Mythbuster Monday: Seventh Edition

The Myth: If I eat a salad every day for lunch, the weight will fall off!

For most of us, salad is the quintessential diet food. It’s the first thing we all think of when we decide to put ourselves on a “diet.” And restaurants are all too happy to help, offering many varieties of salad loaded with tasty goods, like croutons, bacon, hardboiled eggs, olives, cheese, corn, tostada shells, dressing... REALLY?! Order a hamburger already, darling, because putting these things on top of your greens makes that lunch almost as fattening!

Let’s sit down and get our facts straight, shall we? Complex carbohydrates are our friends, as much as the greens in a salad. They stabilize your blood sugar, and give you energy to last through the day. Ever wondered why most people crash and burn by 4 p.m.? Because the last time they saw a hint of a carb was 9 hours before, at breakfast!

Consider this too: go without carbs and you’ll suffer from low blood sugar, no concentration, memory loss, dizziness, weakness, fatigue, slow metabolism, excessive fat consumption, weight gain, malnutrition, and increase risk of diabetes.

Next time you're dining, skip the salad section of the menu and make sure you’re getting enough complex carbs. The benefits will astound you: reduced risk of some chronic diseases, vitamins and minerals essential for the maintenance of your body, reduced diverticulosis and constipation, lower cholesterol, proper bowel function, and a feeling of fullness, which guess what: leads to weight control!

Be a carb smarty pants, and know where they come from. It is NOT just about the bread basket! Brown rice, quinoa, beans, vegetables and fruit all contain the best of the best carbs. Slow down, and keep your diet balanced, and everything, including your mood, will feel better and more stable. Still thinking of eating a salad for lunch? Didn’t think so!

Mythbuster Monday - First Edition

The Myth: Carbohydrates make me fat.

So you decided to finally lose the weight once and for all. Great! You're going to get in amazing shape and you're really serious this time. Fabulous! You're going to start by cutting out carbs. WHAT?!

Guess what: only a huge moron would cut out an entire essential food group to try and lose weight. For your information, carbs are NOT a luxury. Your body actually requires carbs just to function! Carbs provide energy, protect the muscles, help absorb calcium, feed the friendly bacteria in your intestines that aid in digestion, and can even help lower cholesterol and regulate blood pressure.

Low carb diets are associated with headaches, body aches, sore joints, muscle aches, constipation, dizziness, and loss of energy and concentration. Remove carbs completely and it gets even uglier: bad breath, dehydration, bone loss, depression, mood swings, anxiety, liver inflammation, heart disease, kidney failure, and stroke. And once you start a low or no carb lifestyle, you can never stop or you'll put the weight back on quicker than a Britney Spears marriage.

But before you run down to your nearest 7-11 to stock up on Hostess cupcakes and potato chips, keep in mind that lumping all carbs in to one happy basket is dangerous. Not all carbs are created equal. Here are the good, the bad, and the ugly:

The Good: Quinoa, Sweet Potato, Brown Rice, Grains, Whole Wheat Pasta, Fruit, Vegetables, Beans, Nuts, and Legumes.

The Bad: White Sugar, White Bread, Alcohol.

The Ugly: Soda, Donuts, Cookies, Fast Food, Processed, Battered, and/or Fried Food, and anything labeled "Diet".

Get your fill of "The Good" carbs during in the morning and throughout the day when you need the most energy, skip them at night, leave out the rest, and don't believe everything your catty girlfriends tell you.

What are your favorite carbs from each category, Good, Bad and Ugly?