I was on a plane the other day reading a magazine, and I think by the time I had finished, I had been told both to eat snacks to lose weight and to definitely not eat snacks if you want to lose weight. And that I should sit in a room at 64 degrees for optimal fat burning. Women’s Health Mag – NEWSFLASH - if I’m scarfing a plate of nachos and its 64 degrees, I’m still scarfing a plate of nachos! Perhaps they need to do a more comprehensive editing job when it came to their magazine issues. But I think it has to do more with an underlying situation where we receive SO much info on how to be healthy but its often contradicting, and only backed by “early research has shown…”
We are in the age of fearing carbs, wen my parents grew up in the age of everything must be low-fat. Nutrition science always seems to be disproving itself and coming up with the new cure-all. There was a time (not too many years ago) that I jumped on every nutrition bandwagon that I read about – one that got the biggest laugh from my friends was when I would drink only warm water to supposedly help with absorption of nutrients. Another one was to start the day with a tablespoon of “fat” because that would jumpstart my metabolism into burning fat! Bah, so shameful. [insert face palm emoji]
Why is it that we receive so much contradicting advice when it comes to something as so basic as feeding yourself? Michael Pollan and nutrition researchers argue that nutrition science has really only started to scratch the surface when it comes to understanding how and why our metabolisms work in certain ways and the way our bodies really process fuel. It is such a basic, integral part of our biology that – to put it simply – it’s tough stuff. If you think about other fields of science where they are really trying to understand the building blocks, they grapple with similar issues as the realm of nutrition science.
Well, what DO we know? We know that real foods are better than food-like products and processed foods. We know that providing your body with the right portions is important for health and weight maintenance. We know that being active provides emotional and physical benefits.
So I still indulge in all of those health and fitness magazines because I really do enjoy 80% of their content. But when it comes to their “do’s” and “don’ts” when advising me on how to eat, I think I’ll just skip the spoonful of fat in the AM.
If you’re interested in learning more, here are two of favorite books on nutrition that are super readable:
- Sports Nutrition by Nancy Clark (this is one of the leading books when it comes to food for active people – great recipes and really simple, understanding explanations)
- In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (food industry critic Michael Pollan goes back to the basics and talks about what we should be eating and why)
Thanks for stopping by! 
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