People love to make blanket statements when it comes to weight loss and dieting but very often they are just saying what they want to hear and have no real logic, reason or basis for their claim. For example the statement that Olive Oil has a low calorie value is often put out by people who reckon they know what they are talking about.

In fact like all oils, Olive Oil has a high calorie value but that doesn’t mean it should be avoided or switched to any other oil because they are all high in calories and of all of them Olive Oil is considered to be the best for you. Olive Oil in moderation can be good as part of a balanced diet.

Another statement that is often used by failed dieters is that low carb diets are bad for you. A low carb diet is only bad for you if the rest of your diet is junk but has no negative health effects is you get your source of carbs from vegetables and you eat lots of fruit too. Low carb diets are effective provided that you take care about what you eat.

Another statement that we all hear a bit is that by skipping meals you can lose weight. Well this isn’t always true as your body knows how to react to lack of food and it does that by firstly slowing your metabolism and secondly increasing the amounts of cortisol that is a fat storing hormone. Eating three regular meals with little healthy snacks like apples and oranges between meals is the best way to keep your cortisol levels down.

The booze factor in dieting is a controversial one. Many dieters blame alcohol for putting on weight but its not so simple and drinking 5 pints of beer is different from a glass of red wine daily. In fact a research project that we saw at Ukmedix seemed to show that resveratrol which is present in red wine can help the body in breaking down and burning fat. Complete deprivation of life’s little treats can be actually harmful to your diet and to your willpower so a glass of wine a day should not be considered the end of the world.

There are lots of weight loss statements out there which are either not giving the whole picture or that are basically false. So be careful about what you believe and keep your diet simple and real.