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Lie # 1: "Saturated Fat Causes Heart
Disease"
- The National Academies' Institute of Medicine recommends adults to get 45-65 percent of their calories from carbohydrates, 20-35 percent from fat, and 10-35 percent from protein. This lopsided ratio is virtually guaranteed to lead you astray, and result in a heightened risk of chronic disease. Most people likely need anywhere from 50-70 percent healthful fats in their diet for optimal health, whereas you need very few, if any, carbohydrates to maintain good health.
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Lie # 2: "Eating Fat Makes You Gain
Weight"
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The low-fat myth may have done more harm to the health of millions than any other dietary recommendation as the resulting low-fat craze led to increased consumption of trans-fats, which we now know increases your risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease — the very health problems wrongfully attributed to saturated fats. It's very important to realize that eating fat will not make you fat! The primary cause of excess weight and all the chronic diseases associated with it, is actually the consumption of too much sugar -- especially fructose, but also all sorts of grains, which rapidly convert to sugar in your body.
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Lie # 3: "Artificial Sweeteners are
Safe Sugar-Replacements for Diabetics, and
Help Promote Weight Loss"
- Most people use artificial sweeteners to lose weight and/or because they're diabetic and need to avoid sugar. Ironically, nearly all the studies that have carefully analyzed their effectiveness show that those who use artificial sweeteners actually gain more weight than those who consume caloric sweeteners. Studies have also revealed that artificial sweeteners can be worse than sugar for diabetics.
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Lie # 4: "Your Body Cannot Tell the
Difference Between Sugar and Fructose"
- Mounting evidence testifies to the fact that excess fructose, primarily in the form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), is a primary factor causing not just obesity, but also chronic and lethal disease. As a standard recommendation, I advise keeping your total fructose consumption below 25 grams per day.
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Lie # 5: "Soy is a Health Food"
- Contrary to popular belief, thousands of studies have actually linked unfermented soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility — even cancer and heart disease. Not only that, but more than 90 percent of American soy crops are genetically modified, which carries its own set of health risks.
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Lie # 6: "Eggs are a Source of Unhealthy
Cholesterol"
- Contrary to popular belief, eggs are one of the healthiest foods you can eat and they do not have a detrimental impact on cholesterol levels. Recent research has shown that egg consumption does not have a negative effect on endothelial function — a measure of cardiac risk — and does not cause a spike on cholesterol levels.
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Lie # 7: "Whole Grains are Good
for Everyone"
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ALL grains, including whole-grain and organic varieties, can elevate your insulin levels, which can increase your risk of disease. They also contain gluten, which many are sensitive to, if not outright allergic. The higher your insulin levels and the more prominent your signs of insulin overload are, the more ambitious you need to be about eliminating all grains from your diet.
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Lie # 8: "Milk Does Your Body Good"
- Not only can conventional, pasteurized milk contain growth hormones, antibiotics and a number of other veterinary drugs, once milk has been pasteurized its physical structure is changed in a way that can cause allergies and immune problems. The eradication of beneficial bacteria through the pasteurization process also ends up promoting pathogens rather than protecting you from them. The healthy alternative to pasteurized milk is raw milk, which is an outstanding source of nutrients including beneficial bacteria such as lactobacillus acidophilus, vitamins and enzymes.
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Lie # 9: "Genetically Engineered Foods
are Safe and Comparable to Conventional Foods"
- Genetically engineered (GE) foods may be one of the absolute most dangerous aspects of our food supply today. Virtually every processed food you encounter at your local supermarket that does not bear the "USDA Organic" label likely contains one or more of the following GE components: corn, soy, canola, cottonseed, alfalfa, sugar from sugar beets. Increased disease, infertility and birth defects appear to be on the top of the list of most likely side effects. The first-ever lifetime feeding study also showed a dramatic increase in organ damage, cancer, and reduced lifespan.
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Lie # 10: "Lunch Meats Make for a
Healthy Nutritious Meal"
- Virtually all processed meat products contain dangerous compounds that put them squarely on the list of foods to avoid or eliminate entirely. These compounds include: heterocyclic amines (HCSs), sodium nitrite, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and advanced glycation end products (AGEs). A recent report commissioned by The World Cancer Research Fund found that processed meats increase your risk of cancer, especially bowel cancer, and NO amount of processed meat is "safe."