He said that the evidence shows that an overnight fast lasting at least 12 hours is good for your gut and metabolism. This means that you can skip breakfast and eat brunch later.
- The villainization of bloating and whole grains
Megan Rossi is also known as @theguthealthdoctor. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Queensland in gut health and heads research at King’s College London on nutrition-focused therapies for gut health.
She said, “One myth that I see often is that bloating is always caused by some food intolerance.” “A small amount of bloating is a sign that bacteria are well fed.”
She warns against restricting food intake on the basis that it is a “good-old food baby.” She said that there are many reasons for bloating, and they are not always related to food. We shouldn’t restrict foods because of this without taking into consideration other factors. “Restricting food unnecessarily could negatively impact gut health and overall wellbeing, both now and into the future.”
Rossi stated that “many whole grains are often demonized due to the gluten they contain (wheat barley rye).” As long as you do not have celiac, these whole grains can be an important part of your diet.
She mentioned that bread is one of the foods she’d like to see banned from retail shelves because it contains “unnecessary additives and palm oil, which the consumer may not be aware of.” This is especially true since many popular and delicious breads do not contain these additives.
She stated that the label “no refine sugar” was overused, despite many products containing refined ingredients like date syrup, coconut nectar, and nectar. These sugars are marketed as being natural, but they do not contain fiber. They can, therefore, have the same effect on our bodies when it comes to things like raising blood sugar.
She mentioned that whole grains and snacking are two of the foods and nutritional approaches she believes deserve to be revisited.
She said, “Many whole grain products are demonized due to the gluten content (wheat barley rye).” As long as you do not have celiac, these whole grains can be an important part of your diet. People who consume gluten-containing grains regularly tend to have a better gut because they contain probiotics and other nutritionally valuable compounds.
- The Use of Terms Such as ‘Inflammatory and Toxic’
U.K.-based Dr. Idrees Mughal, a TikTok and Instagram star who is a master of debunking, has a series of extremely popular videos. Watching science literacy videos has never been more satisfying.
“Toxic. Inflammatory. Poison. Clean. When asked what words he disliked, the National Health Service doctor replied: “Detox.”
These are all meaningless words. If they were aware of what a toxin is, they would not use it in the context that they are using it. Ask them: What is “inflammatory”? What inflammatory cytokines do you think increase when someone does the thing that you are saying? What part of the body has been affected? What are the effects you claim this has on your body? Where is the proof? “Ask them these questions, and watch them scramble.”
The misinformation experts are easy to spot. Mughal explained that people often use fear to convince you to believe whatever narrative they are selling. “Absolute statements such as, ‘this food is the worst’ or the most inflammatory thing that you can do — statements like these make it clear that the individual does not understand the nuance and science of how foods can affect different people. There is no universally ‘worst food’ or a universally ‘best food’ for anyone. Who is the ‘they?’ in a person who claims to be a’secret expert’ or starts a video by saying ‘they don’t want you know this.’ This is a classic example of tinfoil hatry. No serious academic or healthcare professional would say such things.”
Mughal admits that today’s complex landscape of information can be challenging.
Many sources are hidden behind paywalls. However, summaries and overviews are usually available for free. Sites like PubMed or Google Scholar are useful. Researchers also post their work to platforms such as ResearchGate,” said he.
Recognize that even experts can be biased. Cross-reference all information and look for possible conflicts of interest. Remember that funding doesn’t mean the information is valid. “Someone has to fund research.”