Like all myths, weight loss myths usually have a bit of truth, no matter how small. Below, these truths will be highlighted and examined along with the research to support or oppose these myths.
It is important to note that when we talk about weight loss, it’s really a highly individualized process. No two people lose weight in the same way.
A lot of weight loss can be trying to find what works for you and your lifestyle. For example, intermittent fasting can be a great way to lose weight for some, or it can lead to binging and overeating at other meals for others.
There are so many things that can impact the way an individual loses weight, and that is a conversation for another time. Below, see the small truths, and the science, behind these 18 common weight loss myths.
Myth 1: Skip Meals to Lose Weight
Logically, this myth sounds like it makes sense: eat less, lose weight.
Research shows that skipping breakfast or dinner can lead to eating less during the day. However, that may not be true for most people. After a fast, some people may compensate by eating more later in the day and end up not losing weight.
Myth 2: All Calories Are Created Equal
This is false. Some calories are better than others. This can depend mainly on the nutrient density of the calories and foods you eat, as some foods are more nutrient-dense than others. Meaning that for the same amount of calories, some foods contain more vitamins, minerals, and fiber than others. For example, 100 calories of potato chips and 100 calories of broccoli nutritionally are vastly different. The varying compositions of different foods leads to the foods being metabolized in your body in different ways as well.
Myth 3: You Have to Starve Yourself to Lose Weight
If a health professional tells you that you need to starve yourself to lose weight, then run away fast. Rapid weight loss by very restricted dieting can wreak havoc on your metabolism, not to mention your body and organs. After times of significant calorie restriction, your metabolism slows down drastically, and weight regain is inevitable. There are better, healthier ways to lose weight.
Studies found that beverages like ginger lemon tea and green tea drinks can boost metabolism, promote fullness, and decrease appetite. Try this ginger lemon tea in the morning.
Get the recipe.
Myth 4: Eating at Night Makes you Gain Weight
This is false, but there may be some truth to it. It has more to do with what we eat at night and how much than the mere fact of eating at night. Most people tend to grab a bowl full of ice cream and not a bowl full of carrots for a nighttime snack. So, eating that bowl of ice cream every night might lead to weight gain. It is not the night eating, but what you eat and how much that are the main factors.
Myth 5: Skipping Breakfast Helps you Lose Weight
Regarding breakfast, in particular, the research actually states the contrary. Many studies have demonstrated a relationship between breakfast eaters and lower BMI. Like the first myth, the idea is that skipping breakfast will lead you to eat fewer calories throughout the day, over time leading to weight loss. Again, for some people, skipping meals leads them to make up for the calories in later meals throughout the day, which defeats the purpose.
Myth 6: Cut Out Fat
Cutting out fat will not help you lose weight, perhaps unless you are using it as a way to lower calorie intake. Fat has more calories per gram (meaning it is more calorie-dense) compared to carbohydrates and protein, which each has about 4 calories per gram. Fat has 9 calories. So, lowering your fat intake can be an excellent way to cut some calories throughout your day, which may result in weight loss over time.
Myth 7: Cut Out Carbs
This is one of my favorite ones to debunk. No, you do not need to cut out carbs to lose weight. People tend to think of “fun” carbs when thinking of carbs, like pasta, bread, and sweets. And yes, lowering your intake of these foods can lead to some weight loss because they can be high in calories, and we tend to overeat these foods.
But there are a lot of other nutrient-dense foods that are high sources of carbs. Fruits, veggies, and nuts are nutrient-dense, critical, and loaded with carbs. Studies show that participants lost weight by consuming several different diets, including low-carb or low-fat, as long as they decreased their calories.
Myth 8: Cut Out Gluten
Gluten can be a perfectly healthy part of any diet for most people. Like the answer above, people associate gluten with carb and calorie-heavy foods like pasta and bread.
Cutting back on those foods can be an excellent way to cut calories and lose weight, but it is likely not from decreasing your gluten intake that you would lose weight. In fact, the research on gluten-free diets has shown no relationship with weight loss. People who follow a gluten-free diet are also more likely to have nutrient deficiencies like iron and calcium due to the lack of whole grains in their diet.
Myth 9: Diet Soda Helps You Lose Weight
This question is the source of a lot of research today. This one, again, logically makes sense. Switching to a diet soda from a regular soda can decrease the calories you consume in a day. However, the research tells another story.
In this review (a paper that analyzes a bunch of studies all at once), swapping out regular soda for diet soda had no impact on a person’s weight. In fact, some studies showed diet soda intake was associated with weight gain! And this could be for several reasons that deserve its own article to explain. The bottom line is, switching to diet soda is likely not a good strategy for weight loss. And, unfortunately, even though it is boring, water will always be your best option.
Myth 10: Juice Cleanses Work
Many try juice cleanses believing it will eliminate the “toxins” that build up in your body. Actually, you have organs, your liver and kidneys, which do a pretty good job of that! There is also little to no research on juice cleanses, and the research out there does not favor juice cleanses. They can lead to macronutrient deficiencies (your body not getting the carbs, fat, and protein it needs), and malnutrition. There are other, healthier ways to lose weight than starving your body of the nutrients it needs!
Myth 11: Fast Intermittently to Lose Weight
This is a great example of something that may work for some people but not others.
In studies, as long as participants maintained a lower-calorie diet or slight calorie restriction, they lost weight. However, there is a lot of individual variation, meaning a large range of weight changes. Most of these studies have relatively few people and are not over a long period, meaning we need to take these results with a grain of salt. So, intermittent fasting can be something you try and see if it works for you and your lifestyle.
Myth 12: The Keto Diet is the Solution
Fat can have some incredible benefits and is essential to the health of our brains and other organs. However, eating the amount of fat needed for ketosis can negatively impact your health. In addition, to achieve ketosis, you need to lower your carb intake to under 50 grams a day. To put it into perspective, that is one small muffin (about 60 grams) of carbs daily! While weight loss results have been promising in the short term, an overly restrictive diet like this is hard to maintain over a long time.
Myth 13: ‘Hack’ Your Body to Lose Weight
This is the idea that you can “defeat” biology. While the science of “hacking” your biology is a little shaky, the proposed solutions boil down to general recommendations for healthy living. This includes eating a balanced diet, getting plenty of exercise, and getting adequate sleep. All of these are great recommendations for weight reduction and a healthy lifestyle. In addition, there is a lack of research on this topic so I would interpret everything on this topic with a grain of salt.
Myth 14: You Must Go On a Diet
This word is often misused. It really just refers to the way you eat. So yes, you have to eat a certain way to lose weight, but this does not have to be keto, intermittent fasting, or a juice cleanse. You can just try to eat a little healthier and add some fruits, veggies, and lean proteins, all in the right amounts for your body. If you want to call that a diet, then go for it!
Research shows protein can boost metabolism by 80 to 100 calories per day, reduce cravings by 60 percent, and help you eat up to 441 fewer calories per day. One study suggests your metabolic rate temporarily increases more after eating protein-rich foods, such as salmon, compared with fat and carbohydrates.
For a flavorful weekday dinner, try this Mediterranean Salmon Provencal.
Get the recipe.
Myth 15: ‘Cheat’ Days Help
The idea of “cheat days” is still an area for further research, but it stands that cheat meals can make your diet a more sustainable one.
An excellent way to think about it is by following the 80/20 rule for daily or weekly meals. Focus on making 80 percent of what you eat healthful and nutrient-dense, while 20 percent can be your more calorie-dense treats. Make sure during that 20 percent you are still trying to eat portions that are right for your body, but go easy on yourself if you eat a little more.
Some people can experience episodes of binging during cheat meals, so it is important to maintain a mindful approach to your cheat meals.
Myth 16: Cut Out Booze to Lose Weight
Alcohol could lead to gaining weight in a couple different ways, which typically apply to heavier drinkers. Alcohol itself contains calories. In addition to the sugar usually associated with our favorite drinks, having several drinks in one night could add hundreds of calories to your daily intake. People also tend to overeat and consume calorie-dense foods while overindulging in alcohol. Most of the research linking weight and alcohol is seen in heavy drinkers. So light to moderate drinkers will likely not see a change in their weight if they quit drinking. But again, this is one of those myths that is pretty individual.
Myth 17: Health Is Determined by Weight
I could talk about this topic all day. This is a more extensive conversation. For now, let’s say no, health is not determined solely by weight. Weight can impact health, and people on either end of weight extremes, severely overweight or severely underweight, are likely not very healthy. But there are people of almost every other weight in between who can be healthy at their given weight.
Myth 18: Losing Weight Just Takes Willpower
If that were true, then all of the people in our lives with great willpower would be at a healthy weight, and all of the people with less willpower would be at a not healthy weight. As we all know, that is not the case.
An individual’s weight can be impacted by many factors. Whether it is their environment, genetics, unique body, stress level, metabolism, etc., to say it is all about willpower is an understatement, to say the least.
As you can see, the answer to “do these weight loss myths work?” is; it depends! Cutting alcohol consumption could work if you are a heavy drinker. Reducing carbs or fat could work if you maintain a lower-calorie diet. Skipping breakfast could work as long as you don’t binge to make up the calories later in the day. Weight loss can be a difficult thing to study because there are so many things that impact the way our bodies maintain, gain or lose weight. Bottom-line, find what works for you and your lifestyle. The most effective weight loss strategies are the ones you maintain. Finding healthy ways to lower your calorie intake, exercise more, manage stress, and get adequate sleep is a great place to start.