5 Trending Nutrition Myths and How to Bust Them

I don’t know about you, but lately I’m hearing the same food conversations again and again from folks who are super motivated to eat better, but get most of their nutrition information online (not often from evidence-based sources!) Unfortunately, some bits of misinformation have taken on a life of their own, spreading like wildfire among social media, blogs, and even educational articles, thus making it increasingly difficult for experts like RDNs to disseminate clear, evidence-based information.

Here are 5 hot topics that many people often get twisted, and suggestions for ways to get to the nuts and bolts.

1. Eat Clean.

There is no definition for this, rendering it pretty meaningless. But a few usual suspects seem to regularly fall into this category of “clean” food.

Just as so many folks in the 90’s binged on fat free cookies and frozen yogurt, thinking they were health foods because they were a modified version of a junk food, people today are devouring grass-fed beef and butter, coconut oil, free range eggs, gluten free baked goods, etc.

While these foods are often superior to their counterparts (e.g. grass fed beef has more omega 3 fat than grain fed), it doesn’t mean these are health-supporting foods. When extolling the benefits of eating cattle that were fed grass rather than grain, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that no study has shown disease risk reduction from eating beef of any kind.

Bottom line: eating these “cleaner” foods in moderation is fine, but beware the health halos around foods that are nutritionally similar or mildly superior to their condemned counterparts. 

2. Exercise is more important than diet (or vice versa).

This one is interesting, as it illustrates the innate human tendency to rank things. This is especially true with food: how many times have you been asked what the healthiest lettuce is? Or the fruit lowest in sugar? Or the best fish? At the end of the day, we know that the overall balance of diet determines its quality, not whether your serving of fruit contains 19 grams of sugar or 20.

People usually hold a belief about diet and exercise, judging one as more important than the other (risking the lesser important one to be all but ignored). A recent study does a good job summarizing this one: The study revealed that for those who had high levels of physical activity and a high-quality diet, their mortality risk was reduced by 17% from all causes, 19% from cardiovascular disease and 27% from selected cancers, as compared with those with the worst diet who were physically inactive. But the researchers looked at sedentary, high-quality eaters as well as active, junk food junkies and concluded that to get true benefit in disease reduction, you need both.

Bottom line: you can’t outrun a bad diet. And you can’t compensate for lack of physical activity with kale.

3. Grains are evil.

Many argue we shouldn’t eat grains because they were not consumed by our prehistoric ancestors. And true, our evolutionary ancestors did not cultivate grain, surviving instead on primarily wild game, insects, and gathered plant foods like nuts, seeds, fruits, and flowers. Fortunately, humans have indeed evolved, along with farming and a robust, reliable food supply. There is no evidence to suggest that moderate consumption of whole grains, for most people, is damaging. On the contrary, study after study show that those who consume whole grains on a regular basis enjoy health advantages, likely due to the nutrient profile of whole grains: fiber, essential fats, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. There are over a dozen types of whole grains available at most grocery stores, gluten containing and gluten free.

It is unfortunate that intact whole grains (like brown rice and barley) and flour products (which are typically mixed with added sugar, added fat, and salt), are lumped together as “grains,” because a bowl of quinoa is not the same as a bakery bran muffin. Regardless, ruthless banishment of this entire food group is baseless and potentially damaging to people who over-eliminate food groups; we know that lack of variety is a potential health risk over time. It’s also a risk for people who are predisposed to disordered eating.

Bottom line: Intact whole grains are health-supporting and some if not all are tolerated perfectly well by the vast majority of people.

4. The best diet for human health is <fill in the blank>.

This topic is a great example of an inability to see the forest for the trees. Arguments about the “best” diet go deep into biochemistry, wildly specific macronutrient distributions, and complete elimination of food groups. According to David L. Katz, MD, lifestyle medicine physician and author, “The truth is, we already have massive, overwhelming, incontrovertible, decisive evidence that all of the best diet patterns for people (with regard to longevity and vitality, as well as the rates of specific conditions like diabetes, heart disease, obesity, cancer, stroke, and dementia) share the same theme: real food, plant predominant.”

For example, diet patterns seen in the Blue Zones, those areas of the world where people live the longest, healthiest lives, differ from region to region with respect to types of food consumed, but they do share several features. All of these diets are mostly (not entirely) made up of whole, unprocessed or minimally processed vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans/lentils, nuts/seeds, and water as the main beverage. 

“If you get that right in a balanced, sensible, and perhaps time-honored assembly, you simply can't go too far wrong. Once you go beyond that and start looking at particulars, you’ll find conflicting research because most of what matters is not being measured,” says Dr. Katz. For example, we lack the statistical power to prove that 40-30-30 is superior to, say 50-25-25, when both diet types are of similar diet quality. 

Bottom line: By honoring the basic tenets of health-supporting diets, we can help people increase diet quality while preserving their cultural traditions, food preferences, and dietary styles.

5. Healthy foods are prohibitively expensive.. 

There is a prevailing myth that to eat healthfully, you need to buy special foods, shop at specialty stores, etc. This might be perpetuated by clever marketing, targeted advertising, and a world wide web full of “healthy” recipes calling for expensive ingredients, but regardless, it’s simply not true. For those trying to minimize their food spend while maximizing nutrition, they need to take a good look at their current food spend and see where reasonable swaps can be made.

I like pointing out super inexpensive yet extremely nutritious foods you can find at any grocery store. Dry beans top this list as a top source of fiber and protein for pennies a serving (canned beans are only marginally more expensive). Other examples include bulk or store brand dry brown rice, barley, cornmeal, store brand frozen vegetables, peanut butter, potatoes, and bananas.

But the single most impactful change many people can make with food budgeting is cutting back on takeout and restaurants. The cost of prepared foods is astronomical, especially lately. As an obvious example, you get a small green salad at a pizza joint for $9, but make the exact same thing at home (in about 3 minutes) for about $2. A regular cup of coffee is now about $2, but is about 20 cents if brewed at home. Different people face different financial challenges, but there is a select group of folks I’ve encountered who think nothing of stopping for a coffee on the way to work or grubhubbing several nights a week, but balk at the price of apples at the market. 

I recently put together this infographic, which illustrates 2 ways to spend about $22: 

This is a powerful visual of just how much more affordable healthful groceries are than takeout. But we’re not 100% safe at the Safeway -- things like frozen entrees, prepared foods, cut up fruits and vegetables, and convenience foods are also cash crushers. 

Bottom line: Sticking to the basics is the way to go -- and preparing yummy meals made from them is not as difficult as it may seem -- that’s where the RDN’s value comes in!!