Weight Loss Myths

The American Dietetic Association has come out with a great list of the “Ten Red Flags of Junk Science.”

Science frequently does junk research but there is no area where this practice is more common than with nutrition and weight loss.

We are bombarded with research study after research study which only create confusion because they all seem so contradictory. There are two reasons for this:

* Doing good and valid research in nutrition and weight loss is enormously difficult and it’s this difficulty that leads to contradictory outcomes.

* The results of the research are inappropriately presented to the public.

It is this second reason that the American Dietetic Association is targeting. Here are their ten red flags you should watch out for:

1. Recommendations that promise a quick fix
2. Dire warnings of danger from a single complex study
3. Claims that sound too good to be true
4. Simplistic conclusions drawn from a complex study
5. Recommendations based on a single study
6. Dramatic statements that are refuted by reputable scientific organizations
7. Lists of “good” and “bad” foods
8. Recommendatons made to help sell a product
9. Recommendations based on studies published without peer review
10. Recommendations from studies that ignore differences among individuals or groups.

My advice? Ignore all scientific research reported on by the media. There is no way you can separate the wheat from the chaff.

Yikes! I just read an article about weight loss that actually has some value.

It’s an article about weight-loss myths.

Here is how the article starts out:

“Myths are all over the place without a doubt. Some of these myths are really easy to debunk, but other myths seem so realistic that a lot of the times we take them as reality and sadly this affects our perception of things.”

Here are the myths the article lists:

* “Lose 30 pounds in 30 days”
* Fat is bad for you
* Carbohydrates are bad for you
* Lose weight by not eating
* Don’t eat after 6 p.m.
* Salad bars ahre healthy
* Diet sodas aid in weight loss
* You shouldn’t step on a scale
* You can lose weight with a pill
* You have to join a gym

Great stuff!

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition, and Fitness

I just read a blog by which summarizes “all the best weight-loss tips in a single post.”

The promise:

“These tips are going to be really big weight loss tips. They will surely help you in getting weight off.”

HOGWASH

There are 15 of these “big weight loss tips” and there is only one which is any good — “shut off TV while eating.”

Now the reason given for why this tip is a good one is all wrong but at least the advice is good.

The other 14 tips are pure nonsense. Here are the worst of the bunch:

* Drink 6 to 8 glasses of water every day
* Eat “negative calories foods”
* Eat small, frequent meals throughout the day
* Take vitamins to increase your metabolism
* Eat green tea via a drink, a pill or a weight-loss patch

No wonder the incidence of overweight and obesity is going up.

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition, and Fitness

Finally, someone has written an article that makes some sense.

The title: “Some food dos and don’t are best ignored, experts say:

Yep, this article points out some of the dozens of silly food ‘rules’ that are plain not true.

Here are a few of the ‘rules’ listed in the article:

* Don’t eat before bedtime or you’ll gain weight (never mind that folks in Spain almost eat their family meal just before bed).

* It’s best to eat at the same times every day (but, what if you aren’t hungry?)

* Refusing food at a party or when visiting is rude (no, what’s rude is not being able to tell your host you are totally satisfied with their wonderful food because you ate something you didn’t like or ate more than you wanted to).

* Bread is fattening, nuts are fattening, pasta is fattening (actually, there are no fattening foods).

Why do people continue to believe these silly ideas — when there is no absolutely no evidence they are true? — and a lot of evidence they are false.

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition, and Fitness

Check out this headline from an article I read over the weekend:

“A new study suggests that middle aged adults looking for effective methods of losing weight should take into account the fact that regular physical exercise is more effective than a strict diet.”

There you have it — proof that exercise is better than dieting for losing weight.

But wait a minute!

What about the vast number of studies that demonstrate just the opposite? Did the US government guidelines (based on a thorough review of all the available research) get it wrong in saying that exercise has NOT shown to be effective in helping people lose weight?

This happens all the time. The only published studies that get any media attention are the ones the contradict the general conclusions from available research.

In this case, the study referenced was based on data from 34 adults between 50 and 60 years of age collected over a relatively short period of time. Never mind that the conflicting research is based on studies with thousands of participants extending over multiple years.

In my course I call this the “one study problem” — where a single study is assumed to be true where, in fact, no single study in the health-care field has ever proven anything.

Did you notice the above headline described the study’s results as “the fact?” I’m sorry, but there were no “facts” that came out of this study. In reality, on the topics of weight, nutrition, and fitness, there are no “facts” that come out of any single study.

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition, and Fitness

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know I rarely read weight-loss tips with which I agree. That’s the reason I wrote my course on weight, nutrition, and fitness. I’ve been shaking my head for over 35 years about the myths, misconceptions, and misdirection in the area of weight-loss and I felt an obligation to share the truths.

I keep hoping I’ll read something in the lay press that gets the facts mostly right but, so far, that hasn’t happened.

Today, I saw another article with weight-loss tips that’s more than half wrong. But here’s what’s crazy — the misconceptions about weight loss are so widespread, most people reading this article would think the advice given sounds pretty reasonable.

Here are just a few examples of wieght-loss tips from this article that are out-and-out not true:
* Never skip a meal and always eat breakfast
* Cut out white foods (flour, bread, crackers) because they increase insulin levels which prevents fat from getting burned off
* Drink lots of water to flush harmful toxins from your body and speed up metabolism
* Eat slowly and put down your fork/spoon after every bite
* Do not eat after 7:00 PM
* Exercise every day, without exception

Haven’t you heard all of these tips so often that you just assume they are true?

See, that’s the problem. The falsehoods have been so widely promoted that most of us don’t question their validity. So we end up trying to adhere to all this silly advice and cause ourselves more problems than help.

I’ll keep reading and let you know if I find an article that gets the advice mostly right.

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition, and Fitness

I just read an article titled “Go for Scientific Weight Loss.”

I was intrigued because I find that almost all weight-loss advice is based on myths and misinformation rather than the truths.

Well, once again, I was disappointed with what I read. The title was right on, but the content was a bunch of hogwash.

Here are just some of the “scientific” (but completely wrong) concepts presented:

* Obesity is a disease which can “sneak right up on you like a homicidal lunatic.”
* You shouldn’t drink tap water that’s loaded with minerals that aren’t good for you.
* The more water you drink, the less hungry you feel.
* Water will flush toxins from your body when you lose weight
* Supplements that improve metabolic control should be part of any weight-loss program
* Avoid drinking soda pop in aluminum cans because it’s bad for your brain
* Eat your “bad” foods but only once per week
* Fat is “contagious”

Honestly, I’ve rarely seen so much misinformation in one article.

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition, and Fitness

For years I’ve considered Peter Herman and Janet Polivy as two of the few people who have an accurate understanding of the causes of obesity.

They wrote “Breaking the Diet Habit” back in 1983, which I think is one of the best books ever written about gaining and losing weight. In fact, in my course on weight, nutrition, and fitness I heavily quote from their work.

I haven’t heard about them for a while, so I was pleased to see an announcement that they were the keynote speakers at a recent conference titled, “The Clinicians Challenge in Treating Obesity.” This is the inaugural symposium of the newly-formed Obesity Prevention and Treatment Society (OPTS).

Herman and Polivy, professors in psychology at the University Toronto, Canada, are best known for their research on “restraint theory,” which holds that, if you deny yourself of food, you’ll ultimately overeat (also nicknamed the “What the Hell Effect”).

My copy of their book is badly dog-eared and underlined. It is out of print but many libraries have a copy, as do some of the online used book sellers.

Here is more information about the OPTS.

The Obesity Prevention and Treatment Society (OPATS) was formed in early 2006 by clinicians working with obese people who recognized that traditional approaches to weight loss were having very limited success. Traditional, non-surgical weight loss strategies have 5 year success rates of typically less than 20%. More concerningly, research shows that after people lose weight, on average, they regain all that they lose plus another 15%. With over 50% of the population obese or overweight, the Society operates from the imperative of improving treatment outcomes. Of particular concern is the need to apply recent research to understanding the complexities of managing weight in families with young children.

This organization’s website is at http://www.opats.org

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition and Fitness

I’m not kidding — people are getting their ears stapled with the goal of losing weight.

The theory is that the ear has a pressure point related to the stomach and appetite. And, if you drive a staple through that point, it will reduce hunger and increase thirst for water.

The problem is that ear stapling for weight loss is illegal in some states due to the threat of infections and other health problems.

Florida is one of those states with a fine of up to $1,000 for practicing ear stapling. But, despite it being illegal, ear-stapling companies (Staple Me Thin LLC, Staple Lean, Staple Image LLC) are setting up branches in Florida to take advantage of the growing demand.

I need to quit getting surprised by such foolishness.

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition and Fitness

I read articles all the time which claim to share the “truths” about weight loss.

Yeah, I know — I’ve written an entire course that offers the “truths” so what am I complaining about?

Well, it turns out there are “truths” and then there are “truths.”

See, the articles I read are almost always just a rehash of the same misinformation that’s been around for decades. A writer, who knows little about these topics, reviews the work of a few “experts” and then summarizes some key points in a short article for a magazine or newspaper.

Here’s the problem. These writers have almost no weight-loss expertise, so their only option is to trust that the “experts” with whom they consulted are right.

BIG mistake! Why? — because there’s so much inaccurate and contradictory information about this topic that it’s almost impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff.

A few days ago I read an article titled, “The Truth About Weight Loss Myths.” The author started out by saying you shouldn’t listen to all the free advice in the media about weight loss because much of it is useless folklore and half-truths. Then he went on to list two pages of myths and his rebuttal of each. Some of his comments were good (although somewhat meaningless when presented in isolation from the larger picture), but some were down-right wrong.

For example, he said that ingesting sugar prior to exercise can cause blood sugar levels to drop and lead to faster exhaustion. Now, I’m sure there are situations where this might happen, but it’s terribly misleading to suggest that you should avoid eating something prior to exercising.

Anyway, be cautious what you read on the topic of weight loss. Either ignore this information completely or get the facts so you can interpret it correctly.

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition and Fitness