7 Silly Weight-Loss Myths Debunked By A Dietitian (3 of 3)

You can rev up your metabolism by eating certain foods

Other weight-loss gurus believe that if you are eating well and being active and still not losing weight, then you should find ways to increase your metabolism with food. They claim that foods like spices, black coffee, and teas can help boost your metabolism. This is the claim with the Master Cleanse diet, which entails drinking water with lemon juice and cayenne pepper every morning. The truth is that there is not enough research to prove the validity of these claims. “If you want your body to burn more calories at rest, then doing more resistance and strength-building exercises will help,” says D’Ambrosio.

Eating less will help you lose weight

The myth behind eating less is that restricting calories will help you drop more weight. The truth is quite the opposite. Skipping meals can actually cause your metabolism to drop. Instead of skipping meals, research is showing that it is actually more beneficial to have smaller, frequent meals throughout the day to lose weight. “By skipping meals, we tend to get over-hungry, and we make less healthy choices at subsequent meals,” D’Ambrosio said.