We all know that a proper and well balanced diet plays a vital role in living a healthy lifestyle and reaching our physique goals. It is important to be aware of some diet and nutritional myths to ensure your not making the most common mistakes which can ultimately hold you back from your goals. Lets look at some of these myths and how you should avoid them!

Myth 1: Eliminate a food group

Many diets out there require you to eliminate certain food groups from your diet and just focus on one or two of them.  Although this sometimes works, your body needs a diverse range of foods from each of the food groups to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Your body requires vitamins, minerals, fats, carbs, and protein to survive, maintain a functioning immune system, and living an overall healthy life. Cutting out certain groups all together can have damaging and harmful effects on your body.

Myth 2: You must eat meat for to get protein

Another common myth is that you can only get protein in your diet through eating meats. While your body needs about 30 grams of protein with each meal, it is important to get those sources from a variety of foods. Where as meats and dairy products, most common forms of protein, are high in sodium and fats, fruits and vegetables can also be used as a source of protein as they commonly have at least one gram of protein in them. Protein shakes are also a viable source when you’re on the go and need a quick meal.

Myth 3: You should eliminate fats

One of the most popular misconceptions is that you should completely eliminate fats from your diet. This is definitely not true. The key is to eliminate bad fats from your diet. Your body needs approximately 50 grams of fat each day to allow for the optimum function of many of the bodies processes. Instead of going for those fast foods and chips, try incorporating foods that are rich in good fats into your diet such as avocados, nuts, fish, and olive oil.

Myth 4: Starve to lose weight

The last one I’m going to talk about today is strongly geared towards women. You do NOT have to starve yourself to lose weight! Again, the key is to include healthy and natural foods into your diet and avoid those fatty and sodium loaded junk foods. Women should never consume less than 1,200 calories a day while men should stay above 1,800 calories. As I mentioned before, your body requires foods from each of the food groups to maintain a healthy state and as long as you are choosing healthy options they will not negatively affect your weight.

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