These days it is very hard to know what to believe in the world of nutrition. Throughout my life, I have been on this journey, and I understand the struggle of not knowing what nutrition beliefs to have nor what decisions to make.
A lot of this has been amplified in my personal life through poor body image, which further manifested into taking the 5 false nutrition beliefs listed below to an extreme.
Unfortunately, I did great damage to my gut and hormones through caloric restrictions, incorrect supplementation, sodium reduction, extreme food elimination, and a diet which consisted of almost no carbs. My nutrition beliefs were based upon what I read from influencers. I did not delve into the research for years.
For the longest time, I did not make the connection between not having a period for two years and my eating habits.
My nutrition beliefs were destroying my health.
Over time, I have done more research and looked into how to better boost my metabolism. Through diligent study I discovered that the nutrition beliefs and food habits that I had in place were in need of rewiring- for my stage in life.
I say this with a grain of salt because in nutrition not everything is black and white, and much is based on an individual’s personal needs.
I encourage you to read the common nutrition beliefs below with an open mind. Do your own research so that you can be innately in tune with your body’s bio-individuality and personal needs.
So without further ado I give you 5 common nutrition beliefs that you need to rewire, and what to do instead.
Nutrition Belief #1: Calorie reduction will lead to weight loss.
Calories in, calories out. This is a familiar phrase- one in which the concept is essentially that if you burn amount of calories that you consume, weight will be lost. I am here to bust that myth today.
When I was younger, this is one of the many nutrition beliefs that led me down a long journey of eating far to little, and ultimately struggling with an eating disorder that obsessed with the amount of calories that I ate, and the amount of calories I burned going on intense runs in the heat of the day.
I had no understanding as to why no matter how hard I tried, my muscles did not get more toned, nor did my stomach get any slimmer. In fact, it only seemed to be holding on to the little fat that I had for dear life.
I had no concept of nutrient density, which far outweighs the importance of calorie intake. In fact, calories should not be demonized the way that they are- calories are absolutely necessary to our body’s survival.
If we are not fueling our body with the energy it needs, and at the same time working ourselves so hard that every ounce left of sodium in our bodies leaks out through sweat, we are not only not serving our bodies- we are doing grave damage to them.
I experienced this damage firsthand. It took me years to understand that the root of my loss of a period (for two-years), dizzy-spells, a period finally coming back with a vengeance that left me unable to get out of bed(after beginning to eat more again), to my anxiety and depression struggles- was the fact that I was not fueling my body properly.
I was so focused on caloric intake I did not understand what I should have been doing instead. I should have been working to rewire my nutrition beliefs.
A 2015 study came out stating that over 75% of adults in affluent countries do not receive an adequate intake of vitamins and minerals. Many factors play into this- processed foods, farming practices, etc.
One large factor, however, is the fact that many adults believe that counting calories is what matters the most in remaining healthy or losing weight- which can ultimately lead to health issues later in life.
You can read through this fascinating study here (please note that this article attacks saturated fats, something which other research supports as being beneficial. You can read my break-down of fats here.
There are also several studies out there that break down the concept of nutrient-dense foods in comparison with calories. It can be seen through research that if somebody prioritizes nutrient-dense foods in their diets, they will not exceed energy allowance.
In other words, prioritizing your body’s nutritional needs instead of caloric needs will ensure that you are not exceeding the amount of calories that your body should eat.
How incredible is that?! So, instead of stressing over every calorie you consume, I encourage you to find food-freedom in nutrient-dense food.
Nutrition Belief #2: Supplements will meet your vitamin and mineral needs
I hate to disappoint anyone out there, but… NOT ALL SUPPLEMENTS ARE CREATED EQUAL, and NOT ALL SUPPLEMENTS ARE BIOAVAILABLE (aka they won’t reach the parts of your body that they need to.)
Take probiotics, for example. Picking any generic probiotic from the store will not do the trick, because often any of the good stuff available in these supplements will die in your stomach acid before truly leaving the pill.
Many supplements also contain additives that will do more harm than the benefits of a supplement will do good, so I would encourage you to read labels before taking any supplement.
Something else to consider is that many minerals depend on other minerals in order to properly perform tasks within your body. I could go into so much detail on this that there could be 6 nutrition beliefs to address!
For example, iron will not work in your body correctly unless you have proper amounts of copper as well. Blindly taking an iron supplement may ultimately throw your body out of whack, unless you factor in your copper levels as well. You can learn more about the iron recycling system by listening to this podcast episode by the Hormonal Healing RD.
The same goes for sodium and potassium. Both are essential electrolytes within the body, but are also depending on the proper ratios of one another.
What is incredible about this is that in nature, vitamins and minerals are often in the proper ratios within foods. For example, beef liver contains both copper and iron to ensure adequate intake of both minerals.
So, before taking supplements always focus on nutrient-dense meals first.
Make sure to talk with your dietician before making any supplemental changes please!
Nutrition Belief #3: Low-sodium diets reduce blood pressure.
Salt is not the enemy, and sodium is absolutely critical to human survival- it is critical to metabolic functions.
In fact, if the body does not receive enough sodium overtime, the body will negatively impact the circulatory system and cause chronic inflammation that leads to many issues like insulin resistance. You can read more on this particular issue here.
With all of the issues that occur at sodium reduction, it is strange to think that low-sodium diets are so highly encouraged.
This springs from the idea that sodium increases blood pressure. However, when looking at study results pertaining to this hypothesis, it can clearly be seen that sodium intake does not automatically increase blood pressure.
In fact, studies actually reveal that 30% of the population will see a slight decrease in blood pressure upon sodium reduction, 50% will see no difference, and 50% will not see any change in blood pressure at all.
This simply goes to show that the low-sodium diet is not a one-size-fits-all for everyone attempting to maintain a stable blood pressure. There is a higher percentage that the blood pressure will actually increase, as shown above. You can read more about these statistics in this study.
Studies in support of a raise in blood pressure tend to have skewed results due to including outliers in the study. You can read more about a breakdown of how these results have been skewed here.
The point is- if sodium does not trend towards raising blood pressure in the vast majority of the population, we should not simply cut it out because processed packages have labels which read, “Low-sodium.” Your own personal minerals must be tested, and you must do diligent research before making any dietary decisions.
If you want a few good places to start, here are two wonderful podcast episodes in which experts in the field of nutrition break down the importance of sodium in your diet.
Here is also a great article that goes into greater depth on what I summarized about sodium above.
You can also read about my breakdown of the importance of salt quality here.
Nutrition Belief #4:Vegetarian and vegan diets are healthier than meat-based diets
This is simply not the case. While I am a huge advocate for bio-individuality and a person’s right to eat what they feel is best for their body, there are simply certain vitamins and minerals that can only be absorbed through the consumption of meat- as this is where they will be in their most bioavailable farm.
One quick example of this would be vitamin K2. Now, vitamin K2 is an essential nutrient, whose job (in simple terms) is to aid in delivering calcium to the skeletal system. If you are into reading the research like me, you can check down a much more complex breakdown of this concept here.
Now, the problem is that many people are deficient in vitamin K2, because they do not consume enough animal products in their diet- which contains the most efficient and bioavailable form of this nutrient.
Deficiency can lead to several calcium-related issues, including calcium building up in the arteries instead of strengthening bones.
Vitamin K2 can be found in liver, eggs, dark meat, and several other animal sources, both in meat and dairy.
This is just one example of a nutrient that is hard to find outside of animal products. This is not a call to tell everyone to change their diets, it is simply stated in order that people may understand that there are major benefits to consuming both animal and plant-based products for the body to process optimal nutrients.
It must be noted that the quality of products matters. It will be difficult to find such abundant nutrients in meat which comes from factory animals. It is important to search for food resources that have been grass-fed and grass-finished. For poultry products, it is important to source from pasture raised products.
Nutrition Belief #5: Plant-based milks are healthier than regular milk.
Milk is believed to be inflammatory, which is why many people do not consume it. If you read this study here, it can be seen that milk is not inherently inflammatory, but instead the state of our gut enzymes will influence our ability to drink milk.
Milk is a product straight from nature, and if sourced from the right places (like regenerative farms or companies that perform minimal processing) can be an excellent source of calcium, phosphorus, macronutrients, B and K vitamins, all essential amino acids, and so much more.
On the other hand, milk substitutes are a man-made drink that will irritate the gut through added additives, preservatives, and the expulsion process.
While nuts in their pure form (preferably soaked for better digestion) can be an excellent souce of nutrients, when processed into milks with long shelf-lifes, they are left with little nutrients and can increase inflammation.
While consuming dairy in mass quantities can cause digestive issues, it has to do with your body screaming at you and saying that something is not right.
This could be that your enzymes are simply not producing what they should be due to dietary habits and lifestyles.
You could have thyroid issues which cause bacterial overgrowth, reducing the production of lactase enzymes,
You could also have a progesterone deficiency.
Often, it is imbalances in the body that cause it to react incorrectly to unprocessed foods from nature. In many cases, these imbalances can be fixed.
I would encourage you to speak with a functional nutritionist, get testing done, or dig into the research as much as you can.
Being wisely rooted in the way out bodies were innately created means that we do more than a simple Google search.
Look past what the mainstream media is saying, I promise there is a whole world to discover.
This is why I love referring you to so many different resources that will explain things in greater depth.
Key Takeaways
So to recap, 5 false nutrition beliefs that you need to rewire are:
- Calorie reduction will lead to weight loss.
- What to do instead: Focus on nutrient density
- Supplements will meet your vitamin and mineral needs.
- Focus on real food first and eliminate processed foods
- Low-sodium diets reduce blood pressure.
- Understand this is more often not the case, so do not jump into it without first getting tested.
- Vegetarian and vegan diets are healthier than meat.
- Focus on both high quality animal and plant products to receive optimal nutrition benefits
- Plant-based milks are healthier than regular milk.
- Try figuring out why your body cannot consume dairy, and then slowly reintroduce it (unless you truly have an allergy of course!).
- Don’t overrun your body with the unhealthy additives in processed plant-based milks. If you simply love the taste, make your plant-based milks at home!
