By Mitushi Ajmera, Wellness Coach
With easy access to information comes misinformation too. Opinions, beliefs, and absolute claims are often presented as facts, making it increasingly difficult to separate evidence from noise. And when it comes to nutrition, women are made to feel that they are eating too much, eating the wrong foods, or that their metabolism is “broken.”
8 Nutrition Myths Busted by Mitushi Ajmera
Here are some common beliefs worth questioning:
Myth 1: Carbs make you fat.
Carbohydrates are an important source of energy. Rice, roti, potatoes, oats, and fruit can all be part of a balanced diet. Weight gain is influenced by overall energy intake, activity, and dietary patterns, not carbohydrates alone. For instance, a growing teenager or an active woman may have considerably higher energy needs than a sedentary woman.
Myth 2: Sugar needs to be completely eliminated.
There is no need to fear all sugar. Fruit and milk contain naturally occurring sugars, while sweets, desserts, and sugary drinks contain added or free sugars. A healthy diet can include some added sugar without requiring complete restriction. A teenager, for example, doesn’t need to grow up believing that having an occasional dessert makes her diet unhealthy.
Myth 3: Women need to change their diet dramatically during every phase of their menstrual cycle.
Appetite, cravings, and energy levels can fluctuate across the cycle, but that doesn’t mean you need four different diets. Your overall nutritional needs remain more important than following rigid cycle-based food rules.
Myth 4: Intermittent fasting is the best way to lose weight.
Intermittent fasting is a meal-timing strategy, not a magic fat-loss tool. It can work for some people, but it isn’t necessary for weight loss and isn’t appropriate for everyone. For example, a growing teenager has different nutritional needs from an adult woman and shouldn’t be encouraged to routinely restrict her eating window. Pregnancy is another stage where fasting should not be treated as a weight-loss strategy.
Myth 5: Eating after 7 or 8 PM causes weight gain.
Overall intake and dietary patterns matter more than a specific dinner cut-off. But meal timing can matter for other reasons. Starting your day with a nutritious breakfast and avoiding a very heavy meal close to bedtime may be beneficial for some people. Eating carbohydrates at dinner does not automatically cause weight gain either. The focus should be on your overall eating pattern, not an arbitrary 7 or 8 PM rule.
Myth 6: You need to “eat clean” to be healthy.
“Clean eating” has no universally accepted definition. A nutritious diet doesn’t require eliminating every processed food or never eating dessert. What matters is the overall pattern of your diet.
Myth 7: Eat less and move more is all you need to lose weight.
Energy balance matters, but weight management is more complex than simply eating less and moving more. For instance, a teenager may run, jump and move considerably more during the day while also having the demands of growth. A woman in perimenopause or menopause may need to place greater emphasis on strength training, adequate nutrition and recovery. As we age, changes in hormones, muscle mass and sleep can also affect recovery and how the body responds to exercise. The approach cannot be the same for every woman at every age.
Myth 8: Calorie counting is a scam.
Calories matter because they represent energy. Understanding your energy intake can be useful, particularly when your goal is weight management. But you don’t have to obsessively count every calorie to eat well. Understanding portions, food quality, and your body’s needs is a very good starting point. Calorie counting is a tool—not a measure of whether a food is “good” or “bad,” and it shouldn’t become an obsession.
Most importantly, nutrition should evolve with you. A teenager who is still growing, a pregnant woman, an active woman in her 30s, and a woman navigating perimenopause or menopause will have different nutritional priorities.
Instead of asking, “What should I stop eating?”, ask:
“What does my body need at this stage of my life?”
Good nutrition isn’t about fearing food. It’s about understanding it.