Are All Calories Created Equal?

Interestingly, the calories your body takes in may not be the same as the calories your body uses. A 2500 calorie per day diet may cause some people to gain weight, while a 2500 calorie per day diet consisting of different foods may cause no weight gain or even a weight loss. It all depends on how the calories are counted and on how your body digests those calories.

How Calorie Count Is Measured

Calories are the units of energy we use every day to measure the food intake we eat. One calorie is the amount of energy necessary to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius at normal atmospheric pressure.

Calories In Food

When we talk about calories in food, we are actually talking about kilocalories. One scientific kilocalorie is equal to a thousand calories. When talking about food, one calorie is actually a kilocalorie.

Manufacturers of different types of food are measured using what is called a “bomb calorimeter.” The food is placed in a sealed container that is also filled with water at normal atmospheric pressure. Electrical energy is used to burn the food. When it is burned completely, the temperature of the water is measured and a calculation is made as to how many calories are in that food. 

How The Body Uses Calories

The problem with the bomb calorimeter is that it measures every available calorie the food contains and, in our diets, we don’t always use up every available calorie.

Take fiber, for example. Fiber can be burned in a bomb calorimeter and its calories are measured as part of the total amount of calories in a specific food. In the gut, however, fiber is not digested (especially insoluble fiber) and it instead passes through the body to make up the bulky portion of stool. This means that the calories you ate from fiber aren’t absorbed and you are actually consuming fewer calories than you’d expect. This is a good reason to eat high fiber foods.

The Atwater System

Another method of determining calories is called the Atwater system. In this system, the calories are broken down into the number of calories in the protein, fat, carbohydrates, and alcohol in each food. There are reference tables based on the energy density of the food. For protein, there are 4 kilocalories in each gram of protein. There are also 4 kilocalories in each gram of carbohydrate. Organic acids contain 3 kilocalories per gram and fats contain 9 kilocalories per gram. If you drink alcohol, it takes up 7 kilocalories per gram of alcohol. The food is broken down into the amount of each of these components and the calorie count is added up. 

Neither Method Is Truly Accurate

Neither method is a true measure of the digestibility of food and the degree of absorption of the digested products. The truth is that the food those calories come from greatly determines how they are processed in the body.

Calories are NOT created equal as the exact same amount of calories from two different types of food can pose completely different biological effects in the body.

Soda Versus Mushrooms: A Case Study

Is 182 calories worth of soda the same as 182 calories worth of mushrooms? Let us see.

The Soda

A 22-ounce serving of soda has 44 grams of sugar, 182 calories and nothing else. The stomach quickly absorbs the sugar causing a spike in blood glucose levels and a variety of bad chemical reactions in the body, including, but not limited to increases in storage of belly fat, increases in bad cholesterol and blood pressure, and may even contribute to infertility in women.

The flood of insulin also blocks leptin, the hormone that controls appetite. As people become more resistant to leptin, they never register satiation, and this leads to overeating, out of control cravings and adds fuel to the sugar addiction fire. This domino effect leads to bad eating habits, and cravings for sugar that will never truly get satisfied.  

Additionally, the fructose in the soda does not send a signal to the brain that the body just received calories, so they are not registered as food, and this means that it will also effect ghrelin, the appetite hormone that is reduced when the body receives real food, leading to more hunger, more cravings, and over eating.

The Mushrooms

Mushrooms are also carbohydrates, but instead of being simple sugars like the soda, they are complex carbs that digest slowly in the body. They will not cause blood sugar spikes, but instead be digested slowly and they provide essential nutrients, like potassium, fiber, protein, iron, vitamin D, and magnesium, healing the body instead of causing immense harm.

The quality nutritional profile of the mushrooms supports numerous healthy results in the body, and also helps protect against chronic disease, including various cancers and heart disease.

The nutritional profile, slow digestion, and fiber found in mushrooms allow you to feel full and satisfied, eliminating out of control cravings and over eating. Will mushrooms contribute to weight gain? NO WAY!

The difference between the calories in soda and mushrooms is marked. In fact, as opposed to the soda that is all harmful, there is not one thing in mushrooms that is.

One study that looked at the correlation of sugar and calories to risk of diabetes found that simply adding 150 calories a day to a diet barely raised the risk for diabetes, however when those calories were from soda the risk increased by 700%.

The Volume Is Impressive Too

By the way, 186 calories worth of mushrooms is almost 9 cups, which is a lot of mushrooms, especially in comparison to the 22 ounces of soda.

Now, most people will not consume 9 cups of mushrooms in one sitting (mainly because they are so filling), but think about how much more food you can actually eat when choosing quality food?

What Does This Mean For Eating And Counting Calories?

Eat slow digesting foods and skip the simple sugars!

Eat real whole food!

Very Little Or No count

Look at food labels for foods that contain a high amount of fiber. Plant foods naturally contain a great deal of indigestible fiber that will bulk up the stool and won’t be counted as “real” calories because they are not digested or absorbed in the body.
Vegetables are always your best choices, as are low sugar fruits like berries.

More Count

Meats, proteins, and other low fiber foods are more fully digested and absorbed, so those foods will count more than vegetables.

Highest Count

Empty calorie foods, like cake, donuts, cookies, potato chips, soda and other junky foods are your worst choices that will do nothing good for your body and will cause serious harm.

Stock up on high fiber real food for your health!  

Carbohydrates And Losing Weight - How to Eat Carbs and Lose Weight

In simple terms, carbohydrates are broken down by various enzymes into simple sugars then glucose so they can be absorbed into the blood. Digestive enzymes are like biological scissors - they chop long starch molecules into simpler ones.

According to experts, if we cannot burn all the fat we consume, the remainder is stored as fat tissue. This fat-burning ability is determined by the amount of insulin in our bloodstream. [Note: a major factor in insulin release is the glycemic index (GI) value of the carb-foods or meal consumed.] When insulin levels are low, we burn mainly fat. When they are high, we burn mainly carbs. But a problem arises when insulin levels remain constantly high, as in the case of individuals suffering from insulin insensitivity. In such cases, the constant need to burn carbs reduces our fat-burning ability. Result? More fat is stored as fatty (adipose) tissue.

A good way to lose weight is to cut out all of the soda you drink. Soda is loaded with sugar and carbohydrates and most of us aren't very cognizant about how much we actually drink. Cut out all of the empty calories you take in from soda and start drinking water, a healthier alternative.

Generally speaking, the speed of digestion is determined by the chemical nature of the carb itself, and thus how "resistant" it is to the activity of the enzymes. A simple sugar is usually much less resistant than a starch, and is digested or metabilized much faster. Things that slow down digestion include: the presence of acid (from gastric juices or the food itself), and the presence of soluble fiber.

A good way to lose weight is simply to eat healthier. Eating more vegetables, quality carbohydrates, healthy fats, and lean meats will get you well on your way to being more lean and healthy. Avoid red meat and various junk foods such as chips, cookies, cake, and candy.

High Insulin Levels May Increase Risk of Obesity

Although it takes a certain amount of self-control and discipline to lose weight, giving up on tasty food is not required any more. Years ago, a lot of weight loss foods did not taste that good. Today, modern sweeteners and preservatives allow you to enjoy diet food that tastes just like its high-fat, carbo-loaded conventional equivalent. Choose this option, and you can keep eating foods you enjoy.

This is why experts are linking high insulin levels, together with a reduced ability to burn fat, with obesity. And as you can see, high insulin levels are typically determined by the type of carbs we eat. High GI foods or meals trigger higher levels of insulin than intermediate or low GI foods. This is why the Glycemic Index is considered to be so important in assessing carb eating habits.

To help you lose weight, plan on eating a large, healthy breakfast each morning. Try to make sure that the food you choose is full of carbohydrates and protein. This strategy will help you avoid overeating at lunch time or craving snacks between the two meals. Egg whites are a good choice to help you achieve the results you want.

As we have seen, the human body is fuelled by glucose. Therefore all foods must be converted into glucose before they can be used as fuel. Carbohydrates are more easily converted into glucose than protein or fat, and are considered to be the body's "preferred" source of energy, and the brain's essential source of energy.

The key to weight loss is taking everything in moderation. The goal is to stop excessive overindulgence. A small amount of saturated fat and carbohydrates is acceptable. Do not try to completely remove enjoyable foods from the diet. Instead, choose smaller portions and moderate the intake of unhealthy items that are not beneficial.

Simple carbs (excepting fruit sugar) are more easily converted into glucose because their molecular structure breaks down faster in the stomach and small intestine. Therefore these carbs raise glucose levels in the bloodstream quite rapidly (less than 30 minutes). This explains why diabetics, who occasionally suffer from an excessively low blood-glucose level, can quickly restore their balance by eating simple carb-foods, like sweets.