Mythbusters… Diet and Exercise Edition.
We’ve all heard of claims and statements about “tricks of the trade” when it comes to diet and exercise. We’ve also heard of magical and easy ways to get ripped abs and ways to add inches to your arms in an instant. It’s in our nature as human beings to give the least effort to get the most benefit, so it’s especially easy to get caught up in these traps.
I’m here to show you some common myths and whether or not they contain a lot of water so you can be what every person trying to get in shape should be: informed.
Myth #1: Spicy foods speed up metabolism
In an article in Muscle & Body, Julie Upton, MS, RD states that it “has very little effect.” She also claims that “the amount of chili and powder you would have to eat would cause gastrointestinal upset before it had a metabolic impact.”
Status: arrested
Myth #2: Diet and Exercise Myth #1: Crunches will get rid of belly fat.
“You can’t pick and choose areas where you’d like to burn fat,” says Tyne. “To burn fat, you need to create a workout that includes elements of cardio and strength training. This will lower your total body fat content.”
Status: arrested
Myth #3: Exercise turns fat into muscle
Fat and muscle tissue are made up of two completely different types of cells. “While you can lose one and replace it with another, the two never ‘become’ different forms,” says Tyne. “So fat never turns into muscle.”
Status: arrested
Myth #4: Doing cardio on an empty stomach burns more calories.
It is believed that if you don’t eat before a cardio session, your body will use stored fat for energy instead of stored carbohydrates. Well, it turns out that this is actually true. Scientifically, when you don’t eat, your respiratory quotient is lower and you are burning more fat. The only thing stopping this from being a great thing is that you sacrifice a less than satisfying workout because you have less “fuel”.
Status: Confirmed
Myth #5: Eating late at night will make you gain weight.
There are no “magic hours” when it comes to eating. We associate weight gain with eating late at night because we tend to eat not only more calories, but fewer healthy calories at night. Think about when you really can’t control your cravings for junk food. Now think about what you feel like after a few cocktails or a few beers in the evening. Also, we tend to eat less of the satisfying meals for breakfast and lunch if we eat breakfast. This makes us not feel satiated (full) and therefore leads us to satisfy that hunger. If you simply consume more calories during breakfast and lunch and the first half of the day, the problem is not eating late at night, but what you eat late at night.
Status: arrested
Myth #6: High-intensity, short-interval cardio burns more fat than long- and moderate-intensity cardio
Training for shorter periods of time, but with higher intensity (i.e. shorter distance but faster pace) will burn more fat than a long, slow workout. Australian scientist Alan Boucher claims that this happens due to an increase in “catecholamines” hormones (adrenaline is a catecholamine hormone). These increase after intervals, but not after slow cardio. Catecholamines are hormones that burn fat.
Status: Confirmed
Myth #7: Light weights on your legs and arms can increase the benefits of exercise
Some people carry light hand weights (one or two pounds) when they walk or run. Others strap velcro weights around their ankles. Don’t bother, says exercise physiologist Ben Hurley. “It slows you down so you get less benefit from aerobic exercise and doesn’t add enough weight to give you the benefits of strength training,” he explains. To build muscle, you should use weights that you can’t lift more than eight to twelve times in a row. “If you can go past the twelfth rep, the resistance is too light to stress the muscle,” says Hurley. “As your muscles get stronger, you need to add more weight or other resistance, so you can only do eight to twelve reps.”
Status: arrested
Myth #8: Low-fat foods help you lose weight
Low-fat or fat-free does not necessarily mean low in calories. Additional sugars and thickeners are added to increase flavor and texture which are bad for you. While eating low-fat or fat-free foods is a healthier choice than those with full amounts of fat, I’d advise you to be careful with your calorie intake, as that’s the true measure of weight gain and loss.
Status: arrested
Myth #9: Lifting light weights with high repetitions will make my muscles tone and shape
Lifting lighter weights with high reps (20 or more) will simply wear out your muscle, which is not an inherently negative consequence. However, this method will get your muscle conditioned for endurance, not so much tone and that ripped look you’re going for.
Status: arrested
Myth #10: Cholesterol is bad for you
Cholesterol is a fatty substance produced mainly by the liver. It can be bad because it produces deposits that clog our arteries and can lead to heart disease. However, that type of cholesterol is known as low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which is found in foods such as meat, cheese, butter, and cream. On the other hand, there is high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which is a type of cholesterol that is good for you. This type carries cholesterol from the arteries to the liver and is found in foods such as olive oil and avocados.
Status: arrested