Weight Loss Diet Myths

If you are overweight, chances are you must have heard a lot of weight loss dieting tips from friends, colleagues and more. They are not experts but are spreading their word about something that is a plain myth or something that has worked for someone they know.

We have a tendency to follow such tips, hoping it would work for us. But we do not realize it could have some adverse side effect. Following are some common dieting myths which are mostly ineffective and some may cause damage to your health.

1. Fad diets work only if you continue them for long term
   Fad diets mainly consist of only some particular kind of foods in combination, Fad diets do not allow normal food intake and ban you from eating some products temporarily. These diets work but the results can not be long term as our body loses weight when it is in deficit of normal food intake. This sort of diet can cause malnutrition as it is very restrictive.
   
   Healthy dieting for weight loss is possible when you take balanced diet and keep a regular exercise routine.
   
   
2. High-protein and low-carb diets make you lose weight
   
   While you are on a weight loss program you lessen the amount of carbohydrates and instead replace them with whole grains fruits and vegetables. If you considerably reduce carbohydrate intake, chances are you will gain back as soon as you get back on your normal diet. Large protein intake can create problems. It is common to see side effects like fatigue, nausea, constipation in people eating such diets.
   
   
3. Low-fat or sugar free foods are good for weight control.
   Markets are flooding with non fat, low fat and sugar free products, which include jams, jellies, candies, granola bars, flavored yogurts, ice creams and more. There is no way to judge if they genuinely are less in fat or sugar content. Too much intake of such foods can cause no help. These must be completely avoided if you are diabetic or obese.
   
   
4. Only Grapefruit or only Cabbage soup diet causes quick weight loss
   Some kinds of foods, herbs and medicines help you to increase your metabolism but there is no such diet that can burn your fat, it is it just regular exercise which makes you burn the stored up fat and hence lose weight.
   Going on a grapefruits or cabbage soup diet will limit your food intake, it will make you lose some weight but it is extremely unhealthily to follow. Such diets are like starvation, which can damage your health.
   
   
5. Drinking water will make you lose weight.
   While it is true that ample water consumption is an important part of well-balanced diet, but drinking water alone can not cause weight loss. Avoiding high soft drinks will cause weight loss because by replacing them with water or a less calorie drink you are save calories. When you are hungry you need food, not water, it can just take care of your thirst. One must drink adequate water for proper body functioning.
   
   
6. Becoming vegetarian causes weight loss
   If you are prone to eating non vegetarian diet all your life, going vegetarian will cause drastic change and you are likely to lose muscle mass. There is no harm in becoming vegetarian, but one has to make sure that high protein food is consumed. In place of eating lean meats and fish, one can manage adequate protein intake by eating tofu, beans and high protein grains. Limiting yourself with non vegetarian food will not cause desired weight loss.