Reading up on wellness tips to improve your diet and lifestyle? Don’t fall for these common food myths.

1. Lemon water promotes weight loss

“This is a hot trend right now – like banting or keto was,” confirms Lauren du Toit, a registered dietician based in Panorama, Cape Town. “But my question is: where’s the research? People think it gets the gastric juices flowing, or it helps with digestion. It’s the same thing with apple cider vinegar – there’s no research to show it will help you lose weight or improve digestion. Lemon water is not the magic bullet people think it is.” However, Lauren believes it can’t hurt your hydration levels. “If it gets your hydration going, that’s a positive.”

Cath Day, a registered dietician based in Constantia, feels the same way: “If it means people are drinking lemon water when they wake up, and not shoving caffeine into their bodies first thing, there’s a benefit there. If it gets you drinking water, great. And with winter coming, every bit of vitamin C helps. But do it for your immunity and your hydration levels – don’t think of it as a weight-loss strategy.”

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2. Raw milk is better than pasteurised

There’s lots of chatter on the internet about the benefits of raw versus pasteurised milk. This, however, is something that comes down to science. “Quite simply, I think a lot of people just don’t understand what ‘pasteurised’ means,” explains Cath. “It just means that the milk is heated. This process protects you against harmful microbes or bacteria that live in the milk. But pasteurisation does not affect the nutritional value of milk.”

For a country like South Africa, where a significant percentage of the population doesn’t have access to refrigeration, pasteurisation is very important because it extends the lifespan of milk – especially UHT or so-called “box milk”. “It’s a question of population safety,” explains Cath. “Of course, milk is regularly batch-tested to ensure safety. But you can’t test every dairy product – which is why the law states that milk must be pasteurised.”

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3. Gluten-free is automatically “healthier”

Gluten-free almond tart recipe

Both Cath and Lauren regularly encounter the belief that gluten-free products are inherently better for you – and will aid weight-loss. This is just not the case. “Unless you have a gluten sensitivity, intolerance or allergy (like celiac disease), gluten-free products are not automatically healthier,” says Lauren. “And they are certainly not designed for weight loss.”

Cath agrees: “Often, we see people buying gluten-free products made of rice and potato flours, which are very refined products themselves. Only people with true sensitivities or allergies need to avoid gluten. And even then: if you have a sensitivity, you can perhaps consume a little bit of gluten, just not a lot, and not very often.”

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4. All fats are bad

Something that dieticians see all the time is the belief that “all fats are unhealthy”. “There is this idea that fats make you fat, so all fats are unhealthy, so you should cut out all the fats. But this is not true,” emphasises Lauren. “There are certain vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E and K that can only be absorbed in conjunction with fat.” The key is to distinguish the good from the bad fats.

Good fats include monosaturated fats (found in avocados, olive oil, seeds and nuts) and polyunsaturated fats (found in oily fish such as salmon and mackerel, vegetable oils, seeds and nuts). The unhealthy fats are the saturated fats (in foods such as red meat and full-cream dairy products, as well as coconut oil and palm oil) and trans fats (found in fried foods, takeaways and baked goods).

“Good fats can reduce your risk of cholesterol and heart disease,” explains Lauren. “We actually need these kind of fats – they help with brain health!” The answer, as for almost every trend or diet, is moderation. “You can still have these fats but use them in moderation – even the good ones. If you eat an avo a day, even though it’s a good fat, that’s too much. Eating 100 g of nuts in one go is too much. Fats are important – but so is portion control.”

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5. Fruit is bad because it has so much sugar

“I get this all the time,” says Lauren. “People think fruit is bad because it has too much sugar. But fruit contains natural sugar (called fructose) and is an essential source of dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals.” As with most things, it comes down to balance. “People can sometimes overdo it,” says Lauren. “They’ll say: I made a smoothie with seven different fruits. That’s too much for one day. We need your fruit intake to be part of a healthy, balanced diet.” And of course, it can vary from person to person. “For instance, for our diabetic clients, we would advise them to be careful of consuming too much fruit and to be sure to pair their portion of fruit with a protein – such as nuts, peanut butter or yoghurt – to avoid that sugar spike.”

Cath Day is a registered dietician based in Cape Town. Learn more at catherineday.co.za

Lauren du Toit is a registered dietician practicing in Durbanville and Panorama. Learn more at dietitiancapetown.co.za