You may have tried your best to lose weight, but have not seen the results you desire. The important thing is that you are continually trying to eat nutritionally beneficial foods and increase your health and mobility.
In your goal to lose weight, you have probably researched nutritional considerations. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of misinformation out there and determining what nutritional advice to take can become a real challenge.
This blog looks at some of the nutritional “lies” that many of us believe – lies that can sabotage your weight loss.
- Protein from dairy products can cause bone decalcification.
We have read this on the Internet and heard it on the news: protein from dairy and animal foods makes the blood more acidic and facilitates the release of calcium from bones and its excretion in the urine, leading to bone decalcification. However, studies have disproven this. Not only is calcium from dairy absorbed, but also its increased concentration in the urine of those who eat dairy is a direct consequence of the greater calcium concentration in their body. In short, protein from dairy products does not cause bone decalcification.
Some of my clients are lactose intolerant, a condition that makes it difficult to digest milk. If this is the case with you, I will work with you to help you get a balanced diet that provides the calcium you need from non-dairy foods.
- Large, rapid weight loss is associated with poorer long-term weight outcomes than slow, gradual weight loss is.
For years, there has been a commonly held belief that losing weight slowly is better for obesity prevention. Recently, this common nutritional belief was scientifically disproven. Weight-loss trials showed more rapid and greater initial weight loss predicted lower body weight at the end of a long-term follow-up. Another analysis comparing the effects of a rapid weight loss (by very low energy regimens) with a slower weight loss found no significant difference between the two regimens with respect to weight loss at the long-term follow-up. Although it is not clear why some obese people have a greater initial weight loss than others, the recommendation to lose weight slowly to obtain a greater and more sustained weight loss is not scientifically supported. Maybe the claim that you should lose weight slowly aims at keeping you involved weight loss programs for as long as possible!
All of us lose weight at different rates. Let me help you design a diet specifically for you that will help you lose weight and keep it off.
- Many reliable tests can detect food intolerances.
Adverse food reactions that cannot be explained by routine allergy tests and that are not categorized as celiac disease or lactose intolerance are generally named “food intolerances.” The problem is that there is no valid test for their diagnosis. In spite of this fact, many companies claim their tests can help people find those specific foods causing them trouble. This is absolutely only a commercial gimmick, and these tests should be avoided.
Follow this method for detecting food intolerances:
- Keep a record of everything you eat – Do so for a few weeks and note any symptoms you develop in response to certain foods.
- Begin eliminating suspected food allergens from your diet – Eliminate foods one at a time to determine when the symptoms begin to lesson.
- Begin reintroducing suspect foods – After a few months, you may be able to begin reintroducing suspect foods into your diet.
- Watch for improved tolerance to suspect foods – You may find you have developed tolerance to foods that previously bothered you.
If you have food intolerance, I will help you design a diet that eliminates foods that cause you trouble and still provides you the nutritional content you need.
- Nutritional supplements can protect against cancer risk.
Nutritional supplements are another huge business making the hidden dream of the pharmaceutical industries come true – making clients out of not only sick people, but also (and particularly!) healthy ones. Although supplements are considered “foods” by the European legislations, I think they should be considered instead pharmaceutical products. Particularly since the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) stated, after the publication of a report summarizing an extensive literature search on the scientific evidence on diet and cancer, that supplements do not protect against cancer. Not only that, but at high doses, they can even increase the risk of getting this terrible disease! This seems enough to recommend using them only in the presence of proven nutritional deficiencies.
You do not need to take nutritional supplements for health or weight loss. My clients achieve success through programs that not only provide weight loss, but also meet their nutritional needs.
- Plant antioxidants are Mother Nature’s drug cabinet.
Directly connected to the previous topic, the antioxidant theory – that we must consume foods high in antioxidants to stay healthy – has been reiterated by almost all nutritionists. However, there are reasons to believe that this theory is flawed, and the conviction that antioxidants have several beneficial health effects should be reconsidered. In particular, the most important faults of this theory are:
- The concentration of antioxidants from food reaches very low levels in the organism—much lower than natural antioxidants.
- In the specific case of flavonoids (plant metabolites thought to provide health benefits through cell signaling pathways and antioxidant effects), their intestinal absorption has been shown to be very low, and the blood concentration is made even lower by their metabolization.
- The increase in the antioxidant ability of blood after an antioxidant-rich meal seems to be mostly due to an increase in urate levels, a substance whose production is stimulated by some sugars contained in fruits and vegetables.
- Not all oxidative processes in organisms should be prevented because they damage. Some of them might be the way healthy cells communicate with each other or a mechanism to destroy cancer or virus-infected cells.
Based on the above, why should you increase your antioxidant intake?
Your goal to eat nutritionally beneficial foods and increase your health and mobility can be realized. You do not need to avoid dairy, search the food isles for products rich in antioxidants, or take supplements. You do not have to take tests to determine food allergies or worry about how fast or slow you are able to lose weight.
Instead, I will help you find out the reasons you cannot lose weight. I will turn these reasons into personal triumphs while you maintain a positive perspective. As your personal health coach, I will help you achieve a healthy, happy weight.
My programs are designed for the individual who needs to address specific weight loss and health concerns. Additionally, they are designed to give you continuing support to stay healthy for your entire life.
When you are ready to learn more about being healthy and finally start losing weight, please reach out to me and book a coaching session on Skype! Why wait? Contact me today!
