What Are the Biggest Myths About Nutrition?

Don't believe myths about nutrition that are just not true!

Nutrition is a word you hear quite often these days. Everyone is now watching what they eat, counting calories and proteins. This has now gone over the qualification of a trend and has become something of a lifestyle and people really care about their health nowadays. We’re working out, we’re eating kale, and we’re following any kind of new method to keep ourselves in top shape.

The thing about all these crazy trends is that many of them are not real or as effective as they claim. We are constantly bombarded with all kinds of ideas. One day, whole-wheat bread is the best thing ever and the next it is basically poison. So many contradicting notions has led many of us to create and believe myths about nutrition that are simply absurd.

People that seem most concerned about what they eat are athletes and those who care about being fit and healthy. We all know that eating right is the best complement for regular exercise. But athletes and people who work out regularly are not exempt from falling for these myths. So here we are about to bust the top five myths or lies we think of as true about our eating habits:

1. Eating a lot of proteins will result in extra muscle tissue: While it is true that muscle tissue is made by breaking down proteins, there is a thing as too much. Muscles tissue gets worn out when we exercise regularly. If we take more protein than we’re able to burn, then that excess will become fat tissue and will make you gain weight instead of losing it.
2. Cholesterol-free food is healthier: Many people don’t realize that there is good cholesterol. While it is a good idea not to overindulge in eating foods with too much cholesterol, there are worse things we eat and we don’t even realize it. With good and regular exercise, we can burn out most of the cholesterol we eat. Trans and saturated fats are the real enemies here due to the fact that they’re a lot harder to burn out and the damage that they cause to our arteries and hearts.
3. Athletes are immune to osteoporosis: No one is immune to this condition. Many people believe that the exercise done by athletes combined with their diets will prevent them from developing osteoporosis. The constant stress to the bones can cause them to lose mass if the person is not getting the proper nutrients. There’s more to bone mass than just calcium. They also need vitamin D, K, and magnesium, which are not found in dairy products.
4. Natural and herbal equals healthy: Not everything that is natural or herbal is good for your health. Tobacco, opium, and cocaine are all natural herbs and they are known to be quite detrimental. The thing about herbal products is that they’re not usually regulated or standardized. So different brands or even different batches from the same brand can have different amounts of nutrients and ingredients. You need to watch out for that!
5. All I need to drink is water (Lots of it!): We’ve all heard the old tale of the eight glasses of water a day to stay hydrated. This is, in fact, false! The amount of water each person needs is different and depends on many factors. Athletes need a little more than just water after working out. Their levels of sodium and potassium tend to get really low after exercising, so a sport drink might be a better idea.
6. Eating at night will make you get fat: Calories are just that. They don’t have tiny watches to determine when they can or can’t make you fat.  People think they can eat a pound of chocolate cake at 8 in the morning and they won’t get any fatter, even if they do nothing during the day. Just being awake doesn’t burn calories! But neither does sleeping. The trick is being able to burn the calories we eat. You can eat calories at night if you know you’ll burn them with a good workout or running session.

If you’re going to run or workout at night, you should gear up with some reflective gear in order to make yourself as visible as possible for cars and incoming traffic.

We hope we were able to shed some light into these myths and clear a few misconceptions about nutrition and how people believe it works. Staying healthy and safe is what Lightbug Sports is all about. They have the best sports gear for all your athletic needs, from shoes to shirts and even accessories. Plus, all of their products are made from light-reflecting materials, designed to keep you safe and visible even in low light situations.

Get your facts from real nutritionists.

Lightbug Sports

Phone: +1 (877) 586.7425

Email: info@lightbugsport.com

http://www.lightbugsport.com/

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The Truth About Hydration

How many glasses of water do you really need to take?

Remember when we were kids and the P.E. the teacher always insisted on staying hydrated? Making a big fuss about drinking lots of water and other liquids. The same goes for our parents and practically every adult in our lives. They all seemed so concerned about how much water we take in and put out. They were so fixated on this issue that we believed them, we bought the whole eight glasses of water a day story with no actual knowledge about the truth.

The thing is that there is some kind of cult or belief around hydration, people believing things like it helps prevent all kinds of diseases, that if you don’t drink enough water you’ll just drop dead, and all sorts of crazy stuff. We’ve grown so accustomed to this so called facts that we have shaped our lives around them, and they get even worse for someone who exercises regularly. Surely, athletes need to stay hydrated in order to achieve the best level of performance possible for them, but it is not like most people believe.

The first, and foremost truth, you should know about hydration is that as long as you drink whenever you’re thirsty, you’ll be fine. Our bodies are smart, when we need food we get hungry, when we need sleep we get sleepy, so it stands to reason that when we need water, we get thirsty. It’s that simple!

Well, with that being said, today we are here to bust out the five biggest myths about hydration:

1. We should drink eight glasses of water a day: We start with the biggest myth of all. Eight glasses of water is an arbitrary amount that somebody just labeled as appropriate without even considering that every person has their own needs and circumstances. The amount of water we should take will depend on things such as our body mass and how much physical exercise we do every day. An athlete will always need more than someone who engages on mild physical activity or none at all. Again, trust your body, drink when you’re thirsty and you’ll be fine.

2. Clear urine is best: Lots of people believe that clear pee means good hydration and that everything is fine. Doctors and scientist suggest otherwise, clear urine is a symptom of overhydration. Yes, there’s such a thing as too much water in our systems but we’ll circle back to that later on. Pale yellow urine is your goal, it means that you’re not overhydrated and are eliminating toxins properly. Dark or murky pee is a sign of dehydration though.

3. We simply need water: This is a tricky one, it depends on your lifestyle. For someone who engages on low or mild physical exercise drinking water whenever they feel thirsty is just fine. An athlete however, will need a little extra kick. After doing hard exercise they will also need sodium and potassium to replenish their body levels. In these cases, sport drinks are the best option.

4. You can’t have too much water: Yes you can! Any excess with our bodies can be detrimental to our health and cause serious problems. Drinking too much water can cause symptomatic hyponatremia which is caused by low levels of sodium in the blood stream due to too much water. Some of the symptoms are nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting and can even lead to death if not treated properly.

5. Drinking water prevents diseases and helps you to lose weight: There is absolutely no scientific research that supports that drinking water reduces the risk of any kind of decease. Surely, the body needs water to sustain itself but the liquid by itself doesn’t help prevent any disease. The same goes for weight loss, if anything, drinking too much water can cause fluid retention which will make you gain weight.

So, basically, it all comes down to trusting your body. In more cases than not, it knows what is best for you, just drink when you’re thirsty and you’ll be fine. If you’re a hardcore athlete. you might want to give sport drinks a try.

Staying healthy and safe is what Lightbug Sports is all about. They have the best sports gear for all your athletic needs, from shoes to shirts and even accessories. Plus, all of their products are made from light-reflecting materials designed to keep you safe and visible even in low light situations.

Find out the truth of how much water you actually need.

Lightbug Sports

Phone: +1 (877) 586.7425

Email: info@lightbugsport.com

http://www.lightbugsport.com/