Nutrition myths

This month we have a special guest on the blog. Meet Lee Sambrano, a nutrition graduate of Ariel University. Lee chose to teach us about busting myths around healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle – and you'll be surprised to discover how many things we're sure are true turn out to be just another myth.

Shall we start?

1) Eating protein right after a workout

Heard the saying that you have to eat protein straight after training, to give the muscle the strength it needs to grow?

Well…

You'll be surprised to learn – no!

In the past it was indeed believed that you should eat protein after a workout, but newer research shows there's no need to eat protein immediately after training.

What do you need? To give your body the protein it needs throughout the whole day.

Everyone needs a different amount of protein per day, estimated at your body weight times 1.2. For example, a person weighing 50 kg needs around 60 g of protein a day.

So what is important to eat after training? Give the body all the food groups – carbohydrate, protein and vegetables. The body needs energy to recover and build muscle, so we need to meet all its nutritional needs.

2) Eating every 3 hours

The second myth I want to bust is one I fell for myself when I was younger. In practice, when we eat a meal that meets all the body's nutritional needs – protein, carbohydrate and vegetables – the body doesn't really need new energy so soon.

Did you know our digestive system works for 4–5 hours to digest and absorb the food we eat?

That's exactly why we need to give it time and rest to do its job.

A tip from me: if you feel hungry every two or three hours, look at your meals – they probably aren't giving your body the energy it needs, which is why you feel hungry so often.

Try adding more dietary fibre to your meals – for example, if you're having chicken breast and rice for lunch, add a vegetable salad on the side. Fibre keeps you full for longer.

3) Only meat has protein

The next myth is about the vegetarians among us. Do people always tell you that you must be lacking protein? Lacking energy? It really used to be thought that without meat we couldn't get enough protein.

Let me bust another myth – vegetarians can get enough protein and be full of energy too.

Meat contains what's called complete protein, meaning it contains all 9 amino acids essential to our body, and we really do need to eat enough protein during the day – again, each according to their own body.

But did you know you can get complete protein from plants too? How? Simply by combining a grain (such as bread, oats or rice) with a legume (lentils, beans, chickpeas), you get complete protein.

That means a meal of mujaddara, or even bread with peanut butter, gives your body complete protein. So you don't really have to eat meat every day to give your body quality protein – plant combinations can give it what it needs too.

4) Supplements

Not everyone needs a supplement.

Our body gets vitamins and minerals from food – it can't produce them itself, so we need a varied, rich diet to get all the vitamins and minerals we need.

Some vitamins are fat-soluble: vitamins A, D, E and K.

What does fat-soluble mean?

It means they can be stored in our body. So if someone takes a vitamin A supplement without consulting a doctor or dietitian and without a blood test, they store more of the vitamin than their body needs. An excess of vitamins or minerals can harm our body.

So if you want to know whether you need a supplement, don't ask the salesperson at the pharmacy – get a blood test and see whether you can first change something in your diet. You may be able to change the results just by adding certain foods.

If you can't, you can take supplements – but check with a doctor first so you don't harm your body.

5) Superfoods

Who hasn't heard of the superfoods that have conquered the world in recent years – chia, goji berries, spirulina, and the list goes on.

Wherever we go, we see these superfoods, which according to every advert are supposed to give us eternal life. Don't they? Well, no.

These superfoods really do contain lots of vitamins and minerals and are great for our body.

But marketers decided to ride the wave of the health trend of recent years and sell you foods as superfoods.

So before you run to the supermarket to buy another kilo of goji berries or spirulina and spend half your monthly salary on it, consider whether you really need it.

Fruit, almonds and nuts also contain lots of vitamins and minerals – they just didn't earn the coveted title of "superfood". As long as you eat a varied, rich diet, you won't be missing anything. So you can save that money and fly off on holiday instead.

Don't let every advert or food blogger teach you which lifestyle suits you! Check, ask and research until you find what works for you.

Food isn't the enemy – food is a gift! Enjoy it, vary it, and fill your menu with good things.

The key word is balance – keep enjoying your food, but keep training at the studio too, because that's the only way to get those abs :)