BMF Myth Busters: The top 10 health myths debunked

Did we ever mention that health and fitness is quite high up on our agenda? As a testament to this, we’ve decided to go a little further in our quest to get the UK active and feeling great.

The media is full of tips, advice and fad diets meaning it can be hard to know what is and isn’t healthy. In order to put some of the most common myths to bed we decided to carry out a survey that extended to the far corners of the UK, all to get a greater idea of the pitfalls and myths that the nation are following in a bid to stay healthy.

Whether its chewing gum being used as a fat burner or obsessive calorie counting, we’ve broken down our findings into a handy top 10 list of the biggest myths that people incorrectly follow.

UK Top 10 Health Myths

10. Chewing gum burns fat

It has been reported that chewing gum burns fat – 11 calories per hour is the estimated amount. The contestants on The Biggest Loser are actively encouraged to chew gum regularly.

However, the issue we have with this myth is that it has never been scientifically proven to be true. Nevertheless, this didn’t stop 24% of respondents to our survey from believing it.

Instead of chewing gum to lose 11 calories per hour, consider drinking more water (8-12 glasses a day at least), as water is the basis for every chemical reaction that takes place in your body, including the burning of fat. Stop chewing and start hydrating!

9. Fat weighs more than muscle

Almost a third (29.3%) of people who responded to our survey admitted to believing that fat weighs more, when in fact it simply isn’t true.

If you’re wanting to lose fat, we recommend not simply going off the figure that appears when you step on the scales. This can actually be a misrepresentation of how fit and healthy you actually are. It’s much better to judge your fat loss on how you feel and how your clothes fit.

8. Skipping meals helps with weight loss

Without getting too technical, when you miss a meal, your metabolism slows down and more of the next meal you consume will be converted into fat. Unfortunately, over 30% of the people we surveyed believed that skipping meals is a good way to lose weight.

Instead of missing out meals altogether, we would recommend having smaller portions or cooking with healthier foods at meal times. This involves cooking with fresh ingredients whenever possible, as well as cutting down on takeaways.

7. Sweeteners are healthier than sugar

42% of people believed this to be true. However, in many cases sweeteners actually increase your body’s craving for sugar, meaning that you’re likely to actually succumb to the urge of binging on sweet treats.

We’d recommend avoiding sweeteners, sticking to natural sugars such as those in fruits and keeping your sugar intake below the daily average. It’s about 70g for men and 50g for women, although this can vary depending on age and weight.

6. Vitamin C can cure a cold

Almost half (42.3%) of people we surveyed believed that Vitamin C can cure a cold. However, we’re here to debunk this myth, as there is unfortunately no known cure for the common cold. So, drinking a glass of orange juice when your nose is streaming probably isn’t going to make much difference, sadly.

5. Fat in your diet is bad

It has long been believed that too much fat in your diet is a bad thing. A lot of people are still believing this it seems, as almost half (48.3%) of the people we asked agreed with this statement.

There are however, both good and bad fats. Some fats allow you to absorb more energy and also help the body to absorb certain nutrients so it is essential for our diets.

Food containing saturated fat should be kept to a minimum in a healthy diet – men should aim to eat up to 30 grams per day, whilst women should aim for no more than 20 grams.

4. Cardio is the best form of exercise for weight loss

Cardiovascular exercise has always been thought of as the only way to lose weight, with over 46% of people we asked still swearing by it as the number one form of exercise.

We’re not saying you shouldn’t do any cardio at all, but there are actually better exercises you can do to lose weight. The issue with the likes of running is that you feel worn out after a session, but it’s likely that you’ve not necessarily burned as many calories as you might have doing a different form of exercise, including a BMF boot camp session of interspersed cardio and strength exercises.

We recommend mixing up your workout with both cardio and bodyweight exercises to get maximum results. In particular, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a very popular way to get fit, especially if you are short of time and want a challenge. It involves alternating bouts of both high and low intensity exercise to increase the amount of high intensity work performed. The low intensity, or rest period, allows for buffering and clearing of lactic acid from the blood, which then allows you to perform another bout of high intensity work.

Here is an example HIIT session you can use that involves both cardio and bodyweight exercises to increase strength, stamina, agility and speed – remember to maintain good form throughout the circuit and don’t stop in between exercises or it defeats the object of HIIT!

• 10 press ups
• 10 squat thrusts
• 10 squat jumps
• 10 burpees
• 10 star jumps
• 4 x 40m sprints

Have two minutes rest between circuits and try to repeat the circuit a total of five to six times.

3. Weightlifting makes women bulky

A worry for some women is that if they decide to start lifting weights, they’ll end up being bulky rather than slimmer. Almost 50% of respondents believed this to be true however, it’s actually pretty difficult for women to achieve a high muscle mass.

Adding a little bit of weightlifting into your regime isn’t going to make you look like a bodybuilder, it can actually help you to lose weight and you’ll look more toned too.

At British Military Fitness, we favour bodyweight exercises as they are a great way of building lean muscle and increasing strength. Bodyweight exercises, such as lunges, press ups and planks, can be very demanding and challenging but they have great benefits. They are free to do, you can do them anywhere and you can get a whole body workout in a very short time.

To get you started here is a 10 minute bodyweight boot camp you can do in your own home. Catering for exercise rookies to fitness veterans, it’ll put every part of your body through its paces, cueing your muscles up for a strength boost and your fat stores for a kicking.

BEGINNER

• 10 x press-ups, sit-ups and burpees
• 3 x 20m shuttle sprints
• Repeat the above five times with no rest
• When complete, give yourself two minutes of rest and do it again

INTERMEDIATE

• 12 x press-ups, sit-ups and burpees
• 3 x 30m shuttle sprints (or 4 x 20m if you’re low on room)
• Repeat the above five times with no rest
• When complete, give yourself two minutes of rest and do it again

ADVANCED

• 15 x press-ups, sit-ups and burpees
• 3 x 40m shuttle sprints (or 6 x 20m if you’re low on room)
• Repeat the above five times with no rest
• When complete, give yourself two minutes of rest and do it again

2. Juice cleanses are a good way to lose weight

Juice cleanses can feel like they are working short term however, once you stop the diet it’s likely the weight that you’ve shed will creep back on.

Over 50% of respondents believe that juice cleanses are an effective way to lose weight. Instead, we’d recommend eating smaller portions or cooking homemade meals using fresh and healthy ingredients.

1. Calorie counting is the best way to lose weight

Again, we’re not debating the fact that eating less calories than the recommended amount may help you to lose weight – it might. However, we’d say that counting calories just isn’t the best focus of a diet.

It can be very restrictive, lead you to obsess about food, impact badly on social occasions, and can mean you don’t get all of the vitamins your body needs.

A whopping 75.4% of people we asked think that calorie counting is the best way to lose weight; however, we maintain that following a balanced healthy diet (we promote the 90/10 rule: if you’re eating right 90% of the time, your body can handle the other 10% and still maintain optimal body composition) and also exercising 3-4 times a week (no better way than at BMF!), is by far the most sustainable and effective route to weight loss.

Fad dieters vs. health obsessives

As a result of the survey, we were able to compare the attitudes of fad dieters in comparison with those who claim to successfully maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Fad dieters attempt to lose weight with the goal of looking great and follow sugar-free diets over any other. Those who simply love being healthy focus on wanting to feel healthy and maintaining a general level of fitness.

When it came to food habits, health obsessives admit to buying fresh produce over low-calorie or sugar-free products. Could this be a contributing factor to 100% of health obsessives claiming that they feel comfortable in their bodies?

As a result of our survey, we hope we’ve managed to sway a few opinions on the common myths that surround losing weight and leading a healthier lifestyle. The path to feeling good begins with living a healthier life, keeping active and eating fresh food.

Why not kick-start that healthy living with a free British Military Fitness class at one of our 140 parks nationwide? Simply, register here and turn up to a class of your choice.