There are tons of facts and fables to be found about nutrition, strength training and supplements. The Internet is full of nutrition information, but not everything is true or clearly explained. As a result, a lot of fables have emerged about food in recent years. Unfortunately, (novice) athletes take these lies for truth. That’s why I think it’s important to get them out once and for all. Everyone can handle exercise and healthy eating in the right way and achieve the best results. Curious about stubborn nutrition and fitness fables?
Nutrition and fitness fables
What are the nutrition and fitness fables I’ve heard most recently during my work as a Nutrition Advisor? Below I give you the right information about various myths about nutrition, fitness and supplements.
Carbohydrates make you fat
You’ve probably heard it: your neighbours, colleague, friend, or acquaintance started with the keto diet and since then the kilos have been flying off. When you hear this, it seems like eating fewer carbs is the answer to your problems. However, this is not the case. Carbohydrates don’t make you fat; this only happens if you eat too much of it.
But this also applies to excess fats and proteins, so carbohydrates are not so special at all. Your body has a basic need for calories if you eat more than this need your body will have to store it somewhere. This is done in the form of body fat. Tip: calculate your daily calorie requirements here!
Fact: You don’t have to get fat from carbohydrates, you do get fat from a surplus of calories. This can therefore be caused by too many carbohydrates, but also by too much fat or protein. So you don’t have to avoid carbohydrates when you want to lose weight.
From evening food you arrive.
It is often thought that your body has a kind of clock to know when to eat and not to eat. And when you eat at the ‘wrong’ times, you will arrive.
These thoughts may also be because many people do intermittent fasting. This is a method to eat for a longer period, often 16 hours, fixed and the rest of the day. A common period of time is fasting from 8 p.m. to noon. But they don’t do this at all because it’s bad to eat in the evening!
Intermittent fasting has several health benefits but is also used as a tool to make weight loss easier. So it has nothing to do with the specific time! [1,2]
Fact: It doesn’t matter what time you eat. Again, it’s about your total calorie intake. However, it may be more tempting for you to eat or snack more in the evening. This is different for everyone, but these calories are no different from those you received a few hours before.
Muscles weigh more than fat.
Muscles weigh no more than fat, 1 kilo remains 1 kilo, whether fat or muscle mass. Maybe you used to hear the question; ‘What is heavier 1-kilo lead or 1 kilo of feathers?’, this is the same case.
Of course, there is a difference in muscles and fat. A kilo of muscle mass takes up less space than fat mass. This is probably where this fable comes from, but it’s not true!
Fact: 1 kilo remains 1 kilo, regardless of the material. It may take up less space, but this doesn’t change the total weight.
You need protein shakes to gain muscle mass.
When you go to the gym, you will have heard about protein shakes and good for muscle building. When you train you to create tiny cracks in your muscles, these recover and come back just a little stronger than before. To recover, your body needs proteins. These can be seen as the building blocks of your body.
That’s why many people take a protein shake after exercise – so they make sure they get enough protein. Protein powder has a few benefits; it is easy to carry, has good nutritional value and is cheap. But this doesn’t mean that you have to take a shake after training. You can get your protein from other foods.
Because you see it so much on social media and in the gym, it is sometimes thought that there is something magical about protein powder, but it is just like proteins that you can find in other foods.
Fact: The most important thing is that you meet your protein requirement every day; this does not necessarily have to come from protein powder.
