Get ready to revisit a CrossFit Open Workout today! Snake oil salesmen, charlatans, and quacks have been around for hundreds of years, yet the rate of misinformation and pseudoscience has increased exponentially since the dawning of the age of the internet. It's hard to keep up with it all! Every weekend I do some investigation into a myth I've been asked about or overheard someone at the gym talk about. I use my textbooks from my Sports and Exercise Nutrition program, I read books, journal articles and other information from various universities and extension services, and I rely on a few trusted internet sources. One internet resource I trust (and there are not many) is Examine.com. I recently checked out on of their posts on the top 19 nutrition myths of 2019 and was so surprised that some of these myths still persist in 2019. Here's the list with links:
After reading the list I was overwhelmed with all the misinformation! What should I eat? Carbs or no carbs? Fat or no fat? Protein or no protein? Ugh! NO wonder so many people fall into the clutches of proclaimed experts with promises of a better life just by taking magic pills, or drinking magic shakes, or rubbing magic creams on our body. We want it to be simple. The good news is that it IS simple. Just not in the way we might want it to be.
Living a healthy life starts with nutrition, of this we can be certain, and it includes other important lifestyle practices such as moving our body, managing our stress, getting adequate sleep, drinking water, limiting alcohol, limiting sugar, and keeping and maintaining a supportive cadre of people in our life. See? Simple:-) Our challenge is that while this is simple in theory (the scientist in me is screaming, "HYPOTHESIS") it's not that simple in application. We run into roadblocks like STRESS, change, time constraints, or spouses, parents and kids with different agendas, goals, values. It is how we respond to these roadblocks that will keep us on track or send us off the rails of our healthy life. To help prevent you from falling prey to modern quacks, charlatans and snake-oil salesmen (and women, let's not be sexist) ask yourself a few questions about what problem they're trying to solve in your life. Is it weight loss? Well, have you tried, and I mean really tried, to eat 800g of fruits and vegetables and protein equal to your lean body mass? No? How about trying that first. Is it having more energy? Well, have you successfully slept more than 8 hours every night for 2 weeks? No, let's try that first. See where I'm going with this? Almost everything someone is trying to sell us is to solve a problem that can be solved through lifestyle. The good news is that lifestyle changes are usually much cheaper and more sustainable. Is there a myth you want me to investigate? Let me know in the comments.
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