I don’t think I have ever found more compelling evidence of the rampant nutrition confusion that the CNN website.
Specifically in an QnA in their Diet and Health section the following question was asked:
Is it true that when your metabolism slows down (e.g. from exercise, age, etc.), adding calories proportionally will “kick-start” it back to prior fat-burning levels? In my case, my rate slowed from 2,000 to 1,500, and the gym’s nutritionist recommended an increase in calories from 1,600 to 1,900. Thank you.
This question was answered by Dr. Melina Jampolis.
Now don’t I agree with Dr. Jampolis’s answer 100%, (and I REALLY dislike the use of the term ‘metabolism’ in place of metabolic rate), and I suspect that Dr. Jampolis had the same immediate thought that I did – How did a gym measure your metabolic rate??
But, considering she is an MD, and is giving advice on CNN, and has to consider the millions of people that are reading her advice, and the limited amount of information she was given, I think she did very well in giving some sort of action plan.
Her reasoning may have been a bit…much, but the actual suggestions aren’t too crazy.
(Remember, more than likely a junior writer wrote the answer and Dr. Jampolis probably signed off on it)
So this isn’t my example of nutrition confusion.
For that you have to go to the comments section AFTER the article.
It says there are 31 comments, but there have to be over 100.
In the comments people are ALL OVER THE PLACE.
Here are a couple quotes:
interval based weight training burns about 900% more calories than cardio for the same amount of time.
Old-fashioned oatmeal in the morning is a GREAT way to get your metabolism going
Eat as much as you want, but eat a vegan diet (no eggs, dairy, or meat). You CAN’T get fat, it’s impossible, and incredibily healthy
It has been proven than 6 smaller meals is more productive.
It is important to consume more than 75% of your daily calorie intake before 1pm
Do away with all processed starches including white bread and rice, high fructose corn syrup, and any processed sugar-based food for EVER!
I am an NSCA-CPT. This Dr. is old school way of thinking. Geez.. it amazes me the amount of bad information out there.
Granted there was the occasional post that made sense. But the bottom line is this – in my opinion, this is a perfect example of just how confused we are about nutrition.
And you can’t blame the people posting. Not at all. The vast majority of them have no background in nutrition. They are simply trying to convey what they have been told. It is the people marketing OCE, the magazines and their nutrition tidbits, the websites and their fanatical craze for nutrition information, these are the true culprits.
It is getting to the point where I think the very best thing you could do for your health is to SEVERELY limit your intake of ‘health information’. The less of this garbage your read, the better off you will be.
The marketing of health trends and health food is very similar to the marketing of junk food…they both have the goal of convincing you to CONSUME something.
The more rules, the more magic ingredients, the more foods you should avoid, the less likely the advice will help.
BP
