You’ve got to love the Internet. Without it we wouldn’t know not to mix Mentos with Diet Coke and people would still think a tweet is the sound a bird makes.

With millions of people now flocking to Internet forums as their primary source of information, we decided to spend a few hours sifting through various discussions seeing what kind of information people are sharing with one another.

We read, we laughed, we argued.

It was fun, mostly because we know how to separate the right from wrong. Not an easy task for those only getting started, so we’ve decided to help you out (we’re nice like that). Here’s a list out our 5 favourite nutrition myths.

“Avoid eating too much fruit when trying to lose weight”

Unless you’re in your final weeks of preparing for a bodybuilding contest fruit is more than acceptable when trying to lose weight.

Sure, apples will make you fat ... if you eat hundreds of them a day!

People too often get caught up in the argument that “fruit contains too much sugar”, but neglect that excess calories, not sugar, are what makes you gain weight.

In fact, most fruits are quite low in calories (a large 235g apple contains 106 calories). They’re also rich in vitamins, fiber, antioxidants and nutrients that help your body recover from the intense workouts we put ourselves through.

Bottom line - eat your fruit!

“Don’t eat carbohydrates at night”

“… because if you do, you’ll get fat”.

Wrong.

Well, kind of.

Only under extreme circumstances can carbohydrates turn to fat. An average sized male would have to take in 700-900 grams for consecutive days while eating in a calorie surplus.

That’s 50-60 slices of white bread, just in case you’re wondering.

Under more normal circumstances eating them at night is more than OK, it’s your overall calorie intake that determines whether you’ll gain or lose weight, not the time you eat them.

“Don’t mix your food types”

The belief is that having a meal with both a high carbohydrate and fat content can promote a synergistic insulin release, encouraging people to only eat protein + fat and protein + carbohydrate meals.

If true, the common isocaloric diet (calories equally divided between protein, carbohydrates and fats) would give us massive fat gains.

Crazy!

The confusion stems from people thinking each meal digests separately, but most overlap (2-3 hours between meals isn’t a long enough window for food to fully digested), so even in theory their point is already flawed.

“Only eat your egg whites”

While not entirely inaccurate, this one gets a mention because we’ve decided it’s time to stick up for our old friend - the yolk.

Many people opt only for egg whites because of the fat and cholesterol content of the yolk. We’re not condoling eating 7 whole eggs a day, but throwing one in with your egg whites has its benefits, here’s why:

- A yolk from a large egg only contains 1.5g of saturated fat (not as much as you thought, right?)

- Whole eggs score the highest biological value (the measure of the amount of protein retained when ingested) of any other whole food, scoring 100. Egg whites follow with a score of 88, while chicken and turkey come in third with a score of 79.

- All of the egg’s Vitamin A, D and E are in the yolk.

- The yolk portion has more manganese, phosphorus, iodine, copper, calcium, zinc, and iron than the egg white.

A yolk mixed in with your egg whites also makes them taste a whole lot better!

“You need supplements to get results”

Truth be told, you don’t, but with nutrition supplements being the multi-million dollar industry it is today it’s hard to think otherwise.

Don’t get me wrong; supplements do have their place in any well-planned bodybuilding diet, but they should be used to supplement, not replace meals.

Beginners tend to fall in love with supplements early, often opting for multiple protein shakes a day. Whole foods are packed with nutrients and will always be more superior compared to supplements because they naturally contain vitamins and minerals; as opposed to having them included artificially.

ECA stacks (a popular fat burner available overseas) contain ephedrine, an illegal substance in Australia. This is not uncommon and we often have herbal alternatives being marketed as “advancements in research”.

If you want to incorporate supplements in to your diet and it’s not the tried and tested whey protein, creatine or vitamins, do your research.

Boring disclaimer warning

This article was written by a Muscle Mayhem staff member. The information on this site is provided in good faith. Consult with your doctor before starting any exercise program. All opinions expressed on this site are our own. Always seek professional advice before engaging in any physical activity or diet.