The following are myths and misconceptions about nutrition in general. A basic grasp of nutrition is needed in order to have a healthy diet/lifestyle. I had the privilege of interacting with a certified nutritionist and dietician while in recovery, and learned a lot, of which I will share with you. However, I am not a registered dietician or nutritionist, and its possible that my views could be wrong/skewed due to the nature of my disorder.

My advice is that if you truly wish to lose a lot of weight (for health or aesthetic reasons) do not rely on Internet sources. Get to a certified nutritionist or dietician. Don't trust me to have all the answers, or K-pop idols. A lot of times idols do not get adequate information from nutritionists when they decide to diet, which can be disasterous. 

In future chapters, I will tackle myths and misconceptions about nutrition and diet relating to K-pop in particular, but this is more of just a general edition. Again, if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments!

"Being healthy means dieting and exercising and staying away from junk food and sweets. There's a such thing as "healthy" and "unhealthy" food and "good/bad food". If you eat "healthy," you will live a long time.

It's very easy to believe this, due to the fact that there's so many news articles saying "this food is good" and "this food is bad" and "healthy/unhealthy" is seen as very black and white. We give food an almost moral weight - if you see me eating a large fry and drinking a milkshake, I'm being "bad." Literally, I once went to Chick-Fil-A with my clinic group (a bunch of people in recovery from eating disorders) and the guy at the counter innocently asked if we wanted "a cookie, some ice cream, something bad, ladies?"

My nutritionist was quick to correct him - "There's no such thing as bad food," she said, and as much as I didn't believe her then, I do now.

Let me explain it like this - if you were in prison and had to choose between eating steamed broccoli or pizza for the rest of your life, which would be healthier? 

Your first instinct might be, "broccoli, because it's a vegetable and pizza is just junk food". Okay. That's a legitimate way to put it, but let's take a closer look. 

Broccoli is a vegetable loaded with Vitamin C and K, which are very important. However, it's extremely low in carbohydrates, protein, or fat, aka the three macronutrients needed to survive. Pizza, however, is cheese on bread with usually some sort of meat and maybe some vegetables. The bread is a carbohydrate, the cheese a protein and a fat, and vegetables (though probably not as nutrient laden as an entire head of broccoli) provide some amount of vitamins. 

Therefore, if you were to spend the rest of your life eating broccoli, you would most likely die from lack of nutrients sooner than you would if you spent the rest of your life eating pizza. So would that make pizza the healthy food and broccoli the unhealthy food? Doesn't seem to make sense, does it?

The truth is, neither pizza nor broccoli are unhealthy. What is unhealthy is only eating one kind of food for the rest of your life, but thankfully most people aren't in jail stuck between broccoli and pizza for the rest of their life. 

Health means that your body (and mind!) are able to function optimally. Your food itself is not intrinisically "good" or "bad". That's giving them way too much power. You could potentially eat French fries and hamburgers every day and not gain weight (yes, its possible!) if you portion it correctly. French fries and hamburgers are not "bad" or "unhealthy" foods. French fries are potatoes and oil. Hamburgers are beef. All these things can be a part of a healthy, sustainable meal plan. There's nothing "bad" or "unhealthy" about any of it.

So when I talk about keeping myself "healthy" - I'm referring to keeping away from the mindset of food having intrinsic qualities that make them good or bad, because then that leads to behaviors that are harmful to me. Not allowing yourself the proper macronutrients to allow your body to function optimally is unhealthy (which is why I believe so many of those K-pop idol diets are unhealthy, because they severely lack certain macronutrients). My goal for myself is to be able to provide myself with adequate nutrition to take care of my body for a long time, which is my definition of "healthy."

"If you take carbs/fats out of your diet, you will lose weight faster. Carbs/fats are unhealthy, anyway."

I once read an ulzzang blog that suggested that everyone stay away from carbohydrates and fats and stick to mainly vegetables and lean protein, in order to have the thinnest and healthiest lifestyle.

Basic biology and nutrition proves that that isn't true. Our bodies rely on three specific macros to provide enegery: starches, lipids, and proteins. Starches and lipids are just fancy words for carbs and fat, but all are essential in a healthy diet. Carbs provide energy, protein helps build muscle, and fats help with absorbtion, maintaining body temperature, and a number of other body functions. NEVER cut any of these out of your diet, unless your doctor specifically tells you (I have a friend who was born unable to process red meat, therefore she cannot eat beef or pork. But she still gets her source of protein through fish, beans, ect.)

Even vegetarians get their protein through fish and beans, and those on the "Paleo" whatever diet where you cut out "processed" foods require a source of carbs. Depending on your age and body type, and your goals, the ratio of macronutrients can differ (bodybuilders and athletes, for example, eat a lot of carbs because they need the energy to perform their sport), but you can't cut an entire food group out entirely. That's not sustainable or healthy.