7 Food myths that replaced real wisdom

Mainstream nutrition advice clearly isn't working when the vast majority of people are obese, diagnosed with an illness, struggling with fatigue or all three. The problem is the advice we're given from authorities on what healthy food actually is. Jokes are made in TV shows about butter and bacon clogging your arteries. Go to mainstream health bodies for advice and you'll be told something vastly different from what you'll find in these articles, that seed oils are safe, that you should base your diet around grains, and that saturated fat is harmful.

So what are the main lies we're told, and what should we be doing instead? That's exactly what we'll cover here. Let's get stuck in.

1. The more protein the better

We're more obsessed with protein than ever, but more isn't always better. Overdoing it stresses the body, loads you up with too much of certain amino acids like tryptophan from muscle meat, pressures the digestive system, and throws off the body's overall balance.

Food brands saw protein as a marketing opportunity. Anything crossing a certain gram threshold gets slapped with a "high protein" label regardless of ingredient quality or whether the amino acids are balanced. Bread, yogurt, spreads, all marketed as high protein simply because a little whey or soy was added.

The truth is we do need protein, especially if you are an active person but we do not need it in extreme amounts. Instead ensure you are focused on balancing amino acids, eating enough carbohydrates, and healing your hormonal health.

Dr. Ray Peat argued that excessive tryptophan intake causes profound metabolic dysfunction, because tryptophan is the direct precursor to serotonin. Too much drives thyroid suppression, cortisol spikes, inflammation, and blood sugar instability. He warned that isolated protein sources like muscle meat, whey and egg whites expose the body to disproportionate tryptophan, and recommended gelatine and collagen (such as bone broth) to counter it, rich in glycine, an inhibitory amino acid that offsets the inflammatory effects of excess serotonin.

When it comes to protein, balance matters more. Chasing ever-higher grams without considering the amino acid profile can quietly work against the health you're trying to build. This Is why consuming protein from varied sources is best, such as organs, dairy, bone broth or combining muscle meat with a cup of bone broth can help balance amino acids.

2. Calories are all that matter

Putting calorie amounts on restaurant menus clearly hasn't changed how people approach food, and it never will. Calories tell us very little about what is within the food and what it will actually do for us when we consume it. Nutrient density, how the food was made, where it came from, and how it's been processed all matter far more than its calorie count.

For example, coconut oil contains a certain number of calories, but it can also help the conversion of T4 to T3 hormones in the thyroid, increasing metabolism and, in turn, leading to more calories burnt, so the net result of the calories from coconut oil is less than what the label tells you.

The same can be said for many nutrient-dense foods like organ meats, orange juice, oysters, raw milk all of which support metabolism which helps us burn more calories at rest.

Nutrient dense food is not simply just calories; they're powerhouses that our body actually recognises and puts to use, to great effect, compared to processed food of equivalent calories that gives us nothing.

3. You need to cut carbs

Our body's preferred source of fuel is carbohydrates, yet so many people cut them out. Some chase weight loss; others chase better health. Some do feel better but that is more to do with the additives they're no longer consuming than the carbohydrate source itself.

When we source clean, organic, additive-free carbohydrates, such as fruit, potatoes, squash, even spelt flour, these don't leave us feeling rubbish the way most supermarket forms of carbohydrate do, instead they fuel an incredible amount of bodily functions and most importantly our metabolism.

Carbohydrates give our bodies the fuel they need. Taking them away stresses the body and, long term, crashes the metabolism. Yes, modern carbohydrates can be extremely ultra-processed and negatively affect health, but the underlying need for the carbohydrate is still there. We need carbs.

4. Saturated fat will clog your arteries

If you haven't come across seed oils claiming to be "heart healthy" while saturated fats supposedly raise blood pressure and clog your arteries, you're in luck. We were sold the idea that nature's food was harming us and that we needed to switch to highly processed, high-PUFA seed oils.

Where most assume this is just harmless seeds pressed into an oil, many now know the dangers behind seed oils, the bleaching, the deodorising, and the many other chemical processes that take seeds to oil. The result is something that truly harms our heart and overall health. Ditch the seed oils and head back to real fats: butter, tallow, ghee, and coconut oil. 

5. All sugar is the same

This one often connects to the carbohydrate hate, but all sugars are not the same and how they come packaged is a large part of that. Whether you avoid sugar in its more processed forms and stick to fruit, maple syrup, or honey makes a real difference.

Everyone can agree that with fruit you're getting far more than just sugar, you're getting vitamin C, polyphenols, electrolytes, minerals, and antioxidants, to name a few. Fruit is a lot more powerful than simple sugar.

White sugar that has been processed isn't the same as raw, unrefined cane sugar either and both are a long way from fruit. Don't turn away from fruit, honey or maple syrup just because of these sugars. The sugars within these have the power to heal, especially when it comes to your metabolism.

6. Synthetic vitamins are the same as those from whole foods

Thinking we can escape a bad diet and fill the gaps with cheap synthetic vitamins is one of the main causes of ill health in today's society. Our bodies recognise real food because real food is packaged with cofactors, all perfectly balanced in their natural form. When we turn to synthetic supplements people often disregard the ingredients list, consume too much of one vitamin without the other to balance it and can often if not following a proper plan, create more health problems for themselves.

Vitamins and nutrients from whole foods will always out preform and be better than those of a synthetic kind, eating nutrient dense organic whole foods is where to focus the majority of your diet on, only through a good diet can proper health arise. Vitamins made in a lab, via processes we don't get to see or read about because they aren't printed on the label, aren't the same as food. 

7. Pesticide-sprayed food is safe

Walk into any supermarket and you'll be greeted by huge vegetables, strawberries that are out of season, and apples that never seem to go off. Welcome to the world of artificially boosting the food supply.

Artificial pesticides are sprayed on crops and we're told they're safe but if that's the case, why do those who spray chemicals like glyphosate wear hazmat suits? Crops are pumped full of artificial fertilisers to help them grow bigger, then to top it off, fruit like apples and oranges are coated in carcinogenic waxes. What is happening here? Why are we doing all this to whole foods?

The answer lies in profit margins and in poisoning the food that has no labels. Always try to buy organic, and buy unwaxed fruit where possible. 

What to take away

Returning to what was once normal is some of the best advice you can follow when it comes to diet. The modern diet isn't a healthy one, the average person is eating food their ancestors would hardly recognise. Demonising the foods that have always been there is what has led to a health crisis. Linking these foods with disease simply because they appear in bad diets was a clever trick by the food industry but returning to what we instinctively know is best for our health will help us heal.

Ignore what they tell you to look at, saturated fat content, calories, sugar amounts and instead focus on what really matters: where it came from, how it was made, and whether anything has been added to it (check those ingredient lists). Once you ditch these lies and focus on real food, health comes a lot easier.