Today, everyone is an expert on social media. It doesn’t take anything to open a YouTube channel or an Insta page. You don’t need any credentials, or educational qualifications to do so.
Once people have their own page or channel, they turn into an expert, in any field, virtually overnight. Be it health and nutrition, fitness, finance, real estate, online/offline business, dance and music etc.
All this is till the real educated expert in that field comes and busts the rubbish information they spread with utmost confidence. Actually that’s all they have, confidence of highest order.
This confidence is extremely dangerous, as it’s an empty confidence, not backed by knowledge or education. That’s why they #SHOOTSHITWITHCONFIDENCE.
Let’s limit our discussion now to the field of health and fitness. There are many self-proclaimed overnight trainers and nutritionists on the internet, according to whom, there is some or the other food which is bad for you, acc. to some or the other reason.
The problem is that rarely they will give you the reason. Or they will simply read it from some western website, and copy paste it on their platform. Most don’t even understand the real reasons behind such recommendations and mainly promote such stupid information, to simply gain views and popularity.
Then there is another major reason to promote such topics. When you try to make such out-of-the-box videos, you gain views. It’s irrelevant whether the information is correct or not.
Now, if one such topic gain views, people jump on to such topics to make similar videos. And when a lie is told long enough, and loud enough, people start considering it as the truth.
Remember, ‘shit stinks’. That’s why it’s different. Therefore, just because someone is saying something different doesn’t mean, its correct. It’s just different.
Every day people are being bombarded with information on foods which are to be avoided, if they want to lose weight and get fit.
Most of these are not based on any science or research, but purely on marketing or overhyped misleading information, which is in trend. Telling such names, make them look more Cool & stylish. In simple terms, different.
So I checked on social media, for the information on foods to be avoided during weight loss, and believe me, you will start understanding the relevance of the title of this article, once you go through the recommendations.
Of the many recommendations, some are common sense recommendations like avoiding junk food, sugary beverages, fried and processed foods.
But then there are some new age recommendations, which follow trends more than science. For e.g. to lose weight:
- go gluten free
- avoid dairy
- avoid rice
- avoid roti
- don’t have carbs after 6
- don’t have salt after 7
- avoid fruits like mangoes, bananas etc.
- avoid vegetables like potato
- don’t have egg yolk
- stop alcohol
- don’t have lentils and legumes in dinner
And the list goes on. More the mouths, more the advices.
I often tell my clients one thing: “IF U LISTEN TO EVERYONE, YOU WOULD DIE HUNGRY”, because according to someone something is unhealthy.
The problem is that none of these ‘someone’ knows anything. If you stop and ask them to explain the reason they are telling to avoid a particular kind of food, most would never discuss such topics with you again.
Most of the names in the list above, have been already debunked as either absolutely misleading, or only applicable to specific cases.
For e.g. gluten-free is the latest trend in the market, and it’s clear that unless you are gluten-intolerant, or having celiac disease, you won’t have any issues, on consuming foods containing gluten.
This simply means, that like many foods, people are allergic or sensitive to, gluten is also something, to which few people may be sensitive or allergic. This doesn’t mean gluten is bad. It’s just an individual issue.
Similar is the case with dairy. Suddenly there is a big debate and of course the current trend on going dairy free. This is a never ending debate, as people, when they don’t get scientific logic, move on to emotional talks and pseudo-science explanations.
Dairy was and is not an issue. It’s the quality of milk or dairy products, which have deteriorated over the years, as most of the milk extracted is from animals injected with Growth hormones and antibiotics.
Similarly, advice to give up rice and roti, during weight loss, is just as good as riding a bicycle without a seat. You sure can do it for some time, but not for long, and it’s completely stupid, as it solves no purpose. The only thing to be focused on is portion/quantity control.
For e.g. if someone advices you to have roti in meals, and you consume 5-10 in a meal, then that’s the fault of an individual, not roti. Similarly, having rice doesn’t mean, having half a kg of rice at a time. It’s not the fault of rice then, but the person.
It is exactly the same with alcohol, eggs, potato etc.
Most of the problems occur because of either excess consumption or individual allergies/sensitivities.
Therefore, the key words are “MODERATION” & “INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENT”.
I have told this multiple times before, that food is a pleasure of life, not a punishment. You would be much happier consuming things in moderation and enjoying a stress free life, than going to extremes to avoid something totally, which has no reason to be avoided completely.
Similarly, whether a food is good or bad, is to be assessed as per an individual. If he/she is allergic/sensitive to a food, then are better avoided completely. But for rest, there is no reason to avoid anything. That’s why stop listening to everyone for advices, on any topic. Ask someone, who knows about that specific topic. And most importantly, learn to know the ‘WHY’ behind things. Once you know the ‘WHY’, you will be able to do it any how.
