Seminar 1.2 Becoming Educated Eaters:

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Seminar 1.2Becoming Educated Eaters

• Myths and Misconceptions in Nutrition and Health

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Do Now

• Answer the following questions in your notes
• What is a myth?
• How are rumors spread?
• What is one old wives tale you know?

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(No Transcript)
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THEY
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Myths and Misconceptions in Nutrition and Health

• Fact vs. Fiction

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• All chocolate is bad for you.
• Fiction.
• Dark chocolate with at least 70 cacao contains
  antioxidants, which keep your body from rusting.
• It is important to moderate your chocolate
  intake. Even though it contains healthy
  antioxidants, chocolate still contains a lot of
  saturated fats and is high in calories.

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• 2. Most diets fail because of lack of willpower.
• Fiction.
• Most diets fail because they exclude something
  your body needs to work.
• Diets want you to fail so that you continue to
  spend your money on more diet foods.
• Diets are the easy way out, which doesnt exist
  in true health.
• When you lose weight, you lose muscle.
• Americans spend 40 billion every year on the
  diet industry, and most people gain back all the
  weight they lost, plus some.
• You cannot fight the biology of your body.

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• 3. Eating snacks all day is recommended for
  people trying to be healthy.
• Fact.
• Eating all day keeps your body from going into
  starvation mode.
• Snacks keep your body moving and working so you
  have energy to stay alert and awake.
• Snacking can prevent overeating.
• What kind of snacks are we talking about?
• Eating small handfuls of nuts throughout the day
  can keep you full. (Again, moderation is
  important because of their high fat content.)
• Eating 5 grams of fiber (fruit, veggies, whole
  grains) will help you feel full.

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• 4. Cinnamon has been shown to have a positive
  effect on appetite.
• Fact.
• Cinnamon doesnt just come on rolls and buns.
• It is actually an important spice that people
  used to sail around the world to acquire.
• It makes you less hungry when added to foods.
• How can you incorporate it into your daily foods?
• Sprinkle some cinnamon over cereal, oatmeal,
  coffee or tea and see how you feel.
• Use cinnamon to add flavor when baking.
• Try adding some cinnamon to your favorite chili
  or curry recipe.

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• 5. The less you eat, the more weight youll lose.
• Fiction.
• If you dont eat, you store what little you
  consume instead of burning it.
• Your body thinks it is starving.
• Your body has a natural defense system against
  death.
• Your body is designed to survive, even when it is
  starving, which had great advantages to cavemen
  and your ancient ancestors in times of famine.
• Your body is still the same as those cavemens,
  even though food is abundant and there is no
  threat of starvation or famine here.

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• 6. Eating a little fat at the beginning of a meal
  will help you feel full faster.
• Fact.
• People tend to believe that all fat is bad.
• There are good fats in olive oil, avocado and
  nuts.
• Good fats help send chemical messages to your
  brain that you are not as hungry.
• (MSG, by the way, does the opposite.)
• Eating too much saturated fat makes it difficult
  for you to hear your bodys signals that tell you
  to stop eating when youre full. (Those are the
  bad fats.)

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• 7. The more you exercise, the more you benefit.
• Fiction.
• Beware of excess in everything.
• Extreme amounts of exercise put you at risk for
  injury rest is an essential component of health.
  
• Marathon runners have a higher risk of injury
  (and even a shorter lifespan) than the average
  person.
• Your body needs to rest and be allowed the time
  to repair itself.

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• 8. The primary role of muscles is to make us look
  good and feel toned.
• Fiction.
• Muscles allow you to move, breath, and do much
  more.
• Muscle burns calories.
• Muscles make your body strong and help protect
  against injuries.

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• 9. Fat is an inherited taste.
• Fiction.
• You can change your taste for fat.
• Fat is a learned or acquired taste.
• Pick one thing to change for 8 weeks and try it.
• For example, if you hate avocado, try to eat a
  little bit of it each day for 8 weeks and see if
  you dont come to like it.
• Or, if you love the orangey-yellowish cheese dip
  in the cafeteria, try going without it for 8
  weeks, and see if you still love it at the end of
  the 8 weeks.

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• 10. When you exercise, it is important to do
  enough reps to make your muscles fatigue.
• Fact.
• That means you have do enough sit-ups or bicep
  curls (or whatever) to make you feel so tired you
  couldnt possibly do one more without getting
  hurt.
• Fatigue during workouts helps your muscles to
  develop.
• When your muscles fatigue, they get little tiny
  tears which your body repairs. This is how we
  build more muscle.
• You need to make your body really work in order
  to see a difference.

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• 11. Diets are meant to help you lose weight and
  be healthy.
• Fiction.
• Diets are created to make money (40 billion a
  year)!
• If diets actually worked, they would cease to
  exist.
• Diets are about restriction and fighting against
  your bodys biology.
• Your DIET is what you eat to maintain proper body
  function.

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• 12. The larger your waist the higher your stress
  level.
• Fact.
• Most people worry about the other
  W-wordweight. Your waist size is more
  important for your overall health.
• A healthy waist size is up to 40 inches for men
  and 37 inches for women. (Thats a size 18 at
  GAP.)
• Fat elsewhere on your body is not as dangerous.
• Omentum fat (i.e. belly fat) compromises your
  organ functions and increases stress on these
  organs.

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• 13. A calorie is a calorie, no matter where it
  comes from.
• Fact.
• A calorie is a measure of the potential energy
  supply in food.
• Your body treats everything the same way, in
  terms of energy (nutritionally, its a different
  story).
• Even excess calories from fruit can be stored as
  fat if not used.
• Which has more calories? A a calorie of gummy
  bears or a calorie of beef jerky?
• Duh, they both have one calorie.
• But which has more nutritional value?
• (By the way, neither of these foods is
  technically vegetarian.)

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• 14. Nutrition labels are based on the average
  amount of calories most Americans need in a day.
• Fiction.
• We all have different Resting Metabolic Rates.
• What is RMR?
• That is how many calories your body uses just to
  perform daily functions, like breathing, sitting
  in class, etc.
• How do I know what my RMR is?
• Im so glad you asked! I will have a machine that
  measures it in my office, so you can come see me
  during office hours.
• The Percent Daily Values on Nutrition Labels are
  based on a 2,000 calorie-per-day diet.

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• 15. There are many ways to change your metabolism
  if you put your mind to it and work really hard.
• Fiction.
• Your metabolism doesnt slow down, you do.
• You are born with your metabolism the way you are
  born with blue eyes or brown hair.
• Focus on what you can control diet, exercise,
  mental resilience.

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• 16. Carbohydrates should be a substantial portion
  of your daily food intake.
• Fact.
• 50 of your diet should be carbohydrates.
• What are the right kind of carbs to eat?
• Whole grains, like whole wheat, oats, brown rice,
  barley. . . think brown. (But not like
  chocolate-doughnut-brown. . . more like,
  I-just-went-to-Whole Foods-brown.)
• Carbohydrates are your bodys main source of
  energy.

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• 17. All fat is bad fat and you should avoid it as
  much as possible.
• Fiction.
• Fat is an essential source of energy for your
  body.
• Good fats are found in nuts, avocado, olive oil
  and fish.
• Fat is important for cell maintenance, structure
  and body warmth.
• Fat serves as a lubricant for your body, making
  sure that your skin and hair remain hydrated,
  instead of dry.

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• 18. Your body burns most of its calories through
  activity.
• Fiction.
• Only 15-30 of your calories are burned through
  intentional activity.
• You burn most of your calories through simply
  being, breathing, digesting.
• Your body is always burning calories, even while
  youre sleeping.

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• 19. It doesnt matter whether you have fat on
  your hips, your butt, or your stomach all fat is
  bad fat.
• Fiction.
• Excess fat is not great, but it is better in some
  places than others.
• Genetics play a big role in where you gain fat.
• Omentum fat is the most dangerous.

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• 20. Fructose tricks your mind so you stay hungry
  longer.
• Fact.
• High Fructose corn syrup makes you more hungry
  when you eat it.
• It is in nearly everything.
• You need to be critical of what HFCS is in.
• 200 years ago, the average person ate 7 pounds of
  sugar a year. Today, the average person eats over
  200 pounds of sugar a year.
• Americans eat 63 pounds of HFCS a year, which can
  add 33 lbs. to a typical American.

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Ticket Out

• On a half sheet of paper, write down 3 new things
  you learned and turn it in before leaving.