29/06/2022 20:35
Just because Jonny 8 pack says to do something on his paid Instagram post doesn't mean it is gospel.
In this article, I have bust common myths, debunked common misconceptions and simplified the science.
Contact me with any that you want to be covered by emailing here.
Eating carbs after 7pm will make me fat
This has been proposed on the basis that after 7pm you have limited time to "burn" the calories consumed and that the spike in insulin from the carbs will cause you to store them as body fat.
Well, this really isn't true. There are numerous factors at play here.
Eating carbs after 7pm CAN make you fat if you are eating in a calorie surplus. But it is not specifically the carbs, it is the overall positive energy balance that you have accrued.
If your goal is to lose weight, you need to restrict calories from somewhere in your diet. This could be from removing them from the evening meal, or it could be from the other meals of the day. It could also be from fat or carbs or protein (although cutting protein is not advised).
Eating carbs in the evening can provide benefits in terms of increased satiety, increased mood, reduction in cravings (due to you actually eating a proper meal rather than limp salad you try to call dinner) and better sleep.
It also has to do with what you have done that day.
If you have just crushed a 60-minute training session, cycled home and did 15000 steps that day, then your body is primed to store those carbs after 7pm as glycogen....not fat.
If you sat on the tube, sat at your desk all day, got the train home and haven't exercised in 2 months, then ploughing through 300g of pasta may cause a little body fat gain!
Look at the context.
The type of carbohydrate may also play a role. If it is a sole carbohydrate in a large quantity such as glugging 500ml of fruit juice, then this may not be the best option, but if you have cooked and cooled the carb (increasing resistant starch), or it is paired with a good helping of protein, some fats and a tonne of veg, then the insulin response will probably be lower, resulting in less being stored as body fat.
It’s also important to consider meal timing in combination with other factors, such as circadian rhythms. Eating late at night is linked to disrupted circadian rhythms for some people, which will affect sleep, and sleep is a huge factor when it comes to weight.
Artificial sweeteners cause gut issues / cause cancer blah blah blah
Short answer, no they don't.
The reason? The studies that every dweeb and holistic health coach quote are done on rats or use an amount of sweetener that is roughly 200x what you normally would consume. Bascially, you would have to consume around 21 cans of diet coke a day to reach the levels that are seen in the research to cause issues.
And we are not rats!
Limiting your intake is sensible but this naturally happens when you eat whole foods.
Listen to this podcast on the topic and check out the reference list if you really wanna geek out.
You need to eat within 30 minutes of your workout
This is the thing with the post-workout window....you do not need to but it is a tool in the toolbox that can be used in certain situations
See the anabolic window is not a myth. It exists.
Let me try and simplify what is going on. Imagine each cell in the body has gates that let things in and out. When we exercise these gates open allowing us to shuttle nutrients into the cell. The gates slowly start to close after we stop exercising.
MYTH - The actual myth is that the gates close in 30 minutes and that anything eaten after this does not get used. This is untrue and is very much dependent on the volume, intensity and type of exercise.
The gates will still be open for upto 48 hours after a strenuous bout of exercise. Remember meeting the total daily intake of protein, preferably with evenly spaced protein feedings (approximately every 3 h during the day), should be viewed as a primary area of emphasis for exercising individuals, opposed to nailing a shake within 30 minutes after your session (REF).
To maximise glycogen replenishment, consuming carbohydrates in this window is advised.
To maximise muscle glycogen replenishment, it is important to consume a carbohydrate supplement as soon after exercise as possible. Consume 1.2 to 1.5 g of carbohydrate per kg of body weight.
Efficiency of muscle glycogen storage can be increased significantly with the addition of protein to a carbohydrate supplement (~4 to 1 carbohydrate to protein ratio). The addition of protein to a carbohydrate supplement also has the added advantage of limiting post exercise muscle damage and promoting muscle protein accretion. (REF)
Times to concern yourself with the post-workout window -
- If you are training again that day
- If you have a high training volume the next day
- If you are looking to gain muscle and strength
- You feel that your recovery is suffering and you are constantly sore
The key points to focus on in terms of nutrition are
- Overall protein intake across the day
- Intake of micronutrient-rich foods. Veggies, fruits, good quality carb and fat sources
- Eating enough calories to support your level of training and body composition goals
Nutrient timing is a strategy you can use when need to maximise glycogen replenishment and protein synthesis. Focusing on the 3 key elements above is more than adequate for most people.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day
No specific meal is more important than the others. If you nail your breakfast and the rest of your meals are simialr to a student who has blown their entire loan on alcohol and a laptop then you are missing the wood for the trees.
See you don’t need to eat breakfast to be healthy or lose weight. Intermittent fasting is a great strategy that can. beused at certain times. Check out this article for my opinion on fasting. You should base your breakfast consumption on your preferences and personal goals.
People that champion breakfast often refer to observational studies showing that, on average, breakfast skippers have a higher BMI. Some people will compensate for all the calories they skipped at breakfast later in the day, while others won’t feel cravings of the same magnitude.
It is about personal preference!
Here is a really cool article on is it actually that bad to skip breakfast.
Don't hate the white potato!
Often labelled as “unhealthy” by those in the nutrition world, white potatoes are restricted by many people wanting to lose weight or improve their overall health.
While eating too much of any food — including white potatoes — can lead to weight gain, potatoes are highly nutritious containing many nutrients, including potassium, vitamin C, and fibre.
They are actually one of the more filling carb sources compared to rice and pasta and can help you feel more satisfied after meals (ref).
If you the only way you are consuming white potatoes as fries then yes to you, white potatoes are unhealthy. This also goes for sweet potato fries.
Awesome infographic from the guys over at Precision nutrition. Always link to their stuff as it would take me so long to produce something that is half as good.
Be very wary of saying a certain food is good or bad. My opinion is that the devil is in the dose.
Yes some people are gluten and / or dairy intolerant. However, just because the local superfood cafe looks at you like you have 3 heads when you ask for whole milk in your flat white, doesn't mean that everyone needs to remove it.
If you look at a typical day of eating you may see that almost all meals contain some form of gluten or dairy -
Breakfast
- Some form of bread / wrap / pastry or cereal = gluten
- Milk, yoghurt, butter are often consumed at this meal in some form
Lunch
- Again some form of bread or wrap. Maybe a pasta or noodle dish. Often we consume breaded foods or ones that have sauces containing gluten
- Do you want cheese with your burrito mate? Yeah, go on then. Milk and cheese are in a lot of sauces and dressing. Another coffee with milk? Dairy is easily included at lunch.
Snacks
- It is always someone's birthday and the cakes / doughnuts / rocky road bites they bring in can jack up your gluten and dairy intake all too easily.
- Snacks bars often contain milk in some form
Dinner
- Pasta, bread, noodles, breaded meat and fish, sauces.....you get the picture.
It is super easy to consume them both or at least one at EVERY MEAL.
For me, this is the issue. See dairy has some incredible health benefits such as providing protein, good fats and micronutrients. A review of 15 randomised controlled trials from 2012 to 2018 found no pro-inflammatory effect of milk or dairy product intake in healthy adults or in adults with overweight, obesity, type 2 diabetes, or metabolic syndrome (REF).
However, people do find that in large doses it causes issues. Likewise with gluten.
Us Brits are not good at portion control either. When we eat pasta or pizza, we are all in! A bowl so big you can stick a flag in it.
Manage your intake by lowering the volume and regularity you are consuming them and see if this helps.
You can turn fat into muscle
Simply put, your body can't turn fat into muscle. And the reverse is also true: Your body can't turn muscle into fat.
It is like saying you can turn a banana into a pineapple. It ain't happening.
Fat and muscle are two different types of tissue, and one cannot be converted directly into the other.
Commonly people who were in shape (like professional athletes or your younger self) will reduce their training load (due to retiring or life getting in the way) and gain weight.
The body doesn't turn their hard earned muscle into fat. What has happened is -
- A loss of muscle mass due to the lower stimulus from training
- Either maintained or increased their calorie intake resulting in a energy surplus
- Increased stress and lack of sleep may now be common place
This results in a LOSS OF MUSCLE and A GAIN IN BODY FAT.
Not a conversion.
We cool?
Cool
You can reset your hormones
CTRL + ALT + DELETE...
Ahh I feel so much better, refreshed and ready to go as I just reset my hormones.
If you hear anyone say this to you, and want to charge you for the privilege, tell them to jog on.
Hormones are in a constant state of flux, there is an incredibly complex interplay between them that is very individual to each of us. You can raise and lower hormone levels, improve the secretion of them and address imbalances through diet, lifestyle changes, food, supplements and sleep but you cannot reset them.
Egg yolks are bad for you
Don't be so stupid. Those people who remvoe the egg yolks and eat the tasteless, dry, sponge like mess that is an egg white omelette are simply doing so becasue of some phobia that the fat in the yolk causes fat gain.
The yolk contains almost all of the nutrients such as choline, b vitamins and zinc with the egg white offering the protein hit.
As you clever sausauges know, it is about overall intake that changes body composition so if removing the yolks helps you manage calories that is cool. But don't do it cos John said they are bad for you.
But Liam, what about cholesterol and cardio vascular disease?
What actually raises and lowers cholesterol is a little misleading. Yes, foods high in cholesterol can increase LDL cholesterol in most people, but to a fairly small extent on average. [REF].
Cholesterol is a naturally occurring substance that is present in all of us and crucial for survival. It’s made by the liver and required by the body for the proper functioning of cells, nerves, and hormones. Cholesterol in our body is present in the form of fatty acids (lipids) that travel through the bloodstream. These particles normally don’t build up in the walls of the arteries, but when inflammation levels go up, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), also known as “bad cholesterol,” builds up in the arteries and dangerously forms plaque clots, cutting off blood flow and setting the scene for a heart attack or stroke.
It is the underlying inflammation with elevated cholesterol levels that seems to be the issue.
A poor diet low in micronutrients, fibre and protein and high in processed foods, sugars, excessive refined carbs and low quality saturated fats can cause inflammation.
There are a tonne of studies have failed to find an increase in cholesterol in egg eaters.[REF, REF, REF]
More to the point, clinical trials found no association between eggs and CVD, [REF][REF][REF][REF].
Bottom line, the media and Instagram dweebs are great at scaremongering us to remove healthy foods. Look at the whole picture before demonising foods.
Fresh food is better than frozen
I used to love an Iceland trip at Uni! And I may have been eating better than I thought.
Protein will cause kidney damage
Much of the concern regarding protein intake and renal health stems from the Brenner hypothesis of 1982. However most of the data cited by Brenner was based on animal models and patients with existing renal disease. Adults with chronic kidney disease are recommended to follow a low protein diet (0.6-0.8 g/kg/d) to reduce the renal load.
Okay cool, but what about high-protein intakes in people with healthy kidneys?
A paper that reviewed dietary protein intakes and renal function concluded: "While protein restriction may be appropriate for treatment of existing kidney disease, we find no significant evidence for a detrimental effect of high protein intakes on kidney function in healthy persons after centuries of a high protein Western diet".
More recent evidence also suggests no adverse effects of high protein intakes in healthy, resistance training individuals (ref). In subjects consuming ~3.3 g/kg/d of protein for ~6 months, no negative effects on kidney function were found. Bear in mind, that intake is 4 times the RDA for protein, yet still, no issues were noted.
All in all, the literature does not support the idea that high protein intakes (>3 g/kg/d) pose any risk to the health of ones kidneys. If you have underlying kidney issues, then a restricted protein diet may be advised.
Creatine causes kidney damage
Whilst I am at it, let's do Creatine and kidney function.
Your Doc may be concerned if you have bloods done and your blood levels of creatinine (a byproduct of energy production) is elevated. This is used as an indicator of kidney function, but elevated levels can be caused by supplemental creatine and are not a sign that your kidneys are underperforming.
No adverse effects on kidney function were found in …
- People with healthy kidneys taking up to 10 grams of creatine per day. Short- and long-term trials are numerous and the results are consistent.
- People with healthy kidneys taking more than 10 grams of creatine per day. Long-term trials are few, however, so caution is warranted (ref).
Creatine is one of the most researched and safest supplements to take.
It may be harder to do so, but it is 100% possible.
This myth has its foundations from a plant-based diet being lower in protein and that plant based foods don't contain complete proteins (all essential amino acids).
Nowadays there are so many better ways to get plant-based protein than say 10 years ago. And you can combine foods to get a complete amino acid profile.
>>CHECK OUT THIS POST ON COMBINING PROTEINS <<
Yes, protein is important for building muscle, but carbs are incredibly important alongside fats and veggies, all of which are super easy to get on a plant-based diet.
And remember without resistance training, ain't no one building muscle.
You need supplements on a vegan diet
Being vegan doesn't automatically equate to having nutritional deficiencies. A aell-planned plant-based diets can fulfil your nutritional needs. That said, certain nutrient requirements may be difficult to achieve through diet and fortified foods alone.
This is especially true for vitamin B12, vitamin D, and long-chain omega-3s.
It's extremely important that we get enough vitamin B12. The only reliable way to achieve this is by eating fortified foods or taking a vitamin B12 supplement.
Vitamin D deficiency is a problem among vegans and meat-eaters alike. Vegans unable to maintain normal blood levels through fortified foods and sun exposure should consider taking a supplement.
Vegans tend to have lower blood and tissue levels of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Therefore, they may benefit from supplementing with EPA and DHA - Walnuts and Flaxseeds probably aren’t enough!
Supplements are not needed, but they may be beneficial to ensure you are performing at your best or to treat any deficiencies that arise.
But of all the vegan clients I have tested, they have been no worse off than meat eaters.
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