Nutrition Myths That Lead On a Sure Way to Binge City
Stuffing your face in the middle of the night can be easily prevented
For the first time in history, most people have access to much greater amounts of food, resources and even leisure time (though capitalism is giving its best to relieve us of the latter). A not so fortunate consequence is that we have begun to overindulge in anything and everything — from watching 10+ episodes of a TV show in one sitting to splurging on items we do not really need.
As food is something that gives us all much pleasure and joy, going excessive is more than easy when you have a whole lot of delicious temptations within arm’s reach.
A love of food however is not the primary culprit when it comes to binge eating. Believing certain annoyingly persistent nutrition myths is what’s to be blamed when the crime of overeating is concerned, so let’s get to debunking some of these bad boys.
1. You need to cut out carbs and/or fats completely in order to lose fat
If only I’d gotten a dollar for every time I’ve heard this one!
At first, the narrative was that fats are bad for you because it sounds logical — if you want to lose fat, you have to stop consuming it altogether. Forget the creaminess of the avocado and the rich aroma of olive oil, not to mention nuts and seeds for good. Egg yolks? God forbid!
After a while and some much needed scientific research, it was finally concluded that you actually need healthy fats and oils for your body to be able to perform all of its many functions properly.
Then it was carbs’ time to be blacklisted. Goodbye bread, abolish pasta, potatoes are a huge no-no, rice has a way too high glycemic index and so on. The solution? Just stop eating carbs. As simple as that. The little fact that carbs are an essential energy source for our body seemed to be quite easy to slip one’s mind.
And how does this lead to binge-eating you may ask? The answer is rather simple. As with every heavily restrictive regimen, if you deny your body much needed fuel and effectively mess up your hormones and metabolism, bingeing is sure to wait for you just around the corner. When you tire of feeling exhausted, sickly and hangry all the time, whatcha gonna do? Of course, you’ll turn to food. And such a strict restriction is bound to make you overeat.
One needn’t have a PhD in science to understand that the very concept of there being ‘good’ and ‘bad’ nutrition groups is bogus. Sure, some foods are healthier than others, some of them we know for certain are bad for us, some fall in the slightly shady category, but cutting out an entire food group is more than detrimental to your overall health.
Not to mention that diets this restrictive backfire without exception as you’ll find yourself on the kitchen floor at 2 a.m. gorging on a 2 lb of ice cream in a blink of an eye.
2. You mustn’t eat after *insert random p.m. here*
Let’s imagine a very common scenario. You’ve had a long day, you’ve been buzzing about, working, exercising, running errands and whatnot, so you didn’t manage to squeeze in your evening snack/dinner and it’s already 10 p.m. As you’ve decided to give intermittent fasting a go, or you’ve known for ages now that you shouldn’t eat before bed or too late at night, you are intent on not eating if the time isn’t right. So you go to sleep.
Or do you? You toss and turn, your stomach playing the philharmonics for you, or you wake up in the middle of the night feeling ravenous, your heart in a frenzy. And then what? There’s not a chance in hell you can wait for breakfast so you go and ransack the fridge, which inevitably ends in you hating yourself for eating to the point of being sick.
Drinking a glass of milk, eating a banana or actually having a nice hearty meal will always have the same caloric value no matter the time you’ve eaten it. It’s not like a potential of a certain food to get you fat grows exponentially with the advance of day or night.
If you’re afraid of gaining fat or are trying to lose it, it’s not the when, it’s the what and the how much you should be careful of. People tend to grab the first thing they can get a hold of and snack in front of the TV in the evening, without being mindful of their fullness in the least.
The key to this is listening to your hunger cues and breaking a habit of listening to every single know-it-all advice you stumble upon on the internet.
3. When you get food cravings, ignore them by all means and try to trick your body into eating something healthy
You stare down that chocolate in front of you and can almost feel its seductive call. It’s the siren to your sailor, and you’re giving it your best to resist. Why not snack on a rice cake instead? Or a carrot? An apple maybe? Or all of that together. You munch it all one by one, but you’re still feeling restless, you can’t sit still, your taste buds are tingling with yearning… So you give in at last… And eat the whole chocolate instead of a piece or two you’ve originally wanted.
Again, having rules around food that are way too strict or restricting for an overly long period of time will lead to utter exhaustion. Pushing yourself to eat clean 24/7 can be not a little draining and as such, it just isn’t sustainable.
If you’re mindful of what you eat most of the time, give yourself some slack, eat that piece of chocolate or treat yourself to some dessert if you feel like it. Your body will thank you for respecting its needs, and in turn you won’t feel the urge to wolf down an entire cake. You’ll be happy with just a slice.
4. Fruit sugar is bad for you so you must avoid it at all costs
The idea that fructose is as bad as refined, heavily processed sugars is so ludicrous I could rant about it all day. The point that matters here though, is that by abstaining even from “nature’s candy”, won’t magically cure you of your need for a sweet treat.
We all need to give ourselves some honeyed love from time to time, so if you are one of those that run for the hills at the very mention of a banana, chances are you’ll find yourself devouring half a dozen pancakes before you know it.
Consuming fruit is by far the healthiest way to indulge, especially as overeating fruit is not that easily accomplished, and apart from sugar, you’ll intake some much needed fiber, vitamins, minerals and water. Sounds like a good deal to me. Far better than a bunch of pancakes with a topping of self-deprecation any time.
5. Eating 1200 kcal a day is a perfectly healthy and sustainable way of losing weight.
A short and sweet response to this rubbish would be “no it most certainly is not”! If it’s fit for a toddler it’s far from enough for a healthy adult.
One of the most dangerous diet fads of all times, ranging as far back as the 19th century and directed primarily at women, is sadly alive and kicking even today. There’s seldom a woman who hasn’t at least heard of this ‘golden standard’ or tried it out at one point in her life.
Cutting calories this much leads to a plethora of issues such as a greater chance of regaining weight later, detrimental metabolic changes, poor mental health, a greater risk of type 2 diabetes, heart problems, and — you’ve guessed it — binge eating. Periods of insufferable hunger are sure to follow periods of heavy restriction, as your body gets stressed out and tired from being constantly denied the nutrition it needs.
However, once you take into consideration the overall impact this type of diet has on your health and wellbeing altogether, bingeing is going to be the least of your problems.
You should aim to eat smarter, not less! Have a well-balanced diet, make sure to incorporate every food group and remember to appreciate your body for doing all the wonders it does to keep you alive and moving.
https://betterhumans.pub/orthorexia-when-eating-healthy-becomes-an-obsession-part-i-999b1714cb47
