Is a calorie alway just a calorie?

katejkelley
katejkelley Posts: 839 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've seen this discussion many times on MFP, and have always been of the opinion all calories are not created equal. Here is an interesting article on the issue: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-lustig-md/sugar-toxic_b_2759564.html
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Replies

  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    I've seen this discussion many times on MFP, and have always been of the opinion all calories are not created equal. Here is an interesting article on the issue: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-lustig-md/sugar-toxic_b_2759564.html

    LOLstig

    Calories are units of energy
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    Like acg said, a calorie is just a measurement. The nutritional value that equates to that unit of measurement might differ. But a calorie is always a calorie.
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,716 Member
    Hopefully I can get this out before the arguments get ridiculous.

    There is no time that a calorie is not a calorie.

    Never is something that is not a calorie a calorie.

    So yes, a calorie is always a calorie.

    People are going to start in with "There's a difference between a calorie from cake and a calorie from lettuce!" No there isn't. The macros are different, yes. One is going to provide more vitamins and minerals and so on. But a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.

    And if you don't have too many of them, you'll lose weight.
  • Alex_is_Hawks
    Alex_is_Hawks Posts: 3,499 Member
    Hopefully I can get this out before the arguments get ridiculous.

    There is no time that a calorie is not a calorie.

    Never is something that is not a calorie a calorie.

    So yes, a calorie is always a calorie.

    People are going to start in with "There's a difference between a calorie from cake and a calorie from lettuce!" No there isn't. The macros are different, yes. One is going to provide more vitamins and minerals and so on. But a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.

    And if you don't have too many of them, you'll lose weight.

    /endthread.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Don't listen to their lies! A calorie is not a calorie!

    Sometimes it's a hat, or a brooch, maybe a pterodactyl....

    johnny.jpg

    Just kidding. Of course a calorie is a calorie.
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,716 Member
    Don't listen to their lies! A calorie is not a calorie!

    Sometimes it's a hat, or a brooch, maybe a pterodactyl...








    Just kidding. Of course a calorie is a calorie.

    I was thinking EXACTLY that! Get out of my head man!
  • K_Serz
    K_Serz Posts: 1,299 Member
    Who else predicts on page 5 the debate between a lb of muscle and lb of fat will ensue?
  • practicalwisdom
    practicalwisdom Posts: 6
    Sure calories are all units of energy, but the distinction is in how your body processes the energy that can impact weight loss. Eating highly processed foods that spike blood sugar will impact your energy and hunger levels, negating weight loss. Whole foods satisfy longer and aid weight loss. For me, higher quality/higher calories > low quality/low calories.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    the distinction is in how your body processes the energy that can impact weight loss. Eating highly processed foods that spike blood sugar will impact your energy and hunger levels, negating weight loss. Whole foods satisfy longer and aid weight loss. For me, higher quality/higher calories > low quality/low calories.

    That first sentence is not true to any remotely significantly degree.

    Hit your macro targets, and the body composition will follow.
  • katejkelley
    katejkelley Posts: 839 Member
    Sure calories are all units of energy, but the distinction is in how your body processes the energy that can impact weight loss. Eating highly processed foods that spike blood sugar will impact your energy and hunger levels, negating weight loss. Whole foods satisfy longer and aid weight loss. For me, higher quality/higher calories > low quality/low calories.

    Exactly! Those who actually bothered to read the article before posting might have learned something.
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,716 Member
    Sure calories are all units of energy, but the distinction is in how your body processes the energy that can impact weight loss. Eating highly processed foods that spike blood sugar will impact your energy and hunger levels, negating weight loss. Whole foods satisfy longer and aid weight loss. For me, higher quality/higher calories > low quality/low calories.

    Exactly! Those who actually bothered to read the article before posting might have learned something.

    Sorry. I guess I'll just remain ignorant. One of these days I'll listen to all of you good people trying to tell me how to lose weight.
  • micheleb15
    micheleb15 Posts: 1,418 Member
    Don't listen to their lies! A calorie is not a calorie!

    Sometimes it's a hat, or a brooch, maybe a pterodactyl....

    johnny.jpg

    Just kidding. Of course a calorie is a calorie.

    Dead. Hands down the best post of the day.
  • Unknown
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  • sunnyside1213
    sunnyside1213 Posts: 1,205 Member
    calories are always the same, but what they provide & how they fill you up is different

    calorie_density_bulk.jpg

    this.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    Sure calories are all units of energy, but the distinction is in how your body processes the energy that can impact weight loss. Eating highly processed foods that spike blood sugar will impact your energy and hunger levels, negating weight loss. Whole foods satisfy longer and aid weight loss. For me, higher quality/higher calories > low quality/low calories.
    An 18-mo randomized trial of a low-glycemic-index diet and weight change in Brazilian women

    http://www.ajcn.org/content/86/3/707.abstract

    Conclusions: Long-term weight changes were not significantly different between the HGI and LGI diet groups; therefore, this study does not support a benefit of an LGI diet for weight control. Favorable changes in lipids confirmed previous results.
    Long-term effects of 2 energy-restricted diets differing in glycemic load on dietary adherence, body composition, and metabolism in CALERIE: a 1-y randomized controlled trial

    http://www.ajcn.org/content/85/4/1023.abstract?ijkey=57903af923cb2fcdc065ffd37b00a32e22f4c5cf&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

    Conclusions:These findings provide more detailed evidence to suggest that diets differing substantially in glycemic load induce comparable long-term weight loss.
    No effect of a diet with a reduced glycaemic index on satiety, energy intake and body weight in overweight and obese women.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17923862

    CONCLUSION:
    This study provides no evidence to support an effect of a reduced GI diet on satiety, energy intake or body weight in overweight/obese women. Claims that the GI of the diet per se may have specific effects on body weight may therefore be misleading.
  • tj1376
    tj1376 Posts: 1,402 Member
    Don't listen to their lies! A calorie is not a calorie!

    Sometimes it's a hat, or a brooch, maybe a pterodactyl...








    Just kidding. Of course a calorie is a calorie.

    I was thinking EXACTLY that! Get out of my head man!

    Wait! You were thinking of a pterodactyl too? Creepy
  • alishacupcake
    alishacupcake Posts: 419 Member
    Don't listen to their lies! A calorie is not a calorie!

    Sometimes it's a hat, or a brooch, maybe a pterodactyl....



    Just kidding. Of course a calorie is a calorie.

    Totes want a calorie brooch....
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Yes, different foods of similar macronutrient content can fill you up more or less.

    However, in terms of body mass, a calorie is a calorie, period, end of story.

    The reason you don't just drink 1500 calories of an oil+protein+sugar shake every day is not because of the calories or macronutrients. You would have the same weight loss drinking 1500 calories of Ensure every day that you would eating 1500 calories of chicken, eggs, veggies, olive oil, and whole wheat pasta. However, it would be boring, never fill you up, and your micronutrient intake would be lacking.

    The reason to eat "clean" is to get more bulk and to get micronutrients. If you're getting enough bulk and micronutrients eating what many consider "trash" that's fine. Your health won't suffer.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Don't listen to their lies! A calorie is not a calorie!

    Sometimes it's a hat, or a brooch, maybe a pterodactyl....



    Just kidding. Of course a calorie is a calorie.

    Totes want a calorie brooch....

    So is that pronounced "brewch" or "broach"??
  • skydiveD30571
    skydiveD30571 Posts: 281 Member
    calorie (symbol: cal) : the approximate amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.

    So wait, you're saying that the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1g of water by one degree Celsius isn't equal to the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1g of water by one degree Celsius?

    That's like saying 1 horsepower isn't equal to 1 horsepower.

    Energy is energy. Whether in calories, joules, whatever. Now, does body composition depend on where that energy comes from? Of course. But at the end of the day, a calorie is a calorie.
  • alishacupcake
    alishacupcake Posts: 419 Member
    Don't listen to their lies! A calorie is not a calorie!

    Sometimes it's a hat, or a brooch, maybe a pterodactyl....



    Just kidding. Of course a calorie is a calorie.

    Totes want a calorie brooch....

    So is that pronounced "brewch" or "broach"??

    Personally I say "broach"
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    calorie (symbol: cal) : the approximate amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.

    So wait, you're saying that the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1g of water by one degree Celsius isn't equal to the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1g of water by one degree Celsius?

    That's like saying 1 horsepower isn't equal to 1 horsepower.

    Energy is energy. Whether in calories, joules, whatever. Now, does body composition depend on where that energy comes from? Of course. But at the end of the day, a calorie is a calorie.

    Yes. A calorie is a calorie. Other things are not calories and are a separate consideration.
  • drchimpanzee
    drchimpanzee Posts: 892 Member
    calories are always the same, but what they provide & how they fill you up is different

    calorie_density_bulk.jpg

    This seems off to me. 12 oz of chicken breast is in the area of 400 calories and seems like it would be way more filling than shown. I could be wrong though. Also, in the last drawing how much of each? If you're eating mostly eggplant and spinach with only some beans maybe. However, if you're using a whole can of beans that's 350+ on their own.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Wow the 2nd thread using Lustig as a source this morning! Or Lolstig as Acg67 calls him. Quackery!!
  • Trechechus
    Trechechus Posts: 2,819 Member
    Damn. I thought this was going to be a nerd fest about the difference between calories and Calories.

    :grumble:

    Or magical unicorn calories
  • alishacupcake
    alishacupcake Posts: 419 Member
    calories are always the same, but what they provide & how they fill you up is different

    calorie_density_bulk.jpg

    This seems off to me. 12 oz of chicken breast is in the area of 400 calories and seems like it would be way more filling than shown. I could be wrong though. Also, in the last drawing how much of each? If you're eating mostly eggplant and spinach with only some beans maybe. However, if you're using a whole can of beans that's 350+ on their own.

    I agree that the chicken seems a little off and the measurements would be nice on the beans and stuff but this picture is good in theory.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    calories are always the same, but what they provide & how they fill you up is different

    calorie_density_bulk.jpg

    This seems off to me. 12 oz of chicken breast is in the area of 400 calories and seems like it would be way more filling than shown. I could be wrong though. Also, in the last drawing how much of each? If you're eating mostly eggplant and spinach with only some beans maybe. However, if you're using a whole can of beans that's 350+ on their own.

    I agree that the chicken seems a little off and the measurements would be nice on the beans and stuff but this picture is good in theory.

    What does the sense of fullness have to do with calories or even health and weight loss for that matter?
  • MightyDomo
    MightyDomo Posts: 1,265 Member
    A calorie is a calorie, not doubt about it but the nutritional content of each calorie isn't always the same as it depends on where the calories come from. So there are bad calories and good calories.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    http://thatpaleoguy.com/2012/12/19/calorie-rants-and-ketosis-part-1/

    http://thatpaleoguy.com/2012/12/24/calorie-rants-and-ketosis-part-2/

    There might be some info in here for you.

    "Saying a calorie is a calorie is no more useful in describing what is happening at a physiological level than saying a metre is a metre. Both are units of measurement, useful in our physical worlds – for measuring stuff – but completely bloody hopeless for understanding our biology.

    If I say I have a metre of wood, a metre of glass, or a metre of string, does this tell me anything much about these things other than how long they are? Assuming a metre is a metre, they must all be the same… they must all have the same properties, because I can quantify some aspect of them all similarly. What if we took two substances, in an identical amount, such as say, testosterone and oestrogen (I assume you could probably even quantify a caloric measure of these hormones – they “burn” after all). Do we automatically assume, once you feed them into the body, they each have identical effects because they can be quantified identically? Of course not. Yet we make the same mistake with fructose, glucose, palmitic acid, lauric acid, tryptophan, tyrosine, and so on.

    I have only a nutritionist’s understanding of biochemistry (read as: relatively basic), but I understand, when we move away from their gross macronutrient labels, that each of those compounds will elicit a different downstream response… will send a different signal or message to our biology. I can’t for the life of me fathom why anyone would think these different compounds, even if corrected to be calorically equal to each other, would be identical in their effect on the body."


    " ...Each molecule of glucose (carbohydrate) metabolised will yield between 36-38 ATP’s (aerobic)

    Each molecule of palmitate (fat) metabolised will yield 106 ATP

    So, everything else being equal, palmitate will provide your system with more energy than glucose…"


    "...There are many different ways in which glucose differs from fructose when we start to look at metabolism (and the hormonal responses each elicit in the body). Likewise, there are different ways in which, say, lauric acid (a medium-chain [12C] saturated fat found in the likes of coconut oil) differs from palmitic acid (a long-chain saturated fat [16C] saturated found in the likes of steak). Technically, we would say lauric acid and palmitic acid are both saturated fats, and being fats, they yield 9kcal per gram. But in the biological system of energy production, the 12-carbon lauric acid yields roughly 57-58 ATP, whilst the 16 carbon palmitic acid yields 106 ATP, with both being handled quite differently from digestion, to absorption, to metabolism...."
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    A calorie is a calorie, not doubt about it but the nutritional content of each calorie isn't always the same as it depends on where the calories come from. So there are bad calories and good calories.

    Are the good calories the ones that do all their homework, obey thier parents and don't get in trouble at school?

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