A Calorie is NOT a calorie

So much hostility. Granted the OP should have provided a link to the study for some credibility, but this idea is not impossible. If we think about it, we are lead to believe that low fat high carb diet is healthy and help prevent heart disease for years which couldn't be further from the truth. I'm not saying what the OP say is true/ not true, but I always keep an open mind about new information. Carb and fructose will be store in our fat cells if we over indulge. I guess its easier to overdo sodas and items with added sugars cause they are usually empty calories and doesn't fill you up.

From personal experience, when I was attending UW I barely ate, maybe 900 ish (eat once at dinner when I get home) calories a day plus a can of energy drink and sometime a coke. Yet I was gaining a lot of weight over 40 lbs (125lb to 167lb) in the course of the last 2 years. After I graduated took me 2 month to completely stopped all sodas and energy drink and only drink black coffee, I started losing some of the weight eating 3 meals a day again. Then I started MFP last month and lost an additional 7 lbs ( only 12 more until I'm back to my original weight). I've always had a really high metabolism and could eat w/e I wanted but ever since I habitually drank energy drink I started put on pounds really fast. I was getting stretch mark on my stomach which scared me and made me realize i need to lose some weight. Of course this is not proof of anything cause it could just me by body reacts differently to high sugar content than other people. However, this theory is interesting and maybe we don't know as much about calories as we think.

So much hostility. Granted the OP should have provided a link to the study for some credibility, but this idea is not impossible. If we think about it, we are lead to believe that low fat high carb diet is healthy and help prevent heart disease for years which couldn't be further from the truth. I'm not saying what the OP say is true/ not true, but I always keep an open mind about new information. Carb and fructose will be store in our fat cells if we over indulge. I guess its easier to overdo sodas and items with added sugars cause they are usually empty calories and doesn't fill you up.

From personal experience, when I was attending UW I barely ate, maybe 900 ish (eat once at dinner when I get home) calories a day plus a can of energy drink and sometime a coke. Yet I was gaining a lot of weight over 40 lbs (125lb to 167lb) in the course of the last 2 years. After I graduated took me 2 month to completely stopped all sodas and energy drink and only drink black coffee, I started losing some of the weight eating 3 meals a day again. Then I started MFP last month and lost an additional 7 lbs ( only 12 more until I'm back to my original weight). I've always had a really high metabolism and could eat w/e I wanted but ever since I habitually drank energy drink I started put on pounds really fast. I was getting stretch mark on my stomach which scared me and made me realize i need to lose some weight. Of course this is not proof of anything cause it could just me by body reacts differently to high sugar content than other people. However, this theory is interesting and maybe we don't know as much about calories than we think.

Oh.

So much hostility. Granted the OP should have provided a link to the study for some credibility, but this idea is not impossible. If we think about it, we are lead to believe that low fat high carb diet is healthy and help prevent heart disease for years which couldn't be further from the truth. I'm not saying what the OP say is true/ not true, but I always keep an open mind about new information. Carb and fructose will be store in our fat cells if we over indulge. I guess its easier to overdo sodas and items with added sugars cause they are usually empty calories and doesn't fill you up.

From personal experience, when I was attending UW I barely ate, maybe 900 ish (eat once at dinner when I get home) calories a day plus a can of energy drink and sometime a coke. Yet I was gaining a lot of weight over 40 lbs (125lb to 167lb) in the course of the last 2 years. After I graduated took me 2 month to completely stopped all sodas and energy drink and only drink black coffee, I started losing some of the weight eating 3 meals a day again. Then I started MFP last month and lost an additional 7 lbs ( only 12 more until I'm back to my original weight). I've always had a really high metabolism and could eat w/e I wanted but ever since I habitually drank energy drink I started put on pounds really fast. I was getting stretch mark on my stomach which scared me and made me realize i need to lose some weight. Of course this is not proof of anything cause it could just me by body reacts differently to high sugar content than other people. However, this theory is interesting and maybe we don't know as much about calories as we think.

Were they purple stretch marks? Was most of your weight gain in the abdomen? You may have had excess cortisol due to stress. If you were truly eating 900/day and gaining rapidly you probably had an endocrine disorder. I bet you are sleeping better and your skin has improved too.

Cutting edge experts say the "calories in, calories out", philosophy is oversimplified and inadequate. Quality of calories determnes the quantity your body burns or stores.

Fiber: delays the absorbtion of calories. For example, when you eat a 160 calorie portion of almonds, you absorb 130 calories because some calories are delivered to your intestine, where your gut bacteria burn them for their own energy source

How does delaying the absorption of food make the caloric value different?

Protein: You use twice as much energy to metabolize protein as carbohydrate- due to thermic effect of food. Protein reduces hunger hormones more than carbs do.

That is well established - not cutting edge. Also, TEF impacts TDEE, it does not impact the unit known as a calorie.

Carbs: starches (like potatoes) contain mainly glucose, which every cell in your body uses for energy.

Are you saying that no other carb converts into glucose?

Fructose-- found in soda and candy and added to most processed foods--is metabolized in your liver as fat, which drives chronic diseases such as diabetes.

On a caloric deficit?

You do realize that fructose is found in fruit I hope.



Edited to fix quotes

Quoting this to bring to the OP's attention to answer the questions

Ummm Researchers at Harvard University and University of Pittsburgh. Of course I am sure you know much more than experts in their fields BTW Harvard is ranked the number one institution for obesity research by many "experts" However I know MFPers know a unicorn when they see one, cuz they are such fanciful thinkers stuck to "Baaahhhh "a calorie is a calorie"

Says no such thing on the study at Harvard. Here's the link:

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/06/when-a-calorie-is-not-just-a-calorie/

Reducing refined carbs may help maintain weight loss better than reducing fat

That's not the same as saying "a calorie is not a calorie".


This is from the University of Pittsburg:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304458604577490943279845790.html

A second study in the same medical journal showed that people in an 18-month weight-loss program that started with monthly meetings lost nearly as much weight as those in a much costlier program of the same duration with group sessions that initially met weekly. That study, led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, found that the monthly program cut about $600 off the cost of a $1,360 traditional weight-loss program with the weekly classes.

All that's spoken of hear is the differences in cost of programs.

Thanks for playing though.


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hahaha how many calories do you gusy arguments burn. or unicorns or whatever:laugh:

If all calories are the same as you say, then how can diabetes type 2 be reversed with diet? i was not posting this as a study. I read it in an obesity journal in my Dr's office. The research was done at Harvard and University of Penn. I just found it interesting. The fact that you so vehemently disagree , and are saying that top researchers are wrong, and you (on MFP) know better...ummm ok.:noway: l

What did this research actually show? Your interpretation of something you flicked through at the doctors office appears to be a little flawed. Maybe if you could actually reference this cutting edge research they did.

I had this conversation with my doctor about a month ago. Not necessarily the calorie is not a calorie part but fructose found in fruits and veggies is a "good" sugar or calorie because when eaten in it's natural state we get fiber with the sugar that makes our bodies break it down in a different way. refined sugar or added sugar comes with no fiber so our body doesn't have to do anything but just use it. So a calorie from a natural source (i.e. fruits and veggies) is not the same a s a calorie from something loaded with refined sugar.

I had this conversation with my doctor about a month ago. Not necessarily the calorie is not a calorie part but fructose found in fruits and veggies is a "good" sugar or calorie because when eaten in it's natural state we get fiber with the sugar that makes our bodies break it down in a different way. refined sugar or added sugar comes with no fiber so our body doesn't have to do anything but just use it. So a calorie from a natural source (i.e. fruits and veggies) is not the same a s a calorie from something loaded with refined sugar.

well done

In for science!

Same and I need something to read while I drink this chocolate milk.........

your right I am sleeping better and also my stress level is much lower than when I was in school. Also I was breaking out like crazy. Now I don't even have a single pimple. I guess rather than the sugar in energy drink alone but because of all the stimulant which didn't help out my already stressed out state. So from what you said, is my problem reversed or should I see a doctor about it? Yes the stretch mark are in the abdomen and are purple.

The "calorie content" of food is determined by oxidation--that is, they set the food on fire in an underwater container and see how much it heats the water (actually, they usually just make estimates today). However, your body does not process foods by oxidation; it processes them through mechanical/chemical/enzymatic breakdown.

So, it is certainly true that "a calorie is a calorie". However, it is also true that calories have absolutely no relationship to the amount of energy your body will absorb from the food.

It is further true that the human body is a highly complex, adapting machine. Insulin forces energy into fat cells, and prevents lipolysis; insulin response occurs when sugar (that is, any non-fiber carbohydrate) is digested. Glucagon pulls energy out of fat cells, and is stimulated by the presence of protein. If you doubt this, ask any diabetic.

This is not to say that food amounts are irrelevant, nor that insulin threshholds are identical across the population. Only that, over time, the less carbohydrate you consume, the less energy will generally be retained in your fat.

As for energy expenditure, if the energy debt is paid for with fat (aerobic exercise), it will train the body to retain some fat for future use. If the energy expenditure is paid by glycogen (anaerobic exercise), it will train the body to store energy as glycogen in the muscles. Evidence is easy to obtain at any track-and-field event: compare the soft, small-muscled body of the average marathon runner to the lean muscular body of the average sprinter. The marathoners almost universally weigh less, because they spend so much more energy than the sprinters. But the sprinters have much less bodyfat, because they train their bodies to store energy in their muscles.

gladly its friday and a captian morgan coke is a captain morgan coke

Hahahaha !! Im so going home to watch this now

why you makin thoes poor puppie cry