Which is it? Let's hear opinions!
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It's known how macronutrients are digested and how they affect hormonal balance. What most people don't know is how to balance their macros/micro nutrients to fit their particular goals.In theory, this, but there are a lot of theories out there saying that protein, fat, carbs don't digest the same way and whatnot. The jury is still out.
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In on phone cause link looks funI also used to think "a calorie is a calorie" but have recently been convinced otherwise. I've long heard that sugar is REALLY bad for you health-wise, but I was really blown away when I actually heard Robert Lustig's explanation - and that one calorie is not necessarily equal to another calorie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
Sadly, I haven't been able to reduce my sugar intake significantly, but I'm working on it!
I would recommend this, very much:
http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-about-fructose-alarmism/0 -
Calories in calories out.Ive lost 10lbs Eating top ramen & cereal everyday.0
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It's about what you eat and the amount matters too. But all calories are not created equal.
I agree with this.0 -
I'm merely speaking from personal experience when I say that, in terms of weight-loss, calories-in vs. calories-out will do the trick. Now that i'm trying to do a recomp, i've realised that it's not only quantity of food, but its quality too, that contributes to changes in my body-fat percentage. By eating as clean as possible, I look and feel much leaner.0
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Calories rule in the end.
I still choose my foods carefully. Lots of veggies because 300 calories of veggies is flavorful and takes a long time to eat, and 300 calories of hamburger or fries disappears in an instant. Some lean protein because without it I get hungry. Lots of fruit- hard to get fat eating too much fruit. Soups and stews that are heavy on vegetables. And some junk and processed foods. I'm careful about those just because I don't trust all those chemicals and sometimes when I start eating sugary stuff it's very hard to stop. The processed foods also tend to be engineered to chew and digest quickly, so you eat more than you need before your body gets the message that you've had enough.
And, as one of my doctors said when I asked him about high fructose corn syrup, there are some substances the human body just wasn't created to process.0 -
Numerically, a calorie is a calorie and a deficit is the healthy key to weight loss. Logically, I eat pretty much whatever I want (with a few restrictions) within moderation. If I eat 100% healthy 100% of the time I become miserable and binge, thus shattering both perspectives. :happy:0
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I agree with the "not all calories are created equal" phrase someone coined. Calories from an ounce of chocolate and calories from an ounce of lean/healthy protein are dramatically different.
Personally, I believe it's what you eat, how much of what you eat, combined with calories burned.0 -
All I know is when I eat crap I feel like crap and the jiggly belly comes back..
When I eat good clean healthy foods.. I feel great and the tummy doesn't jiggle as much. :~)
How *I* feel when I eat certain foods. I've felt like crap for the last month.. and of course I do.. I've been eat crap. crap in crap out. (lol.. that's kinds funny!). The scale still moved, but not very much.. and the inches didn't go away like I had hoped. I'm getting back into the swing of things this month so I expect to feel better and do better. Plus I'm changing my exercise routing a bit.
I think this topic is so debated because it depends on your goals. If all you want is to lose weight.. then all you need is a calorie deficent.. doens't matter how you get to it or what foods you eat. If you're looking for health and nutrition then you'll want the healthier better for your foods. If you're looking at it from health and nutrition, then the fast food burger is not a good idea, nor is having processed chemical filled foods. If you only care about losing weight.. then eat what you want.. just less of it.
I'm worried about health moreso then weight loss. Part of health is being ah ealthy weight. So that means I want the healthier foods. Clean eating and such. I'm almost there :~)0 -
Calories drive weight loss or weight gain
Macros, along with exercise, drive body composition
Micronutrients drive health and well being
I agree with this. But the pedantic side of me needs to point out that a calorie is a unit of measure, so a calorie is a calorie no matter the source.
That said, I do totally understand that a calorie of a nutrient-dense food is generally better to consume in terms of meeting macros, micros, and calorie goals than one from an "empty" source, especially when restricting intake to a weight-loss or maintenance level.
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Calories drive weight loss or weight gain
Macros, along with exercise, drive body composition
Micronutrients drive health and well being
In theory, this, but there are a lot of theories out there saying that protein, fat, carbs don't digest the same way and whatnot. The jury is still out.
In the end though, the basic idea is that for the same amount of calories, eating a cleaner diet will not leave you starving.
I know that I get much better results, both in terms of losing weight/gaining strength, and in terms of my vitality and general health, when I eat with healthy foods as my priority. These are the results of my own research using my body as my lab. I don't function well when I am not eating with best health in mind.
I don't put a taboo on any foods, necessarily...(well, except for GMO and non-organically grown, but that is not a conversation for this thread.) I just generally prefer more healthy foods. The only foods that I really love that may not be considered to be "clean" eating, would be pizza and ice cream. If I was in a situation where I was around those food items and I wanted them, I would eat them and just exercise more later or in some other way compensate for having eaten what I felt like eating. I'm not on a diet.
I think each person should try different things and see what works best for them.
I guess my point is ...though I know that technically a calorie is a calorie, I do not believe that our bodies absorb and use those calories the same way, once we've ingested the foods that contained those calories. I think that the vessel (type of food) those calories came in plays a big part in how many of them are actually converted to energy or stored as fat, etc...
My dad is a doctor with diabetes being a specialty of his. Our conversations about this subject have reinforced what I'm saying.0 -
Ugh. This topic always results in more heat than light.
Presently, caloric value of a food is determined by burning the food and seeing how much energy is produced. While on the one hand this model is in some ways not like your body, it still yields an UPPER LIMIT. If a given substance only has the material to produce 100 calories of heat, there is no way to get more than that out of it.
Calories are not meant as a measure of how fattening a food is for any given organism ingesting it. It's merely a way of expressing the upper limit of how much energy could be extracted from something.
In practice, humans are very much alike, and at the same time we are special snowflakes. For instance, your gut flora are your own and no one else's, and they are very much involved in determining efficiency of digestion. On the other hand, the law of thermodynamics applies to ALL energy systems, so none of us are able to gain mass unless we eat more than we expend.
Thank you for posting this. I was thinking of starting a similar thread on the topic of digestion efficiency, but am always hesitant because of where these threads lead. However, a lot of the arguments are based on the notion that our bodies are able to extract energy from our food with 100% efficiency, which is intuitively not correct. I am surprised that this topic doesn't receive more discussion.0 -
A calorie is a calorie in terms of energy though.I agree with the "not all calories are created equal" phrase someone coined. Calories from an ounce of chocolate and calories from an ounce of lean/healthy protein are dramatically different.
100 calories of chocolate "energy" is equal to 100 calories of lean protein "energy". How the body utilizes them is different, but don't confuse the actual energy value with how it's absorbed.
Another example is a pound is a pound. A pound of bricks is the same as a pound of flour.
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A calorie is a calorie in terms of energy though.I agree with the "not all calories are created equal" phrase someone coined. Calories from an ounce of chocolate and calories from an ounce of lean/healthy protein are dramatically different.
100 calories of chocolate "energy" is equal to 100 calories of lean protein "energy". How the body utilizes them is different, but don't confuse the actual energy value with how it's absorbed.
Another example is a pound is a pound. A pound of bricks is the same as a pound of flour.
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I see what you are saying here, but I'm not sure it really applies to this situation. If I eat 100 calories worth of nuts and half of them pass through my body undigested, did I just "consume" the same amount of calories as if I drank a 100 calorie soda?0 -
Here is an intresting report on scientific studies into just that question (from the NY times)
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/how-carbs-can-trigger-food-cravings/?ref=nutrition0 -
It's about what you are eating, not just the calories because there are other things involved like carbs and sugars. If you are eating under your calories but going way over on those other aspects it will negatively effect your weight loss. You have to be eating those calories from good sources otherwise it doesn't work to your benefit.0
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It's a bit of both. Laws of thermodynamics dictate that a calorie = a calorie. However, in order to process those calories your body has to do different things with different nutrients, which inherently causes reactions within the body and accounts for much of the variation you see in people's personal accounts of how they've lost weight.0
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Yes, because the energy available to the body is the same. The oil from the nuts is what you're absorbing not the fiber.
A calorie is a calorie in terms of energy though.I agree with the "not all calories are created equal" phrase someone coined. Calories from an ounce of chocolate and calories from an ounce of lean/healthy protein are dramatically different.
100 calories of chocolate "energy" is equal to 100 calories of lean protein "energy". How the body utilizes them is different, but don't confuse the actual energy value with how it's absorbed.
Another example is a pound is a pound. A pound of bricks is the same as a pound of flour.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I see what you are saying here, but I'm not sure it really applies to this situation. If I eat 100 calories worth of nuts and half of them pass through my body undigested, did I just "consume" the same amount of calories as if I drank a 100 calorie soda?
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It is 20 mins long but he makes some good points.
BioLayne Video Log 12 - Clean Eating vs IIFYM (If it fits your macros)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6H2edyPLU8 0 -
Yes, because the energy available to the body is the same. The oil from the nuts is what you're absorbing not the fiber.
A calorie is a calorie in terms of energy though.I agree with the "not all calories are created equal" phrase someone coined. Calories from an ounce of chocolate and calories from an ounce of lean/healthy protein are dramatically different.
100 calories of chocolate "energy" is equal to 100 calories of lean protein "energy". How the body utilizes them is different, but don't confuse the actual energy value with how it's absorbed.
Another example is a pound is a pound. A pound of bricks is the same as a pound of flour.
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I see what you are saying here, but I'm not sure it really applies to this situation. If I eat 100 calories worth of nuts and half of them pass through my body undigested, did I just "consume" the same amount of calories as if I drank a 100 calorie soda?
A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I am not sure that I agree that you are absorbing all of the oil from the nuts. Consider another scenario ( hoping not to make this too unpleasant a subject). I have Crohn's disease. There have been times when I could consume anything under the sun and it would pass through me practically undigested. This situation leads to rapid weight loss, no matter what you eat. Now, I understand that this is an extreme example, but I have to believe that there are varying degrees to which this applies to everyone. I believe that at least a portion of the calories that we consume are not retained by our bodies and that is dependent, to a degree, on the form in which it was consumed.0
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