“Miracle” diets have been around for centuries. Many different types of food and the nutrients they contain have been sold over the years as cures for everything from cancer to beer belly. To understand how the truth gets twisted, let’s establish some basic nutritional truth.
Calories in equal calories out.
Sound familiar? Though incredibly simple, we seem to forget this formula each time another fad diet goes viral online.
Weight can’t be lost in the spot you select.
You can tone an area or tighten up some muscles, but you can’t lose weight in one specific spot rather than another.
There are no exclusively nutritional cures for most diseases.
Eating a specific diet alone can’t cure cancer, AIDS, hepatitis, or warts. Good nutrition is very important in helping the body to combat any disease. However, no one food has been shown to be a “cure.”
There’s no one food that will reverse or prevent aging, get rid of wrinkles or cellulite, or whiten your teeth.
Swallowing a vitamin or mineral tablet won’t erase the effects of stress, sunlight, or a sedentary lifestyle. Good nutrition is a combination of lots of differents types of food and fluids. Slowing the signs of aging includes not only good nutrtition, but also exercise, ultraviolet protection, and not smoking, just to name a few. If some people have found the elixir of life, they’re keeping it a secret.
Extremes are never good.
Eating absolutely no fat or exercising in a superheated room will leave you dehydrated and unable to absorb Vitamins A, D, E, and K. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble and need to be eaten with a small amount of fat, such as a few swallows of low-fat or a handful of nuts, to be properly used by the body.