We Busted The Seven Silliest Health Myths Ruining Your Rig Swag

Health is a lot like religion.
Your probably got your understanding of what a healthy, normal diet is from your parents.
There are holy places of worship where divinity flows (Pressed Juices) and delicious sacrilegious temptations at every turn (Doughnut Time). 
Companies and public figures will tell filthy lies to gain your faith and cashola (*cough* Belle Gibson *cough*), and the consensus on what is Good and Right will be in constant flux.
trying ur best to be healthy like

It’s confusing as heck. That’s why we have sniffed around the joint for the top ten blurst health myths that are ruining your health swag.

“Gluten-free food is healthier for you.”
Please, God, derail this runaway gluten-free train, or at least make sure it parks itself on Sydney‘s glittering North Shore and never comes back down.
For reasons unbeknown to the commoner (i.e. me), foods free of gluten have become awfully trendie™ and are readily available at most inner-city cafes. It’s fantastic news for people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance.
And what’s that, exactly? Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition that disables the body’s digestion of gluten, a protein in rye, barley and wheat. Eating these foods leads to damage to the small intestine, and in turn means nutrients can’t be absorbed, leading to deficiencies. 
If you suspect gluten doesn’t agree with you, you can get a medical diagnosis from the doc. But, if you’re fine after eating gluten, don’t bother taking it out of your diet because Sally Your Blessed Yoga Instructor Friend has. Eliminating it for fun doesn’t have any health benefits at all. Plus, eating gluten-free is far, far more expensive than eating regularly. 
“Diets work.”

We’ve said it before, we will happily say it again, this time with thrustful emphasis. 
DIETS!
DO!
NOT!
WORK!
Okay, okay, okay. So you tried the Atkins, and saw a little improvement. Or you gave the 5:2 a crack and saw a vast improvement. Deprivation diets may help you shed the pounds in the short term, but as Lisa Renn, spokesperson for the Dieticians Association of Australia, points out to PEDESTRIAN.TV: “Two-thirds of the people who go on a diet will regain their weight and often add more on as well. Dieting was found to be a predictor of future weight gain.”
“Dieting doesn’t actually get to the bottom of the cause of weight gain. If people are eating for reasons other than hunger e.g. stress, habit or boredom a diet doesn’t teach them how to change this. They go on a diet and when they’ve lost some weight go back to ‘normal’ and their weight goes back on,” she says.

Counterintuitive, hey?
Instead of fuckin up your metabolism and/or enjoyment of life with a diet, you can make small changes towards health, like packing a healthy lunch, getting more incidental activity into your day and drinking more water. 

“Get as much sleep as you possibly can. More sleep is better.”
It’s said that adults should be getting 7 to 8 hours of shut eye a night. Teenagers should be getting 9 to 10 hours. That said, how much sleep you actually varies from person to person – some people can function fabulously on 4, others need the full 8 to be coherent. 
Considering the sheer amount of content on Netflix these days, you’re blessed to get the full 8. But if you’re clocking up more than that, it mightn’t be that good for you. 
Oversleeping (also known as Hypersomnia) is a condition that can cause a host of problems, like clinical depression and obesity. It can also be a sign of iron deficiency or hypothyroidism. 
“Women get ‘bulky’ from lifting weights.”

wen ur pecks have pecks
This is some hot, steamy bewshit if I ever did sniff it up me nose holes.
It goes without saying there’s nothing wrong with being a woman with large and in charge muscles, but it is a common misconception that lifting heavy weights promotes this kind of rig. Women typically don’t possess the amount of testosterone necessary to create the aforementioned she-hulk physique. 
The benefits of lifting are numerous. The musclier you are, the more calories you’ll burn at rest. Lifting weights increases bone density, which mightn’t be of interest now, but it sure will be in 30 years.
This nifty little guide to weight training for beginners is a great place to start.
“Eating naturally fatty foods will make you fat.”
By fatty foods, we aren’t talking Krispy Kremes. They’re some sweet glazed holes o’hell. Instead, avocado, seeds, nuts, lean meat, tuna, leafy greens and the like are considered ‘good fats’, which means they provide a ton of energy and help you feel fuller for longer.
“A juice cleanse will rid my body of toxins and improve my health.”
Hahahahaha. Nope.
We wrote a piece a few months back decrying the rise and rise of grossly expensive, hilariously misleading juices. Read it here, if you can be bothered.
“I’ll start tomorrow.”
You won’t. 
Photo: Mean Girls.

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