“You can only lose weight on low-carb diets.”

“Bread is bad for you because carbs are fattening.”

“If you eat carbs past 6:00 p.m. you’ll gain weight.”

Unfortunately, carbohydrates have always gotten a bad rep in the fitness industry. Written above are all extremely common myths about carbs that have gained popularity over time from uneducated people.

In the past, popular magazines have promoted quick fixes in order to lose weight, often advertising detox plans, plans labeled “30 days ’til shredded abs!”, and of course, low-carb diet plans. This kind of advertising typically includes pictures of celebrities or fitness models posing in a bathing suit on the beach, with -as advertised- shredded abs.

Today this kind of false advertising still exists, but more prominently circulates through social media. Celebrities endorse weight loss solutions like “skinny teas,” “fat burners,” and “appetite suppressors.” And of course…low-carb diets. Kim Kardashian did this just a few months ago, show-cased below.

On top of all this, the ketogenic diet’s popularity has exploded in the fitness industry over the past few years. This diet requires individuals to receive the majority of their caloric intake from fats and the rest from moderate protein and low carbohydrates. When this is done, individuals enter a state of ketosis, a metabolic process in which the body does not have enough glucose for energy. Therefore, the body burns stored fats instead, resulting in a build-up of ketones within the body. More often than not, individuals in a state of ketosis tend to lose weight much faster than individuals following a higher-carb diet.

There are many issues with all of these weight loss regimens.

I’ll begin with short-term diets, or diets that emphasize drinking detox smoothies for thirty days, eating a small amount of carbohydrates, or barely eating at all. The issue with these diet plans is not that they don’t work. Yes, starving yourself for thirty days by following a juice cleanse or eating a minimum amount of carbohydrates can result in weight loss. But this is because of energy balance, or more specifically, the first law of thermodynamics.

According to Andreas Papas, expert nutritionist and personal trainer, “the first law of thermodynamics states that energy can be neither created nor destroyed, only transformed. The human body is constantly transforming energy, its main source of energy being calories.” Therefore, by managing your energy balance, or eating less calories than your body burns per day, you create a caloric deficit.

No matter what, if you are in a caloric deficit, you will lose weight. For example, your body doesn’t know the difference between a few slices of pizza and a salad. A salad most likely has more nutritional value than pizza in terms of micronutrients, fiber, and vitamins. It also may be higher in protein and healthy fats to keep you fuller longer than pizza will. However, your body views both of these foods as energy – or calories. That’t it. So as long as you are in a caloric deficit, you can still lose weight and eat pizza.

The same rule applies for if you are in a caloric surplus, or eating more calories than your body burns per day. If you are in a caloric surplus, you will gain weight. So, when we think about the quick fix diets advertised in the media, it’s pretty obvious that a caloric deficit is created through these plans, resulting in rapid weight loss.

If these plans do work to achieve weight loss, when actually implemented with discipline, you might be asking yourself, “what’s the issue with them then??”

The issue is that they are unsustainable. According to Jenna Davies, professional bikini competitor and member of The Clean Health Fitness Institute in Australia, 70% of diets fail within the first twelve months to follow, with all if not more of the original weight that was lost being regained. 95% of diets fail within the next three years.

These fad diets may get you quick results in a short twelve weeks, but you will more likely than not be miserable. Your overall caloric intake will be low, causing you to lose energy quickly and eventually experience negative metabolic adaptations. Pretty soon you won’t have enough energy to properly fuel your workouts, lowering your caloric expenditure. You may initially lose fat, but your food intake is too low to maintain muscle mass, so you’ll lose any aspect of looking “toned” as well. You will have a hard time falling and staying asleep, causing hunger hormones of leptin and ghrelin to spike. These hormones send signals to your brain for strong cravings, typically of highly saturated foods or foods you’ve been restricting yourself from eating, not your skinny teas and detox smoothies.

You’ll try to rely on willpower and hold out. But eventually, you’ll cave, leading to episodes of binging on all the foods you’ve been craving and gaining back all the weight you worked so hard to lose. You may even create a negative relationship with food, making any dieting process harder on you psychologically in the future, let alone physically.

Sounds pretty scary, huh?

Similarly, going “keto,” is difficult to sustain. Again, it works because a caloric deficit is created. It works quickly compared to a higher-carbohydrate diet because carbs cause water retention, which doesn’t occur in ketosis. So yes, the keto diet does work. However, if you don’t mind cutting out bagels, bread, oatmeal, cookies, cake, donuts, pasta, pizza, potatoes, fruit, vegetables, and other delicious carb sources, you won’t be able to sustain it. Like I stated earlier, restricting yourself from eating these foods can lead to a negative relationship with food, which in turn may lead to binging on these foods.

Because of these diet trends, carbohydrates tend to be unnecessarily feared by a lot of people. Because so much false information circulates the fitness industry and endorses this fear, people suffer psychologically from negative relationships with foods they love. They suffer physiologically from yo-yo dieting. Because of a lack of education about nutrition basics, including basic energy balance, basic macro and micronutrient information, and basic understanding of how weight loss works, an obesity epidemic continues to thrive in our country.

Most people are shocked to find that fruits and vegetables are carbohydrate sources. 50% of protein bars typically consist of carbohydrates. There are carbohydrates in our sauces, in our coffee creamers, in our peanut butters. Yet people continue to fear “carbs” without even knowing what they are…

Below are pictures of some common healthy carbohydrate sources from my own fridge.

Carbohydrates are the body’s most preferred energy source. They are digested the fastest and the easiest compared to proteins and fats. They are excellent sources of fuel before our workouts. They help transfer protein to our muscles after workouts. They keep us full and satiated, and most importantly – they’re delicious. They support strong and athletic bodies, and as long as your overall caloric intake is controlled, they can absolutely help us lose weight.

From now on, before you spend money on a juice cleanse or bash on carbs as the reason you can’t keep the weight off, get educated. Spend time learning the true science behind sustainable dieting. Learn more about energy balance. Learn about macronutrients – proteins, carbs, and fats. Establish a protein goal, then figure out which macronutrients you feel best on, whether that’s higher carb and lower fat or vice-versa. Get consistent with your deficit and get consistent in the gym. You’ll find that you can still incorporate the foods you love every day, including carbs, and have a much more enjoyable weight loss journey.

An enjoyable and sustainable weight loss journey, using your favorite foods to reach your dream body. Now, that doesn’t sound too scary, does it?