There’s plenty of information nowadays about nutrition, fitness and health. The problem is that not all of them should be taken at face value. Any advice you hear should be checked first or your efforts to get healthy will be useless.

Here’s a quick list to help you sort the health myths from the facts.

1. Everyone should eat gluten-free foods which are more nutritious

For people with gluten intolerance and celiac disease, eating gluten-free foods certainly makes them healthier. However, just because some foods are free of gluten doesn’t make them more nutritious and it definitely doesn’t mean you need to follow the gluten-free bandwagon. Certainly, gluten has been shown to have many adverse effect, but being gluten-free alone doesnt make a food more nutritious necessarily.

2. MSG is harmful to your health

By itself, monosodium glutamate is not harmful. Some people might have adverse reactions such as migraines because of MSG so they should avoid it in their food. Another problem with MSG is that, because it improves flavor, it’s mostly included in processed foods and these, as we know, are unhealthy.

3. Using a scale to track your weight loss is an excellent method

The scale has pretty much always been used to measure weight and keep track of any changes. However, scales measure the weight of your muscles as well and not just fat. It’s best to use other methods, too, simply like how your clothes fit. Looser? Great!

4. You’ll gain weight from eating foods with fat

Fat is needed by the body for energy just like protein. Eating foods with fat does not automatically make you gain weight. However, eating anything in excess, including fats, will eventually make you overweight of course.

5. Working out specific muscles will remove fat from them

Training only some areas of your body will not really help lose fat from them. A variety of exercises are best for working out all body parts and building lean muscle, and as you lose weight, it will happen throughout your entire body.

6. Carbohydrates are fattening

Carbohydrates have two types, simple and complex. When you can, choose complex carbs, like whole grain and oatmeal, as these are the better of the two. Similar to what we said about fats, however, eating too much carbs, especially simple carbs, like many processed foods with sugar, are what make you gain weight over time.

7. Exercising every day is bad for you

If you are exercising to extreme levels daily then sure, over time you might start to feel the effects of burn-out and pick up the odd injury. However, there’s nothing to stop you from being active on a daily basis. In fact, your body will love you for it!