Can someone please explain "a calorie is a calorie"

yarwell

I would suggest checking out the American Diabetes Assoc website to understand how your body processes carbs.

Only if you read who funds them first. There love of carbs will then be understandable, whereas without that knowledge you will be stuck trying to understand how an association concerned with a carb based and aggravated disorder is so keen for people to eat them.

Marmitegeoff

Bump for later

macdiver

While a calorie is a calorie and it takes a calorie deficit to lose weight, recent studies are showing that high protien and high fat diets are better for your overall health. Here is one such study. There are also similar studies on different populations. This one was on obese diabetic women but other studies show the same in relatively healthy individuals as well.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15616799

There was a recent study in JAMA that also showed on a high protein and high fat diet there was less lowering of your bmr (ree in the study) and a higher tde (tee in the study). Keep in mind that a decrease in ree and tee is bad. It means less calories used (or the evil starvation mode mentioned frequently here on MFP).

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1199154

saraphim41

All carbs are not equal. The body does everything better when the blood glucose is in the normal range. Low glycemic carbs are fine. High glycemic carbs spike the blood glucose, and can eventually promote type II diabetes. Just sayin'.

fallser

On the subject of a calorie is a calorie, it is true. Calorie is a measure of heat. A gram of protein can produce 4 calories of heat, a gram of fat produces 9, and a gram of carbs produces 4. But our bodies do not respond to these substances and calories the same. Protein contains amino acids that help rebuild cells and muscles - and are not necessarily used for energy. Fats are digested in the liver and provide sustained energy over a relatively long time. Carbs hit the bloodstream fast (some faster than others), and need insulin to be used. And insulin is the substance that replenishes our muscles with energy (glycogen), and then puts the rest as fat in our fat cells. And it does this more efficiently and quickly than fat we eat can be stored as fat on our bodies. And our pancreas has a nasty habit of making a little too much insulin. Why would we care? The extra insulin takes our blood sugar below normal, and makes us tired (ever wonder why we have no energy after that huge bowl of pasta?) And what do we want when our blood sugar is low and our bellies are full? The sweetest thing we can find. That's why we're hunting for sweets 5 minutes after we finish eating! And new insulin sweeps that away - to store more fat. And by then we're snoozing on the couch.

There is growing evidence that carbs are not good for us, especially the kind of low nutrient rapid absorbing kinds - like bread, white potato, pasta, rice, and desserts. And to make it worse, the food industry likes to refine the foods to make them even more appealing (imaging that) so that we will buy them and eat them and then want to buy more and eat more and more.

If you are interested, search for Gary Taubes, a science writer for the NY Times. He has written extensively on how scientific research has been pointing us towards a higher fat, lower card diet for decades and decades, but that the decisions of a very few, based more on "comment sense" than hard research, turned the food pyramid on its head and told us it is good to eat the very foods that make us fat, and avoid the foods that make us full. I know we like to trust these experts, but do a little research and you;ll find few facts behind these decisions.

Below is a link to a recent experiment on people in the midst of weight loss, studying what happens if they eat the same number of calories with different mixes of carbs, fats, and protein. And guess what, those eating carbs have to do an extra hour of exercise EVERY DAY to lose the same weight as those eating more fats and proteins. Same calories. Is this one study proof? Maybe not. But maybe it is enough to get more of us to try a different way of eating and see for ourselves.

I have lost over 40 lbs following a low carb, higher protein and fat diet. I eat a lot of veggies, including salads and green veggies. I also eat fruit most every day. I eat zero bread, zero rice, zero white potato, zero cereal and zero dessert. (Okay, once in a blue moon I succumb, but it is very rare). I am never hungry, and when I am I eat until I am full. (It is funny that fatty foods like nuts and cheese and chunks of meat fill us up quickly and tell us to stop eating them. ) I repeat, I AM NEVER HUNGRY. I need no will power to resist eating. I can eat as much as I want. My body tells me when to eat and when to stop. I have lots of energy, in fact I just completed my first triathlon. I feel great. I can go to most any restaurant and find something to eat. Even Chinese food, hold the rice, works on occasion. I do eat low carb wraps, of which there are many on the market. They make adequate substitutes for bread in sandwiches, and used creatively replace pizza crust and even chips in nachos. I'll bet if you looked at what I eat and what someone keeping their calories to 1200 a day eat, you'd say I eat a lot more and much less "healthy" based on conventional wisdom. No apologies here. When I am doing lots of exercising, I eat more in preparation. When I am not going to exercise, I eat less knowing I won't need the energy. My urge to eat does not overwhelm this rational thinking. I feel I can keep eating this way and be happy for years to come. My mantra has been "none is easier than one", a reference to not eating that first potato chip, french fry, or bite of dessert is easier than eating a bite and resisting the second. Because I know that I will want it. Not because I am a bad weak person, but because, after the first bite, my body will take over and drive me toward that second bite with a fury. But resisting the first bite - that I can do.

Here is the link to the Taubes article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/opinion/sunday/what-really-makes-us-fat.html

Good luck to all with your weight loss journey!

Beautifully said! Completely agree!! And this approach has worked for me as well (quality foods, packed with nutrients, focusing a bit more on lean proteins, good fats, and carbs that come from certain fruits & non-starchy veggies, quinoa, lentils, Greek yogurt, etc., not sugar, flour, processed foods, etc). I'm never hungry either & now am 3 lbs from my goal weight (relying on resistance & weight training, not cardio).

justcallmet

Hi Carrieannal! I haven't read ALL the comments here, but I urge you to check out a film (which you can watch for free on Hulu) called Fathead. It is, sort of, a comedic response to Super Size Me. There is a distinct explanation, about half way in, that describes HOW our bodies make fat. CARBS DEFINITELY MATTER. Check it out, if you don't agree, fine, but at least you've been exposed to the information. And good luck in what you do!!