When it comes to food, everyone acts like an expert: your trainer, your grandma, even that random person on TikTok. However, much of the advice floating around has little do with reality. The truth is often more nuanced and less scary. Here are 11 food myths debunked by science.
11. Everyone Needs 8 Glasses of Water Daily
No, you’re not dehydrated if you don’t hit that magic number. Your water needs depend on your activity level, age, climate, and overall health. A 2025 study also found that many people get adequate hydration from food alone. There are fruits and vegetables packed with water, like cucumber, celery, and watermelon.
10. Gluten-Free Automatically Means Healthier
That gluten-free cookie might be worse for you than the regular one. Unless you have celiac disease, gluten-free products will give you more sugar, fat, and salt but fewer nutrients like B vitamins and fiber. Food companies replace gluten with other ingredients that aren’t better. Your wallet will also thank you for skipping the trendy labels.
9. All Processed Foods Are Nutritional Villains
Here’s a shocker: frozen vegetables, canned beans, and whole-grain bread are all processed foods. The demonization of anything “processed” ignores the fact that processing can preserve nutrients and make healthy foods more convenient. The key is reading labels and choosing your foods wisely.
8. Coconut Oil Is Nature’s Miracle Fat
Coconut oil contains more saturated fat than butter. That’s right, this trendy “superfood” can actually raise your bad cholesterol levels. A 2024 review of studies found coconut oil increases LDL cholesterol, contradicting years of health halo marketing. So, save your money and your arteries, and maybe start looking for alternatives.
7. Seed Oils Are Inflammatory Poison
Social media influencers want you to fear canola and sunflower oil. But here’s the science: polyunsaturated fats from seed oils actually reduce heart disease risk. The omega-6 fatty acids in these oils are also linked to lower inflammation markers. The real culprits behind chronic disease? Ultra-processed foods high in salt and sugar, not the oils used to cook them.
6. Fresh Produce Is Always Better Than Frozen
Frozen fruits and vegetables are flash-frozen at peak ripeness, locking in nutrients that fresh produce loses during transport. A 2024 study revealed that frozen peas contained more vitamin C than fresh peas after just three days. While fresh produce travels for weeks, losing vitamins along the way, frozen ones maintain their nutritional integrity.
5. Low-Fat Foods Are Automatically Healthier
Here’s a trick from food manufacturers: when they remove fat, they often replace it with sugar, salt, and chemical additives to maintain flavor. So yes, that “low-fat” label often signals a highly processed product that’s worse for you than the full-fat version. Consuming healthy fats has also been linked to lower heart disease risk; you actually need them to absorb vitamins.
4. Weight Loss Is Required for Better Health
That’s right, you can improve your health even without losing a single pound. There are people who are “weight-loss resistant,” and yet they experience health improvements like better cholesterol, blood pressure, and insulin levels. Your DNA may also determines how your body responds to diet changes, making weight loss more about biology than willpower.
3. Eating After 8 PM Causes Weight Gains
Science has spoken: calories consumed at 8 AM have the same effect as calories consumed at 8 PM. Your metabolism doesn’t shut down when the sun sets. The reason late-night eaters often gain weight is because they’re usually consuming high-calorie snacks while binge-watching Netflix. For weight watchers, total daily calories matter more than meal timing.
2. All Calories Are Created Equal
While 100 calories of candy and 100 calories of broccoli provide the same energy, they don’t affect your body the same way. Whole foods require more energy to digest, keeping you fuller longer. They also deliver essential nutrients that processed foods lack. Research also found that people eating whole foods lost more weight than those eating processed foods with similar calorie counts.
1. Sedentary Lifestyles Drive the Obesity Epidemic
Here’s the truth: we’re not getting fatter because we’re lazier. A massive 2025 Duke University study of over 4,000 adults across six continents found that physical activity levels didn’t change much in decades. But our food environment did. We’re surrounded by cheap, calorie-dense, ultra-processed foods and eating more of them.