10 Health Myths That Need Busting!

Wanna get lean and healthy? Don’t believe these 10 health myths! 

MYTH #1: Soy Is Super Healthy

Eat or drink a few serves of soy each day for a month and you may be on your way to carrying extra weight on your legs (girls), developing man boobs (boys), or messing up your menstrual cycle (erm… this one’s for the girls). Why? Aside from being a highly processed food, soy contains phytoestrogens that can mimic the effects of oestrogen in the body. In this day and age, toxins, processed foods, alcohol and birth control pills mean we are already a highly oestrogenic bunch! While the odd soy latte or tofu stir-fry won’t kill you, you’re better off sticking to a hit of espresso or an alternate protein source. 

MYTH #2: Butter Is Bad For You

All the butter lovers out there are about to jump for joy. Guess what? Butter is a health food! There are a few rules, of course. First, you need to buy the good quality stuff – organic butter from grass-fed cows – no skimping! Avoid margarine and butter substitutes and make sure you don’t eat your butter with a truckload of carbs. The best way to enjoy it is melted over green and colourful veggies. Now, on to the health benefits; butter has lots of fat soluble vitamins, including vitamin K, which is really important for healthy bones as it supports calcium metabolism. Butter also contains conjugated linoleic acid, which research shows may encourage fat loss when consumed on a daily basis AND can help fight cancer. Sigh… welcome back butter! 

MYTH #3: Juice Fasts Are Effective For Fat Loss

Juicing has a load of benefits – a juice fast can help with phase one detoxification, get you through a stint of intermittent fasting and give your body a vitamin and mineral boost. Replacing your morning coffee with a healthy green juice is also a top way to alkalise your body each morning. But if you’re considering a juice fast for fat loss purposes, think again. You’re likely slurping down more sugars by sipping on half a dozen juices a day (yep even veggie ones, unless you’re literally just juicing spinach and celery) than you would be eating regular, healthy, clean food – and you’re missing out on most of the fibre too, which is essential for fat loss and good digestion. To make sure you look after insulin levels and kick-start healthy fat loss, eat your plants most of the time. 

MYTH #4: Avocado, Olive Oil And Nuts Are Too High In Fat To Be Healthy

Sigh. Do people really still believe this? Each and every one of these foods are now considered “anti-obesity” foods by health scientists. They’re full of wholesome fats that actually help your body burn through stored fat, they decrease inflammation and when eaten with veggies, can increase the absorption of vitamins and nutrients. Obviously you don’t want to go overboard but try eating a little of these foods everyday and watch your body composition improve. Hot tip: don’t heat up your olive oil, or roast your nuts, as this makes the good fats turn into nasty ones! 

MYTH #5: Packaged Meats Are A Great Protein Snack

Obviously there’s a question of quality here. If you order a few hundred grams of sliced chicken, turkey, or leg ham from your local, organic butcher or deli, it’s probably the real deal and a great way to boost your protein count. But if you’re buying the uniformly shaped, preservative-packed stuff from the cheese aisle, you’re likely getting more junk for your liver to struggle with than you are protein for your muscles to work with. So keep on walking down that aisle people… or choose a tub of unsweetened, organic greek yoghurt from a nearby shelf instead. 

MYTH #6: Egg Whites Are Better Than Whole Eggs

Yes, the egg whites are where the protein is and the yolk contains fat and dietary cholesterol. Nope, eating dietary cholesterol DOES NOT mean you’ll be raising your cholesterol levels. Fact: your liver actually creates about 95% of the cholesterol in your body, meaning over-consumption of the things that put your liver under stress – sugars, grains, carbs, alcohol – are what cause most cholesterol issues. Egg yolk is nutritious, packed with vitamins and minerals and when eaten with the white part, creates a complete protein that is much more beneficial to your body than egg whites alone – and more helpful for fat loss too! If you’re making a big omelette with multiple eggs and want to reduce calorie count, it’s fine to use one yolk and numerous whites but DO leave some yolk in the mix. And go organic – an organic egg from a grass-fed chook and a cage egg from a grain-fed hen are nutritionally two completely different foods. 

MYTH #7: Canned Tuna & Salad For Lunch Every Day Is A Winner

Tuna contains high levels of mercury – and too much mercury in your system can lead to a bunch of health problems, including mood disorders, body composition issues (that means fat storage) and infertility. The advise from most top health professionals is to avoid big, predatory fish that typically contain a lot of mercury (tuna is one of the main offenders here) and eat smaller fish (herring, sardines) instead. Increase your omega-3 intake from plant-based foods like chia and flax seeds, hemp and algae and stock up on foods that help your body detoxify mercury, like cruciferous veggies, asparagus, avocado, nuts, coconut, oats, garlic and turmeric. 

MYTH #8: Red Meat Is Bad For You

You do need to be careful with the quality of red meat you eat, as well as what you eat it with BUT for most people, red meat is an incredibly important part of a healthy diet and contains essential amino acids, minerals and protein at levels we just can’t get from any other food. Here are our hot tips for getting the most out of your reds: make it organic and grass-fed, make sure you eat plenty of fibrous greens alongside your meat to help alkalise the body and keep gut bacteria happy. If you feel sluggish or “too full” after eating red meat, consider taking some digestive enzymes, or HCL with your meal. And our best ever red meat tip? Eat it in the morning or for lunch, rather than at night, so you get all the benefits – red meat boosts focus, drive and concentration. 

MYTH #9: You Must Eat Breakfast Within An Hour Of Waking Up

Intermittent fasting is the hottest ticket in fat loss at the moment and guess what? The science completely backs it up! It’s not for everyone but if you’re finding it hard to break through a weight-loss plateau, read up on different methods of fasting and give it a go. There are a lot of different approaches to IF and some are as simple as holding off a little on eating your first solid meal of the day. On the other hand, for people with leptin imbalance (a key appetite hormone), eating brekky almost immediately after waking is SUPER important, so this is a very personal point. The most important thing, however, is WHAT you eat for your first meal of the day. Go for protein every time. 

MYTH #10: Exercise Is More Important Than Sleep

Sleep deprivation leads to low testosterone and growth hormone, both of which are incredibly important for muscle repair and fat loss. No sleep also means cortisol and insulin levels increase, leading to fat storage. On top of all that, missing out on sleep means you won’t be as mentally strong – goodbye motivation! Don’t use the excuse too often, but sometimes skipping your workout for a decent sleep is the best move you can make for your health and your bod.