True or False? A Calorie is a Calorie is a Calorie.
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So it begs the question, is excess sugar calories better than excess fat calories? Or does the end result make no difference? I'm only asking because I wondered if there is less risk if I blow the diet and eat a candy bar instead of an extra slice of pizza. Not that I'm planning to do either one. It's just something I'm curious about. I'm pretty new to MFP, so I apologise if this is redundant and has already been posted somewhere. Anyone have thoughts?
Fat supposedly takes fewer calories to digest than carbs and carbs fewer than protein. So if you compare one particular candy bar (Herseys) to a slice of one particular pepperoni pizza (Papa John's), you get 260 calories of which 104 are carbs and 117 are fat vs. 210 calories of which 104 are carbs, 72 are fat, and 32 are protein. Thus, you'd get fewer calories from the pizza, even if you only ate 80% of the candy bar to neutralize the beginning difference in stated calories. Obviously, the differences from calories burned in digestion are minimal and easily outweighed by differences in the number of calories consumed. Either way you'd be over your goal but probably under maintenance, so it would probably just slow down your loss rate. Neither would ruin your diet if you stayed in a deficit; both would ruin your diet (as would some extra steak or roasted chicken) if you consistently ate them so that you were in excess of your maintenance calories.
All "a calorie is a calorie" means is that for the purposes of weight loss there is no magic formula, it's a matter of calories in and calories out. How you personally react to the foods containing the calories, how they make you feel, how easy it is to sustain a deficit while eating them obviously does differ, and a calorie is a calorie does not state otherwise.
If your friends' argument is that certain kinds of foods won't cause weight gain eaten in any amount or that other foods will act like fat pills in any amount and cause you to gain on 1200 or some such, does that really seem reasonable?0 -
You don't recommend the Twinkie diet?
In b4 prettykitty starts claiming members on MFP claim we recommend people eat a diet of all donuts but yet He never provides proof.
Prettykitty, is this going to be the thread where you actually back your claims with evidence? Is it? Don't just say studies or evidence exists. Bring it forward.
Of course I remember. But that's not my point.
I know you remember. But my point was that even though a calorie is a calorie or IIFYM you aren't suggesting eating donuts all day. Just being silly, sorry0 -
In for Twinkies.
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Nobody is going to claim that carbs are processed exactly like fat, or that fat is processed exactly like protein. The body treats all of these things slightly differently, obviously.
But a Calorie is a unit of measure for energy. A gram of carbs yields roughly 4 Calories for the body. Protein about 4, fat about 9. They are just different sources of income. It's like if you have 3 different jobs, when it came time to pay bills you really wouldn't care about anything other than if there was enough money in your account. In a month's time you have to make a certain amount from the combination of the 3 jobs in order to pay bills. It doesn't matter which job brought in the most money.
Your body is constantly using energy, and if you've given it more than it can use for right now, it just saves it for later, in some form. Usually we're talking about fat storage, but you also store glycogen (carbs) in your muscles and liver, and you could say building muscle is a way of storing protein.
Personally, I would be less concerned with the form in which the energy was consumed and focus more on the amount (the Calorie value). There's a time and place to manage macronutrients, but it means next to nothing if you don't have the big picture (Calorie balance).
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I used to agree that a calorie was a calorie. So I bought a box of sweet cereal. I weighed and measured as always and that week I was up 2 lbs. My only gain in over 160 days. There was no other excuse for that weight gain except for the lucky charms.0
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A calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.
Now if you want to talk macros (protein/fat/carbs) thats a different story. Tell your nephew that it's not calories it's macros he's wanting to talk about how they react in the body.0 -
CindyMarcuzAdams wrote: »I used to agree that a calorie was a calorie. So I bought a box of sweet cereal. I weighed and measured as always and that week I was up 2 lbs. My only gain in over 160 days. There was no other excuse for that weight gain except for the lucky charms.
Or a normal weight fluctuation.
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My .02 cents worth (not worth much to anyone else but me). For me, (and I am a snowflake), I got obese by overeating too much of everything, I did not discriminate against any food, I ate too much of them all. I became a "normal" sized old lady over the past 2-1/2 years by eating less of all the same foods. I eat less than I burn. Lesson learned by this old lady. It is working for me. I am happy, my family is happy and my doctor is happy with the results. That is my bottom line.0
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Right, nobody said it...but they were thinking it!
The problem is we are talking about energy not nutrition. No one is making the claims the nutritional values are equal.Yes, a calorie is a calorie..but...the source of our calories are very different, and it matters greatly. For mere weight loss, eat whatever but have a slight deficit. For weight loss and optimal health, you need to give attention to the source of your calories.
A simple example:
A bowl of white sugar = 400 calories
A bowl of grapes and a salad with olive oil and lemon juice = 400 calories
The energy is the same, but the nutrition is different.
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CindyMarcuzAdams wrote: »I used to agree that a calorie was a calorie. So I bought a box of sweet cereal. I weighed and measured as always and that week I was up 2 lbs. My only gain in over 160 days. There was no other excuse for that weight gain except for the lucky charms.
This is a perfect example of increased carb intake leading to more water weight.
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snowflake930 wrote: »My .02 cents worth (not worth much to anyone else but me). For me, (and I am a snowflake), I got obese by overeating too much of everything, I did not discriminate against any food, I ate too much of them all. I became a "normal" sized old lady over the past 2-1/2 years by eating less of all the same foods. I eat less than I burn. Lesson learned by this old lady. It is working for me. I am happy, my family is happy and my doctor is happy with the results. That is my bottom line.
Thanks, snowflake. That's pretty much my plan, as well. I do find it interesting that there is so much controversy and difference of opinion on this topic. Remind me never to bring up vegan or vegetarian vs carnivore. LOL!
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Welp I never knew people on MFP could be so hilariously sarcastic .0
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ChunkeeeMonkeee48 wrote: »_Terrapin_ wrote: »OP use MFP to count calories and track your nutrients. Asking questions about sugar versus fat is like herding cats on here. So if you want to drop 21 pounds eat a slight deficit to your TDEE. Good luck.
my cat can't be herded. She just lays down and refuses to move
Really?!? So unlike a Paleo diehard or IIFYM diehard. . . .well hopefully they are moving to provide a little more of a deficit for whatever calorie they may be ingesting
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The differences between the four major macromolecules:
Note that both Lipids and Carbohydrates are composed entirely of Carbon Hydrogen and Oxygen, they're simply in different arrangements. The body can EASILY convert carbohydrates in to lipids and lipids in to carbohydrates, and it DOES. So it doesn't really matter what form you eat the calories in (carbs or fats) the body will do with it what it will. Now, the reason that fats produce more energy per gram than carbs is because fats have a greater proportion carbon-hydrogen bonds. It is through breaking these bonds that energy is released for the body to use. So more bonds = more calories.0 -
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ChunkeeeMonkeee48 wrote: »QueenBishOTUniverse wrote: »The differences between the four major macromolecules:
Note that both Lipids and Carbohydrates are composed entirely of Carbon Hydrogen and Oxygen, they're simply in different arrangements. The body can EASILY convert carbohydrates in to lipids and lipids in to carbohydrates, and it DOES. So it doesn't really matter what form you eat the calories in (carbs or fats) the body will do with it what it will. Now, the reason that fats produce more energy per gram than carbs is because fats have a greater proportion carbon-hydrogen bonds. It is through breaking these bonds that energy is released for the body to use. So more bonds = more calories.
ok...this was fun until someone actually brought the science.
Science teacher
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A calorie is a calorie because it is a unit of measurement and nothing more
nobody asks if a centimeter is a centimeter or a kilogramme is a kilogramme, it's all just units of measurement.
It's how that calorie is obtained, used or not used that's important.0 -
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Yes, a calorie is a calorie. Too many calories from any source (carbs, fat, or protein) will be stored as fat. The grams of fat in your food are not automatically stored as fat.
Excess calories of one macro are not better than excess calories of another macro. Excess calories cause weight gain.
Actually, some calories cannot be stored and must be consumed. "The reason is that your body can't store calories from alcohol for later, the way it does with food calories" (ref: http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20670897,00.html ; et.al.)
Alcohol must be metabolized by the liver, however long it takes. On the other hand, any other calorie sources (food, juices,etc.) will then be stored in the body while the alcohol is processed. Tantamount to mixing alcohol and water and then boiling the mix ... the alcohol will evaporate first, before any water can evaporate. For that matter any liquid with a lower boiling point will evaporate before other liquids present with a higher boiling point.
Just my $1.00 - 0.98.
Cheers and happy weight loss.0 -
I have a friend who made this exact switch and is doing quite well and has a very successful photography studio, so I wouldn't panic just yet.ChunkeeeMonkeee48 wrote: »QueenBishOTUniverse wrote: »ChunkeeeMonkeee48 wrote: »QueenBishOTUniverse wrote: »The differences between the four major macromolecules:
Note that both Lipids and Carbohydrates are composed entirely of Carbon Hydrogen and Oxygen, they're simply in different arrangements. The body can EASILY convert carbohydrates in to lipids and lipids in to carbohydrates, and it DOES. So it doesn't really matter what form you eat the calories in (carbs or fats) the body will do with it what it will. Now, the reason that fats produce more energy per gram than carbs is because fats have a greater proportion carbon-hydrogen bonds. It is through breaking these bonds that energy is released for the body to use. So more bonds = more calories.
ok...this was fun until someone actually brought the science.
Science teacher
lol...damn you teachers. J/K my daughter is very good at science. Was gonna be a mechanical engineer in college...now she wants to be a photographer
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That's boring, I play with fishies.QueenBishOTUniverse wrote: »ChunkeeeMonkeee48 wrote: »QueenBishOTUniverse wrote: »The differences between the four major macromolecules:
Note that both Lipids and Carbohydrates are composed entirely of Carbon Hydrogen and Oxygen, they're simply in different arrangements. The body can EASILY convert carbohydrates in to lipids and lipids in to carbohydrates, and it DOES. So it doesn't really matter what form you eat the calories in (carbs or fats) the body will do with it what it will. Now, the reason that fats produce more energy per gram than carbs is because fats have a greater proportion carbon-hydrogen bonds. It is through breaking these bonds that energy is released for the body to use. So more bonds = more calories.
ok...this was fun until someone actually brought the science.
Science teacher
Walter White, is Dat u?
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