Skip to content

Top Navigation

Food & Wine Food & Wine
  • Recipes & Cooking
  • Drinks
  • Travel
  • Holidays & Events
  • News
  • F&W Classic
  • Video
  • Kitchen & Home
  • F&W Pro

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Wine Club
  • Podcast
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Food & Wine

Food & Wine Food & Wine
  • Explore

    Explore

    • F&W Cooks

      Food and Wine presents a new network of food pros delivering the most cookable recipes and delicious ideas online. Read More Next
    • Our 22 Best Crock Pot and Slow-Cooker Recipes

      Looking to amp up your beef stew but unsure where to start? A slow cooker can can take your comfort food to the next level. Read More Next
    • 50 Affordable Wines You Can Always Trust

      We’ve assembled a list of 50 of the world’s most reliable, inexpensive wines – bottles that offer amazing quality for their price year in and year out. Read More Next
  • Recipes & Cooking

    Recipes & Cooking

    See All Recipes & Cooking
    • Chicken Recipes
    • Comfort Food Recipes
    • Breakfast & Brunch Recipes
    • Salad Recipes
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Vegetable Recipes
    • Pasta & Noodle Recipes
    • Chefs
    • Meat & Poultry Recipes
    • Soup Recipes
    • Appetizer Recipes
    • Side Dishes
    • Fruit Recipes
    • Seafood Recipes
    • Special Diets
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Steal This Trick
  • Drinks

    Drinks

    See All Drinks
    • Wine
    • Cocktails & Spirits
    • Coffee Drinks & Recipes
    • Juices
    • Beer & Brews
    • Champagne & Sparkling Wine
    • Tea Recipes & Ideas
  • Travel

    Travel

    See All Travel
    • Wine Regions
    • Restaurants
  • Holidays & Events

    Holidays & Events

    See All Holidays & Events
    • Valentine's Day
    • Halloween
    • Passover
    • Hanukkah
    • Christmas
    • Gifts
    • Super Bowl
    • Easter
    • Thanksgiving
    • New Year's Eve
    • Holiday Entertaining
  • News
  • F&W Classic
  • Video
  • Kitchen & Home
  • F&W Pro

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Wine Club
  • Podcast
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home Chevron Right
  2. Drinks Chevron Right
  3. 6 Health Rules You Don’t Actually Have to Follow

6 Health Rules You Don’t Actually Have to Follow

By Food & Wine
Updated March 31, 2016
Skip gallery slides
Save FB Tweet
Credit: © Twenty20 / Courtesy of PureWow
Just like the time we found out that ice cream can be good for you, we were also psyched to discover that a lot of the restricting health “rules” we previously believed to be true actually aren’t set in stone. Here, six common guidelines you don’t really have to follow.This piece originally appeared on PureWow.
Start Slideshow

1 of 6

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

You Don't Have To Stop Eating at 7pm

Credit: © Twenty20 / Courtesy of PureWow

Here’s the trick to eating late at night: It won’t make you gain weight as long as you make good food choices. Nutritionist Jamie Mast told Women’s Health, “A calorie is a calorie…If your total calorie intake for the day is greater than what you are burning, this can lead to weight gain regardless of what time it is.” Basically, it doesn’t matter when you eat but more importantly what you eat, how much you eat and how much you exercise.

1 of 6

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 6

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

You Don't Have to Eat Six Small Meals Throughout the Day

Credit: © Betty's Organics / Courtesy of PureWow

Similar to the prior: As long as you’re eating the right things and the right amount of those things in total, it doesn’t matter how often your meals are. In fact, people who eat six smaller meals are more likely to overeat, calorie-wise. This isn’t to say we’re anti-snack, but it’s 100 percent OK to stick to three square meals -- you’re metabolism isn’t going to shut down.

2 of 6

3 of 6

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

You Don't Have To Eat Breakfast Everyday

Credit: © Twenty20 / Courtesy of PureWow

Good news for those who would rather sleep in past smoothie-making time: Eating breakfast doesn’t directly lead to weight loss. A recent study in theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition found no changes in weight in two groups--one of which ate breakfast religiously and another that didn’t. So go ahead and hit snooze if you really want to.

3 of 6

Advertisement

4 of 6

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

You Don't Have To Eat Everything Organic

Credit: © Twenty20 / Courtesy of PureWow

Organic food is great in theory, but it’s often cost prohibitive. Luckily, some foods are totally fine to eat non-organic. (A lot depends on its outer layer.) Refer to the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen to learn where it’s OK to buy conventional.

4 of 6

5 of 6

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

You Don't Have To Stop Eating Carbs

Credit: © Twenty20 / Courtesy of PureWow

Bread lovers, rejoice. Not only do you not have to cut out carbs completely, you actually should include some good carbs in your diet (like brown rice, fruits and vegetables) to keep a balanced diet and maintain weight. In fact, according to a recent study, Japanese people, who follow the country's typical high-grain diet, have the second longest life expectancy in the world. (For reference, the U.S. is 43rd.)

5 of 6

6 of 6

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

You Don't Have To Go On A Juice Cleanse To Detoxify Your System

Credit: © Twenty20 / Courtesy of PureWow

We’re not here to comment on liquid diets. (Do what makes you feel the best.) Just don’t think you have to power through a cleanse for “detoxifying” reasons. Our bodies are smarter than we give them credit for and are in a constant state of self-cleansing, so there’s really no need to give it an extra push. Eat well and you’ll be just fine.

6 of 6

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Food & Wine

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 6 You Don't Have To Stop Eating at 7pm
2 of 6 You Don't Have to Eat Six Small Meals Throughout the Day
3 of 6 You Don't Have To Eat Breakfast Everyday
4 of 6 You Don't Have To Eat Everything Organic
5 of 6 You Don't Have To Stop Eating Carbs
6 of 6 You Don't Have To Go On A Juice Cleanse To Detoxify Your System

Share options

Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Login

Food & Wine

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Books from Food & Wine
  • Contact Us
  • Media Kit
  • Content Licensing

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
Food & Wine is part of the Meredith Corporation Allrecipes Food Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.foodandwine.com

View image

6 Health Rules You Don’t Actually Have to Follow
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.