Misconception about High Calorie Foods

Kasuko

So was just about to post about calories but I did my ingrained habit of always searching first and found this great post. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/109162-is-a-calorie-a-calorie
read it first to truly understand what a calorie is.

If you didn't read it I'll provide a slight recap. Here is the definition of a calorie:
Calorie - a unit of heat equal to the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree at one atmosphere pressure.

Wow that has NOTHING to do with food, and it shouldn't because if it did that would be a lot of science we have to throw out the window. We can measure how many calories a log would give off while it is on fire in calories. That's what a calorie is.

Now for the reason behind this post. I see a lot of people explaining why they are under their calorie goal as they can't eat that much food. Well as we learned a calorie has NOTHING to do with food, yet it seems to be the all mighty governing factor of food and rightly so.

You can think of the calories of food as being the overview of the food, while the food itself has no physical calories in it. The calories you see on the label is an overview of everything in the food that you will be using to fuel your body.

So why does everyone think high calorie foods are bad for you? Answer: misconception! from 2 places at that.

1. Fat Lazy People
Yes, high calorie foods are bad for fat lazy people who aren't healthy aren't watching what they eat and aren't exercising. This is because they continually SURPASS their recommended calorie intake by eating these high calorie foods and THAT is the true issue. Too many calories. If you are here at MFP you probably don't fall into this category.

2. Calorie Source
Explained in the calorie thread above and the prelude to this thread you should realize that calories aren't physical and it's all about where they come from. If you are getting your calories from refined sugar than they really are bad calories and there is nothing I can do for you. If you are getting your calories from complex carbohydrates then they are not bad calories.

So when we combine these two things together we get a general misconception about high calorie foods. That they are bad for you. While this can be true it can also be false, and that's why we are hear today. To learn about the false.

High calorie foods that get their high calorie count from "good" sources are good for you, in moderation of course IF you are under your calorie goal.

So if you are under your calorie goal or you are burning a lot of additional calories in a day and you can't eat enough then it is time to step up the level of food you are eating. Just make sure that the higher calories are coming from "good" sources and not refined sugar and pals.

A good example is to look at backpacking meals and military MREs. They are relatively small meals but they contain a TON calories, because when you are out on the trail or fighting in the trenches you NEED that energy. (I'm not saying eat backpacking meals, I'm saying that they are an example of small meal big calories)

So in closing if you ever say "I can't reach my calorie goal because that's too much food." then I tell you to eat some almonds and avocados!

Thank You
Kasuko

fitgirl4life

Thank you for your very informative and sensible post!

My favorite calorie-rich healthy food option is homemade museli for breakfast: crushed up almonds, walnuts, pecans, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and oats served up with some natural yogurt and blueberries. It packs a punch for calories, and I only have to eat about 30g

Kasuko

Thank you for your very informative and sensible post!

My favorite calorie-rich healthy food option is homemade museli for breakfast: crushed up almonds, walnuts, pecans, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and oats served up with some natural yogurt and blueberries. It packs a punch for calories, and I only have to eat about 30g

Exactly! Thank you so much for the example.