Because diet culture will never stop spewing bullshit and making money grabs, we’re back again, with another gym myths episode. We asked you on the socials (Meathead test kitchen everywhere except twitter, where we’re MTK staff) what some of the most ridiculous fitness or nutrition trends you’ve seen are… and today, we’re hopefully putting that bullshit to rest for you.

FROM THE_SIGNAL42 ON TIKTOK: THE ACTIVATED CHARCOAL DIET

Okay… activated charcoal has made an appearance in more ways than one in our day to day lives… you may see it in your toothpaste, as an ingredient in your favorite face mask, on the menu in a drink at a bar, or used as a color additive in foods to get that solid black color… shit, people even claim it’s the secret cure to hangovers… but here’s the deal with activated charcoal: you shouldn’t be ingesting it in large amounts. Keep your charcoal infused toothpaste, it’s not the problem.

1. Before we dig in, what IS activated charcoal? It’s what’s left from superheating natural sources of carbon like wood… so yes, it’s just what you think it is, fancy charcoal.
2. Why is activated charcoal harmful in your diet? Let’s go to the experts at WebMD: If you’re taking medications, you should seriously consider not ingesting activated charcoal? Why? Well… if you’ve never accidentally ingested a toxic substance… activated charcoal is what they give you at the hospital to save you. Soooo… activated charcoal can also have the same kind of interaction if you’re on any kind of steady meds. 
   • It can reduce or prevent absorption of certain drugs like acetaminopehn, digoxin (heart medication), theophylline (for lungs), or tricyclic antidepressants… so as cool as the black smoothie looks, if you’re on meds, best to stay away.
     • Also best to stay away from the black stuff if you’re taking drugs for constipation… that’s already a side effect of activated charcoal as well as black stools, black tongue, vomiting, or diarrhea. FUN!
   • Charcoal can also mess with nutrient absorption in your body, kinda like the meds… you need all the nutrients you can get, why the hell would you want to negate any of them by eating coal? 
3. TL;DR – is it worth the hype? No. It’s not going to be some miracle substance that will make all of your dreams come true. If you use too much, or use it habitually it can ultimately fuck up how your gut absorbs food… and that’s a problem.

FROM OUR BESTIE, BETH FERACO AT BETHFARACOFITNESS ON TIKTOK: CONTINUOUS GLUCOSE MONITOR AND THE JELLO RESET DIET

1. What’s with the continuous glucose monitor?
   • When digging into this, one of the first things that comes up with a simple google search is “ditch the scale, invest in a CGM”
   • First of all, understanding what glucose is, is important: It’s a type of sugar you get from foods you eat, and your body uses it for energy.
2. While I can understand why or how this trend came about, the way the CGM is being portrayed on social media is as a scare tactic. Like, “stop eating these foods, look what it does to you internally! — When you eat too much glucose it’s stored as fat!!!” Sure, sometimes it is, but your body needs glucose.
   • Most of the cells in your body use glucose along with amino acids (the building blocks of protein) and fats for energy. But it’s the main source of fuel for your brain. Nerve cells and chemical messengers there need it to help them process information. Without it, your brain wouldn’t be able to work well.
   • Folks with diabetes, do need to monitor these levels as their bodies have higher than normal levels of glucose in their blood due to a deficiency in insulin or their body doesn’t respond to insulin as well as it should… which the body relies on insulin to move glucose into the blood cells for energy and storage.

4. The point we’re making by pointing this out is that the way people are talking about  continuous glucose monitors online,  can harm your relationship with food. 
5. Okay, what the fuck is the Jello reset diet? We asked the same question yesterday… then we watched a very… interesting video on tiktok explaining what it is, because it was exactly what I thought it’d be. When I googled it, all I got was “pouch reset diet,” and I was like “No fucking way. This can’t be it.” So I asked Beth, and sure as shit… it’s the fucking pouch reset diet. Not gonna call out the person who made the video because that’s not how we do, but they claim you’ll lose 8-10 lbs right away, so let’s discuss this… idea.
   • The jello reset diet is a bastardized rip-off of the prescribed diet that you’re given after having bariatric surgery for weight loss… the point of it is to reintroduce the idea of food and helping your stomach learn how to digest in it’s new modified form.
     • On days one and two, you get to eat a cup of sugar-free jello and a cup of sugar free jello pudding… day three you eat the same jello cups and two hard boiled eggs… day four you eat all the shit from day three and 8 oz of chicken breast… and drink a lot of water. That’s it.
       • I did the math. The gelatin costs 10 calories, the pudding costs 60. So on days one and two, you are having three of each, which brings your daily calorie count to 210. That’s it. All day. On day three you’re adding 2 eggs, which cost 70 calories each… bringing the daily total to 350 calories. On day four you’re getting to add another 220 calories for the chicken bringing your total to 570 calories for the day. THE GRAND TOTAL FOR FOUR DAYS IS 1340 CALORIES – THAT’S LESS THAN YOUR TDEE, WHICH IS USUALLY 1800 CALORIES.
       • Newborn babies eat 1000 calories a day, and all they do is shit, cry, puke, and eat. Don’t fucking do it. You will lose weight, because you’re fucking starving yourself. 
       • THEN this person was like “Wait ‘til you see your results paired with working out!” Like you can fucking train on 210 calories of jello for a whole day, fuck outta here with that shit – if you’re eating almost nothing, you can’t work out.

FROM MONAMALICE ON TIKTOK, MALE VERSUS FEMALE EXERCISES:

1. We have touched on this here and there in the past, especially on our episode with Dr. Stacy Sims, but men and women will likely train differently. Why? TL;DR – hormones. But the idea that they HAVE to train differently is laughable, obviously, your muscles don’t know if they are physiologically male or female… the whole idea of the gender binary is laughable too, but that’s a topic for another day.
   •  You can train however the fuck you want, but we have found that dudes and chicks will tend to gravitate towards different aesthetic goals. Obviously your mileage may vary and if you don’t like doing any of these movements, there’s nothing wrong with you… we’ve spent a lot of time in the gym, and we’ve noticed a few trends.
     • A lot of ladies tend to gravitate towards booty blasting movements. You could sit in line for the glute kickback machine, or you can get a dumbbell and do some squats, you can grow your ass without doing donkey kicks if you don’t want to or don’t wanna wait for the machine.
     • We also see lots of ladies working on their legs more than the dudes, because as we all know, thick thighs save lives. 
     • On the flip side, we see the gents spending more time blasting upper body than the ladies. 
       1. You ever been to a gym in Vegas? It’s full of dudes blasting their upper bodies before they go to the pool… how disappointing would it be to pick up a guy that’s jacked to get his pants off to find he’s a dorito who never trains legs?
2. Ultimately, the point we’re trying to make is that you can do whatever movements you want to get to the goals you’re trying to reach. There aren’t any movements that you “can’t” do just because you’re male or female. Do what works for you, or what your coach is prescribing to get to where you want to go. Remember, physiology and dna play a role in where you’ll build fastest, no matter who you are.

Thank you to everyone who sent in a question, we always enjoy doing these and blasting apart bullshit.

https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/activated-charcoal-uses-risks#091e9c5e80beea7e-1-5
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/glucose-diabetes