Common Diabetes Myths, and What You NEED to Know

There are many nutrition myths floating around the internet. You may even have heard a few from your friends or a co-worker.

Unfortunately, many nutrition myths can get in the way of supporting your health. However, understanding the (flawed) reasoning behind nutrition myths can help you have a better grasp on nutrition and support you in making healthier decisions.

You Should Eliminate Gluten to Lower Your Sugars

One of the popular nutrition myths that has taken the world by storm is the idea that you need to eliminate gluten from your diet in order to achieve your weight loss goals. But just because a belief is popular, does not make it true.

However, unnecessarily eliminating gluten from our diet does not necessarily result in weight loss^[1]The Surprising Truth About Gluten-Free Food and Weight Loss. (2020, December 23). Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/the-surprising-truth-about-gluten-free-food-and-weight-loss/^[2]Diet Review: Gluten-Free for Weight Loss. (n.d.). Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Retrieved January 13, 2022, … Continue reading. You only lose weight when your body is in a calorie deficit – not by removing ingredients or food groups from our diet.

Despite the popular myth, only people with celiac disease or gluten intolerance need to remove gluten from their diet. To learn more about gluten, check out the post, Should I Try the Gluten-Free Diet.

You Shouldn’t Eat Foods You Can’t Pronounce

Another popular nutrition myth is the concept that we should not eat foods with ingredients that we cannot pronounce. This myth fuels the idea that foods with unpronounceable ingredients are bad for our bodies and therefore we should eliminate them from our diet.

But when it comes to ingredient lists, there is actually regulations dictating the terms used. Ingredients found in a food product are listed using their scientific name, rather than by their common name. As a result, many ingredients found in this list are unrecognizable and hard to pronounce. But this does not make the food unhealthy. In fact, many of us would struggle with the pronunciation of the a banana’s ingredients. You can learn more about the regulations surrounding ingredients lists from the Government of Canada’s website.

For tips to help you understand the nutrition facts label, check out How to Understand Nutrition Facts Labels.

You Shouldn’t Eat After 7pm

There are some variations of this myth. Whether it’s “you shouldn’t eat after dark” or “you shouldn’t eat after insert-time-here”, it is another misconception that drives diet culture.

Although your body may not burn as many calories on an evening, it does not magically lose its ability to digest food when the sun goes down^[3]Fonken, L. K., & Nelson, R. J. (2014). The Effects of Light at Night on Circadian Clocks and Metabolism. Endocrine Reviews, 35(4), 648–670. https://doi.org/10.1210/ER.2013-1051^[4]Grant, C. L., Coates, A. M., Dorrian, J., Kennaway, D. J., Wittert, G. A., Heilbronn, L. K., Pajcin, M., della Vedova, C., Gupta, C. C., & Banks, S. (2017). Timing of food intake during simulated … Continue reading. And it doesn’t mean you should never eat after dark.

Having a snack after dark from time to time is not necessarily going to mean you’re going to gain weight. Your body is capable of handling different amounts of calories per day and still needs energy at night

It’s still important to listen to your hunger signals after dark, or at night.

Feeling hungry at night may be a sign that you did not eat enough during the day. Despite the change in your metabolism at night, it is still important to listen to your hunger signals at night and have something to support your body’s needs.

You Should Avoid Potatoes

Before I get into busting this myth, I would like to say that even I am offended on behalf of potatoes by this myth. Potatoes are a starchy vegetable and are one of the most versatile vegetables available. However, they get a lot of hate that they do not deserve.

As a starchy vegetables, potatoes are a rich source of carbohydrates, which is where potatoes get their bad name. During digestion, your body breaks down carbohydrates in monosaccharides such as glucose (also known as sugar). Most people don’t need to worry about the amount of glucose they consume at any given time, as the body tightly regulates the amount of sugar in the blood. However, people with diabetes, may need to be cautious of their potato intake, due to the effect it can have on their blood sugar.

Despite their carbohydrate content, potatoes can absolutely be part of a healthy diet! In fact, potatoes are packed with vitamins and minerals that your body needs and are considered a nutrient-dense food. Some of the vitamins and minerals you can find in potatoes include,

• • B vitamins (including B1, B3, and B6
  • Vitamin C
  • Potassium
  • Iron

Fresh Fruits are More Nutritious

This may be one of the newer nutrition myths making its way around, but that does not make it real. The notion that fresh foods are more nutritious is a little misleading.

Although there may be a slight difference between the nutritional value of fresh and frozen fruits, it does not mean either one is inherently better than the other. The truth is that frozen and canned options have similar amounts of vitamins and minerals as fresh fruits and veggies.

Additionally, fresh fruits and veggies lose some of their nutrition value during transport from the farms to our local supermarkets.

I also wanted to point out that this myth can have the unintended consequences of food shaming. Frozen and canned fruits and veggies are often more affordable than fresh alternatives.

You can grab a FREE copy of my fresh, frozen and canned comparison chart for the pros and cons!