By: Joyce Hendley

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they’re trying to shed pounds is to focus on the wrong things: false promises, unproven gimmicks, misguided perceptions about what it means to diet. A smart, balanced approach to weight loss may not seem "sexy" or easy, but getting caught up in weight-loss myths will only sabotage your success. Here are six top weight-loss myths, busted.

1. "Carbohydrates make you fat."

Contrary to the theories of the low-carb/no carb manifesto, Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution, first published in 1972 (and the similar books that followed), there’s nothing inherently fattening about carbohydrates, says Jean Harvey-Berino, Ph.D., R.D., chair of the department of nutrition and food sciences at the University of Vermont and co-author of The EatingWell Diet (Countryman, 2007). "It’s eating too many calories, period, that makes you fat."

There’s no question that loading up on sugary and refined-carbohydrate-rich foods, such as white bread, pasta and doughnuts, can raise your risk of developing health problems like heart disease and diabetes. But if you cut out so-called "good-carb" foods, such as whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables, you’re missing out on your body’s main source of fuel as well as vital nutrients and fiber. What’s more, for many people, a low-carb diet may be harder to stick with in the long run.

When a handful of major studies recently compared low-carb diets with low-fat diets and other approaches to losing weight, notes Harvey-Berino, they found that in the first few months, those following the low-carb diets tended to lose slightly more weight. "That’s because low-carb diets are more restrictive," she explains. "Anything that limits your choices will help you lose weight initially." But after a year or as much as three years, weight-loss differences between the diets tend to even out. One recent report noted that although there was a greater weight loss initially, low-carb dieters tended to regain more weight by the end of three years when compared with low-fat dieters.

But Harvey-Berino acknowledges that low-carb eating can help many people manage their weight—especially if you’re "one of those people who has a hard time staying in control when you eat carbohydrate-rich foods." No matter how you slice it, the best diet is one you can stick to, she adds. "If you can stick with an Atkins-like regimen, then go for it."

2. "Calories eaten at night are more fattening than those eaten early in the day."

Dr. John Foreyt: "Calories are calories are calories, and it doesn’t matter what time you eat them. What matters are the total calories you take in." John Foreyt, Ph.D., is the director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine.

3. "I have a weight problem because I eat foods like wheat or dairy that my body can’t process."

This theory is, in fact, "illogical," says Marc Riedl, M.D., assistant professor of clinical immunology and allergy at UCLA. The inability to "process" foods, he notes, "would mean the foods are not metabolized and calories would not be absorbed." This would lead to weight loss, not gain, he notes.

"This is an example of how the term ‘food allergy’ has become misused and distorted to be associated with anything unpleasant surrounding eating," says Riedl. "There is no scientific evidence that a food allergy causes weight gain." Of course, cutting out whole categories of foods will probably help you lose weight, simply because it takes so many choices off the table.

 4. "You crave certain foods because you’re deficient in one of the nutrients they provide."

Nope—unless you’re a deer or moose. (In the spring, those animals are attracted to "salt licks"—mineral deposits that supply nutrients they need.) Human food cravings tend to be more about satisfying emotional needs, says Marcia Pelchat, Ph.D., a researcher at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. "Cravings tend to occur when your diet is restricted or boring, or when you know that you can’t have something," says Pelchat. "If it’s forbidden, you usually want it more."

There is one nutrient deficiency that’s clearly associated with cravings in humans: iron. But instead of longing for iron-rich liver or steak, people severely deficient in iron stores tend to crave things like ice cubes, clay or even cement. Researchers don’t know what causes this strange, rare condition, called "pica," but some suspect that a lack of iron might somehow affect the body’s appetite mechanisms.

5. "Grazing on mini meals throughout the day keeps your metabolism stoked and helps you control your weight better than eating fewer, larger meals."

Our metabolisms rev up slightly each time we eat, as our bodies process what we’ve consumed. So by having many mini meals instead of fewer, larger ones, we shift our metabolism into a higher gear more often—and burn a few more calories. But "the calorie difference is so small it doesn’t add up to a hill of beans," says John Foreyt, Ph.D., director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. That said, snacking between meals may help some dieters by keeping them from getting overly hungry and eating too many calories when they finally sit down to dinner. But probably for just as many others, "each meal is an opportunity to lose control," says Foreyt. Bottom line: Choose the eating pattern that works best for you.

6. The myth: It’s important to fast periodically, to cleanse toxins from your body.

The truth: Your body has its own elegantly designed system for removing toxins—namely, the liver, kidneys and spleen. There isn’t any evidence that not eating—or consuming only juice—for any period of time makes them do this job any better. (Source: Keith-Thomas Ayoob, Ed.D., R.D., of Albert Einstein College of Medicine)

 
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