Nutrition Myths Debunked this New Year

3 Min Read

This is a guest piece written by the fantastic Hebe Richardson (She/Her). Hebe is a queer, HAES-aligned, registered associate nutritionist (ANutr) as well as trainee counsellor & 200 hour trauma-informed yoga teacher. She works to support those with body image concerns, disordered eating and intuitive eating. She has spent a lot of time working with folks in the industry and is a great person to check out!

The New Year can be an intense and overwhelming time in health and wellbeing. It typically sees an influx of new trends which promise a plethora of health benefits, such as, weight loss, renewed energy, and focus, but are ultimately not up to scratch on the science side of things. As a nutritionist my eyes are peeled for the re-emergence of the same group of trends with new, slightly jazzier tag lines and titles, but the same old myths.

So, here is a list of some of my top nutrition myths to look out for this new year:

1- Heavily Restrictive Diets

2- Detoxing

3- Personalised Nutrition

4- Mindful Eating as a Diet

(1) Heavily restrictive diets

Every new year, heavily restrictive diets are incredibly common. Typically, these diets see the removal of whole food groups, such as dairy or carbohydrates. Very low carbohydrate diets are an example of this. They’ve been around for a long time under a host of different names, the idea often being that by reducing carbohydrates and overall energy this will aid in weight loss. However, highly restrictive diets such as this one often leads to vitamin deficiencies. Additionally, they are incredibly challenging to stick to, and often lead to a preoccupation around foods that you are restricting. Even if weight loss is achieved, it is incredibly difficult to maintain. This often leads to something known as ‘weight cycling’ or yo-yo dieting where weight loss occurs but then is regained quickly.

(2) Detoxing

A detox diet is one that promises eating a certain way will lead to a detoxing or cleansing effect on the body. Often, we see these sold in the form of different products or whole diets. Luckily many of these products have largely been de-bunked, yet the popularity of the detox diet prevails. These diets are often short term, claim to provide rapid weight loss, improve digestion and energy levels. Examples include things like drinking detox teas, drinking only juice, fasting, or cutting out a whole food group. These diets are not just extreme, and expensive, but based in pseudoscience. Detox diets ignore the fact that our bodies are constantly removing toxins from our system. This is done by multiple organs such as the skin, gut, liver, and kidneys. So, consuming a specific food or diet will not detox you.

(3) Personalised Nutrition

Personalised nutrition has grown in significant popularity over the last few years with the integration of tech and influencers seemingly behind some of its popularity. As individuals, our responses to different food types varies, meaning that a ‘one size fits all’ approach may not be best suited to optimise health outcomes. Theoretically, being able to provide highly individualised advice based of our individualised biology such as genes and our gut microbiome could be insightful for our individual health. However, the science of personalised nutrition is in its infancy, so although potentially exciting, it’s worth being reflective and realistic about its uses. There is still considerable knowledge gaps and a lack of regulation, so it’s difficult to spot fact from fiction with the emergence of so many companies offering this service. Additionally, accessing a service such as this one is often very expensive, so being able to provide a truly accessible service still seems a long way off.

(4) Mindful eating as a diet

Mindful eating is an approach which suggests being present and aware while you’re eating. Allowing you to observe things such as emotions, thoughts, feelings, and sensations while eating. It promotes an acknowledgement of food without judgement and a way to become more aware of physical hunger and satiety cues. There are lots of iterations of mindful eating, and it’s often misquoted, inserted into another diet, and referenced to promote control and overall weight loss. I’ve seen it use to pass judgement on yourself and criticizing yourself for eating outside of what’s deemed to be ‘mindful’. It’s important to remember that for so many of us, learning to eat mindfully is incredibly challenging. There is also no ‘perfect’ when it comes to mindful eating, it’s a process rather than a rulebook.

Click here to read Hebe’s top tips for spotting nutrition myths (1 min read).