Are you operating under any nutrition misconceptions?

Just a short blog post this week – a story to illustrate a point.

Science proponents talk about “misinformation,” when incorrect ideas are passed along inadvertently. Disinformation is more sinister, will falsehoods shared purposely.

But I see a lot of what I would call innocent “misconceptions” instead. For example, I might see fat-free salad dressing in someone’s food record. When I ask what’s behind that choice, people say they thought reducing fat was healthier.

That’s a misunderstanding, based on out of date information. The evidence doesn’t support lowering fat in the name of heart health or weight loss. It does make sense to cut back on some foods that are rich in saturated fat, such as butter, palm oil, coconut oil, fatty red meats like ribeye steak and especially processed meat like bacon and sausage.

But the main fat in most commercial salad dressings is olive oil or something similar, which is beneficial for the heart! And fat-free dressings often contain more sugar and/or sodium.

Due to that nutrition misconception, the innocent salad eater has inadvertently chosen something less healthy, and is missing out on the satiety provided by fat.

(Making your own salad dressing, ​which is actually pretty easy​, is usually lower in sodium and/or sugar, but I like to meet people where they are. If they just can’t, then we’ll work on finding a healthier bottled dressing.)

The story

That brings me to the nutrition misconception story in our family…

We buy a large jar of natural chunky peanut butter (i.e. with oil on top) every couple of weeks. I buy chunky because I thought that was my husband’s preference. Last week I bought a small jar of natural smooth peanut butter for making sauces.

He asked me, “Why did you buy that? I thought that was bad for you?”

Me: “Uh, no…? Natural chunky and smooth are pretty much the same nutritionally.”

“Really???” He couldn’t believe it.

He pulled them out and compared the labels. “They’re the same!”

Shocking.

“But,” he protested, “All this time I thought chunky was healthier.”

I think this misconception comes from confusing smooth natural peanut butter with the more processed stuff that stays all blended together. The Skippy, Jif, etc that we grew up with.

Here’s the kicker: He said, “I like smooth peanut butter way more! If I’d known it was comparable I’d have been having that all along.”

Reader, this is *my* husband of 17 years, who has been shortchanging himself due to a misunderstanding. He lives with a “walk the talk” dietitian!

(Never mind that he didn’t consider factoring his preference in when making his choice. Never mind the nuance that’s lost when we call a food “healthy” or “good” vs “unhealthy” or “bad”.)

How about you?

Imagine these little examples times the scores of food decisions we make in a week. Is it possible that you’re operating under a misconception that’s limiting your enjoyment of food or heart health? Hard to say, because if you were, by definition, you wouldn’t know it!

Being a regular reader of my blog and other good sources for nutrition information should help! 😊

Another way to catch these misunderstandings is to ​book a consult with a Registered Dietitian​ every 5 to 10 years, even if you think you’re good to go. The changes in nutrition guidance (like about ​eggs​, for instance) are super-annoying (I know, trust me), but when science helps us learn more, sometimes we have to change what we advise.

Our job as dietitians is to keep up with these things, at least in our specialty, if we have one. That’s why touching base periodically can help you stay up to date too.

Nutrition misinformation, disinformation, and innocent misconceptions are everywhere! What’s the last one you remember learning about? Did you get any surprises from reading this blog? Join the conversation in our Facebook group.