10 Diet Myths That Won't Go Away part 2

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Myths 6-10

10 Diet Myths That Won't Go Away

We expose the truth about popular diet myths.

By JENNIFER FIELDS

Diet Myths

# 6. Myth: When you're on a diet, drinking juice is a no-no.

# Fact: Juice gets such a bad rap these days, but the truth is, juice

isn't inherently bad for you, provided you're actually drinking juice

-- not a juice drink. Juice drinks are loaded with added sugar and

preservatives. So check the label to be sure you're only reaching for

100 percent juice. The caveat? Because juice is much more concentrated

than fruit, you need much less of it. Limit yourself to 4-ounce

servings of juice, Sass says. Of course, whenever possible, you should

choose whole fruit over juice, because fruit contains fiber, which

fills you up, and is left behind when you extract the juice.

# 7. Myth: All sugar is bad for you.

# Fact: When it comes to the sweet stuff, not all sugar is created

equal. Food labels don't distinguish between added sugar and sugar

that was naturally in the food to begin with, says Sass. For example,

most dieters wouldn't consider eating canned fruit because of the

grams of sugar listed on the label. However, if it's packaged in its

own juice, then you're just eating the sugar that was already in the

fruit. Lots of good-for-you foods naturally have sugar in them, such

as low-fat milk, says Sass. Instead of looking at the grams of sugar

on the nutrition label, read the ingredient list. Foods containing

items like high fructose corn syrup should be kept to a minimum.

# 8. Myth: Exercising on an empty stomach burns more fat.

# Fact: If only it were that easy. The real deal? When you do aerobic

exercise, your body is burning fat as well as carbohydrate stores from

food you've recently eaten, says Sass. So if you skip your pre-workout

meal or snack, you won't have carb stores to burn. But that doesn't

mean you'll burn all fat (a physiological impossibility). Instead,

your body starts to burn its own muscle for fuel. And less muscle

means lower metabolism -- not the goal of any dieter. Not to mention

that exercising on empty means you'll probably be too tired to go all

out, which translates into burning fewer calories during your workout

than if you had properly fueled up beforehand. Ideally, you should

have a meal three or four hours before a workout, or a snack one to

two hours before exercising.

# 9. Myth: Drinking liquid meal replacements will help shrink your stomach.

# Fact: No way ... Liquid diets are strictly for babies! Any shrinking

that happens from a liquid diet is likely to be in your imagination --

not in your stomach, says Blatner. Why? " Your stomach is a muscular

organ that will stretch temporarily when you eat, and then return back

to its normal size. " There is nothing you can do to shrink your

stomach, she says. As you diet, over time you may get used to eating

less, but that's not because your stomach has actually shrunk.

# 10. Myth: Eating grapefruit will help you burn fat.

# Fact: That eating grapefruits will help you lose weight is one of

the most persistent among diet myths -- and just when you think it's

gone, it resurfaces and becomes all the rage again every few years.

" It's ridiculous, " says Neporent. " There is no food that has intrinsic

" fat-burning enzymes " that magically melt fat from your body. There

was one study that demonstrated the effectiveness of this diet, notes

Neporent. However, it was small, isolated, and there is some question

as to whether the citrus industry sponsored the research. If you want

to eat grapefruit as part of a well-rounded diet, go for it. They're

rich in lycopene -- an antioxidant that protects against heart disease

and breast cancer, says Keecha , DrPH, RD, and spokesperson for

the American Dietetic Association. Incorporate it and other

lycopene-rich foods such as tomatoes and watermelon into your diet

each day, she says.

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Get Fit! Weight loss will follow