Counter-intuitive things I learned about nutrition and wellness while on intermittent fasting and keto diet, based on personal experience and all the reading up I had to do:

Fat is not always evil

Good quality fats from fresh produce like avocados, wild salmon, butter from grass-fed cows are actually good for you. Essential, in fact, for a healthy diet. Of course, in moderation. But universal rejection of fats because “fats are unhealthy” will ironically make us unhealthier. 

Asians need to eat rice

Maybe it was a good fuel source back then when we were agrarian societies and worked hard physically. But with our sedentary urban lives right now, that old cultural norm deserves a serious relook. Or at least we don’t need to eat as much as we do. Besides, the white rice grain had arguably become mostly empty calories, with over-farming practices and food system deterioration.

Breakfast is NOT the most important meal of the day

There isn’t any most important meal. It’s about healthy intake of macro and micro-nutrients through the day/month/years, eating in moderation and at the right time. Barring any existing health issues (say, gastric pains), it’s perfectly okay to skip breakfast.

Eating all the time is actually not all good

There’s a food myth that instead of eating 3 big meals a day, it’s better to eat smaller meals. Making your body digest food all day everyday is actually not ALL good. It’s good to starve the body from time to time during the day, or for periods of time during the year. Fasting had been a cultural tradition found all over the world, and it’s not just for cultural but health reasons.

A running log of counter-intuitive learning points - to be continued…