The majority of us will attempt a diet at some stage in our lives, and when it comes to losing weight everyone’s aim is the same – do it as quickly and effectively as possible. In a bid to shift the pounds, we often fall foul to a myriad of tricks and fad diets, but all these offer is false hope. There are many such myths which you may be following right now – but which ones are actually true?
The first myth is that you need to eat dinner at a set time in order to stop your body from storing fat. This is actually true, as eating earlier can not only aid your waistline but also improve your general wellbeing. The fasting period is longer the earlier you eat your evening meal, so your body has a better chance of digesting the food and processing it. If you eat later on in the evening, studies show you’re more likely to eat more. In addition to the extra calories, late night meals increase the levels of triglyceride in the body which have been linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
While a ‘calorie is just a calorie’, research has shown that there may be more to it than that. Studies suggest that once dieters lose weight, their metabolism decreases when they eat low fat foods. If you’re trying to lose or maintain weight, this is not the sort of news you want to hear. Calories from different food groups react differently in the body, so some end up being better quality than others.
It’s a common dieting myth that eating small meals throughout the day can aid weight loss – the theory behind this is that eating little and often can help to stave off your appetite and maintain your blood sugar levels, which can stop you from feeling hungry throughout the day. There is no support from studies for this though, so sticking to your three meal a day plan won’t make any impact on the amount of weight your lose. It’s what you eat that’s more important than how often you eat it.
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