Empty calories list....
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madhatter2013 wrote: »And this crap right here is the reason our children starve in schools. Have any of you seen what a lot of schools are passing for meals now?
I saw some instagram pictures of some garbage they were serving in schools..it looked disgusting....
*shrug*
I had lunch with my 3rd grader last week, and actually found it quite tasty. Hamburger, tater tots, fresh fruit, and some really good baked beans (not the crap out of the can).
Sooooo many empty calories!!
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explain to me how a vegetable pizza would be an empty calorie?
By the definition, they are just comparing foods based on nutrient density (proportion of nutrients in a food relative to its energy content), and calorie density (amount of energy relative to weight of the food). They are not saying that a vegetable pizza is devoid of nutrients, but compared to other foods with the same calorie content and weight, the nutrient profile is much lower. Meaning that one probably has to eat more calories to fulfill one's daily micro-nutrient needs.
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doktorglass wrote: »They have a definition of empty calories as "empty calories applies to food such as solid fats and/or added sugars supplying food energy but little or no other nutrition. An empty calorie has the same energy content as any other calorie but lacks many accompanying nutrients such as vitamins, dietary minerals, antioxidants, amino acids, or dietary fiber. Although carbohydrates and fats are nutrients, they are typically ignored for this analysis, with the exception of essential fatty acids." (Wikipedia)
Added sugar, and solid fats only adds calories, but no micro-nutrients. Hence, it is a calorie devoid of any other function than supplying energy. Adding calories, with
From that definition they have derived that "The foods and beverages that provide the most empty calories for Americans are: pizza, ice cream, soda... etc."
They haven't demonized these foods, they are just stating facts derived from a definition of empty calories.
This is basically the point I was going to make.
It's kind of a silly analysis, though. They are basically just saying that saturated fat (in that they are focusing on solid fats) and sugar are "empty calories" so foods which contain them have lots of empty calories (and probably some non-empty calories too).0 -
doktorglass wrote: »explain to me how a vegetable pizza would be an empty calorie?
By the definition, they are just comparing foods based on nutrient density (proportion of nutrients in a food relative to its energy content), and calorie density (amount of energy relative to weight of the food). They are not saying that a vegetable pizza is devoid of nutrients, but compared to other foods with the same calorie content and weight, the nutrient profile is much lower. Meaning that one probably has to eat more calories to fulfill one's daily micro-nutrient needs.
but it is not an empty calorie, so the definition is in a sense, useless....0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »doktorglass wrote: »They have a definition of empty calories as "empty calories applies to food such as solid fats and/or added sugars supplying food energy but little or no other nutrition. An empty calorie has the same energy content as any other calorie but lacks many accompanying nutrients such as vitamins, dietary minerals, antioxidants, amino acids, or dietary fiber. Although carbohydrates and fats are nutrients, they are typically ignored for this analysis, with the exception of essential fatty acids." (Wikipedia)
Added sugar, and solid fats only adds calories, but no micro-nutrients. Hence, it is a calorie devoid of any other function than supplying energy. Adding calories, with
From that definition they have derived that "The foods and beverages that provide the most empty calories for Americans are: pizza, ice cream, soda... etc."
They haven't demonized these foods, they are just stating facts derived from a definition of empty calories.
This is basically the point I was going to make.
It's kind of a silly analysis, though. They are basically just saying that saturated fat (in that they are focusing on solid fats) and sugar are "empty calories" so foods which contain them have lots of empty calories (and probably some non-empty calories too).
so the fat + sugar, negates the nutrients and energy found within the calories...that is pretty silly.0 -
silly but true0
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but it is not an empty calorie, so the definition is in a sense, useless....
It doesn't matter what you call it, the definition is a measurement instruction. They wanted to measure excess calories consumed; calories that can be removed from the diet without any negative health effects. They formulated such a measurement and then called it empty calories.
Empty calories is by the way also called discretionary calories which is defined as "the difference between total energy requirements and the energy consumed to meet recommended nutrient intakes."url="http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/report/html/d3_disccalories.htm"]1[/url
Maybe this name has a more positive feel?
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doktorglass wrote: »but it is not an empty calorie, so the definition is in a sense, useless....
It doesn't matter what you call it, the definition is a measurement instruction. They wanted to measure excess calories consumed; calories that can be removed from the diet without any negative health effects. They formulated such a measurement and then called it empty calories.
Empty calories is by the way also called discretionary calories which is defined as "the difference between total energy requirements and the energy consumed to meet recommended nutrient intakes."url="http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/report/html/d3_disccalories.htm"]1[/url
Which is the same thing as empty calories. Maybe this name has a more positive feel?
my point is that it is a useless measure that has zero meaning.0 -
Before fat became demonized, empty calories was a phrase limited to foods that were pretty much all sugar with little to no other macronutrients or micronutrients. So things like soda and most candy qualified. And alcohol definitely did.
It seems like the author(s) of that page have expanded the definition to be "all the things I don't want you to eat" and in doing so made it ridiculous. Pizza is the opposite of empty calories as is cheese. There is absolutely nothing wrong with eating full fat dairy. There are a lot of fat-soluable vitamins in there!0 -
ceoverturf wrote: »madhatter2013 wrote: »And this crap right here is the reason our children starve in schools. Have any of you seen what a lot of schools are passing for meals now?
I saw some instagram pictures of some garbage they were serving in schools..it looked disgusting....
*shrug*
I had lunch with my 3rd grader last week, and actually found it quite tasty. Hamburger, tater tots, fresh fruit, and some really good baked beans (not the crap out of the can).
Sooooo many empty calories!!
I think it can vary widely. The food at my daughter's school is pretty blech. Unintresting, bland etc. But my sister in law works in a farm to table program with public schools in South Carolina and the food there looks pretty awesome.0 -
that's the reason why most people who just eat junk food actually are starving in a celular level - deficit of nutrients/ empty calories0
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But you can't remove fats from the diet without negative health effects. We need fat in our diet for a variety of reasons. We don't need sugar as you can get anything you get from sugar from another calories source. Sugar is a true 'empty calorie'. Fat is not.doktorglass wrote: »They wanted to measure excess calories consumed; calories that can be removed from the diet without any negative health effects.0 -
Cheese????? What the hell is wrong with cheese?!?!0
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you can eat good fats in avocatos, brocollis, nuts and seeds.... etc0
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What?! Pizza is my go-to pre-race food. It has never failed me yet.0
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But you can't remove fats from the diet without negative health effects. We need fat in our diet for a variety of reasons. We don't need sugar as you can get anything you get from sugar from another calories source. Sugar is a true 'empty calorie'. Fat is not.doktorglass wrote: »They wanted to measure excess calories consumed; calories that can be removed from the diet without any negative health effects.
I dunno. Sugar provides carbs and tends to make food taste delicious.
No one is advocating a diet of 100% sugar of course, but there's certainly more to sugar than just calories0 -
Right, I understand. Pizza isn't necessarily bad. None of it is "bad" eaten in moderation. But that's the problem with most of our culture...no one actually knows what moderation is anymore. Someone who is used to downing 8 slices of pizza might need to take a break from it until he figures out what an appropriate portion is.
I'm not saying this is a perfect approach, but as evidenced by the growing obesity problem, most people really can't control themselves without going through a lot of education and change.
Saying "our culture" is useless. It's a problem on an individual level.
There are many reasons people over eat. You jumped from the type of food to the fact that people over eat it. They are two different subjects.
I've gorged myself on pizza and I've gorged myself on hummus and carrots in my lifetime.
Overeating is a complex and varied problem, and thinking that it all comes down to the type of food? That's not always the case.
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