kansas Hospital
- Samantha Heller, senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Medical Center and author of The Only Cleanse
- Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, manager of wellness nutrition services at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute
- American Heart Association: "Saturated Fat"
- British Journal of Nutrition: "Increased Meal Frequency Does Not Promote Greater Weight Loss in Subjects Who Were Prescribed an 8-week Equi-Energetic Energy-Restricted Diet"
- Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: "Increasing the Number of Chews Before Swallowing Reduces Meal Size in Normal-Weight, Overweight, and Obese Adults"