Three errors of nutrition

Avoid eggs. Drink 8 glasses of water a day. Eating carbswill make you fat. Nutritional advice such as this has been touted for years -- but is it accurate?

Not necessarily, according to Wendy Repovich, an exercise physiologist at Eastern Washington University, who did her best to dispel several common nutrition misconceptions during a health and fitness summit held recently in Dallas.

"Eating eggs will raise your cholesterol http://www.lookchem.com/cas-803/80356-14-5.html . " This myth started because egg yolks have the most concentrated amount of cholesterol in any food, Repovich said. However, when eaten in moderation, eggs do not contain enough cholesterol to pose health risks, she said.

"Most people avoid eggs and probably if they have any kind of cardiovascularrisk their physicians tell them to avoid eggs," Repovich said. "But really, there aren't a whole lot of studies that show that one or two eggs a day really make a difference to cholesterol levels."

"Eating carbohydrates makes you fat" is another myth. Cutting carbs from the diet may help a person shed pounds due to water loss from a decrease in carbohydrate stores, Repovich said, but eating carbs in moderation does not directly lead to weight gain.

Here's another myth. "Drink 8 glasses of water a day." Repovich said people need to replace water lost through breathing, urinating, sweating each day -- but that doesn't necessarily total 64 ounces of water.

"I see an awful lot of people carrying bottled water around," Repovich said. "I think people are still under the impression that they have to drink 8 glasses of water a day, but most people don't realize they get water from other sources in the diet."

And too much water can be harmful, Repovich warned, leading possibly to an imbalance in the body of sodium, a condition called hyponatremia.

It's also a myth, Repovich said, that everyone needs vitamin supplements, although she admits to popping a multivitamin each morning. People who eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, along with moderate amounts of a variety of low-fat dairy and protein and the right quantity of calories, probably don't need a vitamin supplement, she said.

"But for the most part, we don't eat the way we should so probably a simple multivitamin is good for most people," Repovich said.

I must agree.  My week of eating mostly breakfast foods at a cafeteria really did a number on me.  I probably ate 1/2 dozen or more scrambled eggs per day for 6 days (along with sausage, bacon, and the occasional bit of ham).  I gained 9 pounds and my ankles swelled up to 3 or for times normal size - to a point that I could feel the skin stretching when I moved them.  A week back on raw beef and everything was back to normal.

Lex

All I know about eggs re: cholesterol is that back in my SAD (except I didn't eat absolute junk) days, I was eating 6 jumbo scrambled eggs per day for months on end. I got my blood tested and the doctor said I had the best cholesterol profile that he had ever seen.

I had no access to raw fat and knew nothing about suet when I was following the primal diet, I was eating two dozen eggs a day according to TRFLWD where he says eat as much as you want, after  a few months I was having real trouble so I stopped. I keep reading about people following he Primal Diet and even though they are having trouble they keep following the diet.

Is there any evidence that raw cholesterol is in any way bad for you? I don't eat much eggs anymore but occasionally I'll try to make a raw mayonnaise (and usually fail) and for a cooked treat eggs doesn't sound bad.