Nutrition Myths Debunked: What Firefighters Need to Know

By: Katie Breazeale, MS RD, LD

There’s an overload of information about nutrition and figuring out what’s true can be very challenging.  I could fill multiple pages with nutrition myths that are floating around, but I will go over my top four!

Carbs make you fat.

This is one of the most popular phrases I hear.  Carbs are an essential macronutrient and offer many health benefits. Fruit has antioxidants, grains offer B vitamins and magnesium, dairy with calcium, beans provide phosphorus, fiber, and protein, and starchy vegetables have potassium and vitamins. Carbs are about quality and quantity.  Carbs are also essential as your primary energy source.  You want to refuel your glycogen stores to be ready for the next call.

Calories in and calories out are all that matter.

This has been drummed in over the years, if you eat 2000 calories you need to burn 2000 calories otherwise you gain or lose weight.  There is some validity in this, but if you fill your calorie goal with pizza, chips, and beer do you honestly believe you’ll maintain your weight even if you work out? Calories consumed should be high-quality nutrient-dense foods. Think about eating enough protein to support muscle growth or maintenance, fruits and vegetables for antioxidants and vitamins, grains and beans for fiber and micronutrients, and healthy fats to support fat-soluble vitamins and reduce inflammation. 

Snacking is bad for you.

To snack or not to snack? A frequent question I am asked.  Snacking has its place when done with a purpose. If you miss a meal a snack can help you not overeat at your next meal. Your protein needs may be higher than what three meals a day covers- snacking is a great way to get in that extra protein. When looking for a snack try to pair carbs with protein to help keep you full longer. String cheese and a piece of fruit, apple and peanut butter, Greek yogurt, or beef jerky and crackers.

If you exercise you can eat what you want.

As firefighters you have a physically demanding job, but does that mean you should eat whatever you want because you just burned x number of calories during that call?  Fast food, desserts, and vending machine snacks tend to be very high in calories, more so than the amount of work you just put in.  A burger and fries from McDonald’s costs 630 calories which doesn’t sound very high, but you would have to do an hour of swimming laps just to burn off the large fry you ate, now add in the burger and you need another hour of fast running.  The bottom line is you can’t outwork a poor diet.