Is there such thing as good and bad calories?

rsm193
rsm193 Posts: 23 Member
edited November 14 in Health and Weight Loss
Is there a difference between good and bad calories or are calories just calories...like is it ok to eat fried food from home made in the deep fryer? Are those considered bad calories?
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Replies

  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
    In terms of weight loss?

    Nope.A calorie is a calorie is a calorie.

    In terms of nutrition and health?

    You betcha. A crap-ton of difference. All the difference.
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  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    rsm193 wrote: »
    Is there a difference between good and bad calories or are calories just calories...like is it ok to eat fried food from home made in the deep fryer? Are those considered bad calories?

    Fried at the right temperature in clean oil of good quality there isn't an issue with that in itself. If you ate 4 pounds of fried chicken on the other hand........
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Bad food is rotten and usually has a foul smell to it by that time.
  • isulo_kura
    isulo_kura Posts: 818 Member
    Bad calories are on the Naughty step
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
    edited March 2015
    In terms of weight loss?

    Nope.A calorie is a calorie is a calorie.

    In terms of nutrition and health?

    You betcha. A crap-ton of difference. All the difference.

    This.

    If you eat your calories in just chocolate ever day, you'll lose weight. It's been done. But you'll get quite ill.

    The moral is don't be afraid to eat a bit of chocolate and take away and such, but don't live off it.
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
    In terms of weight loss?

    Nope.A calorie is a calorie is a calorie.

    In terms of nutrition and health?

    You betcha. A crap-ton of difference. All the difference.


    ^^Definitely this.


  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    A calorie is a unit of measure, that is it. This calorie is equal to that calorie.
    Content is for nutrition.
  • Woodspoon
    Woodspoon Posts: 223 Member
    deksgrl wrote: »
    A calorie is a unit of measure, that is it. This calorie is equal to that calorie.
    Content is for nutrition.

    ^^ This

    It's like asking is there such a thing as a good mile or a bad mile, a good gallon or a bad gallon.
    a unit of measure is just a unit of measure, nothing more.
  • jrline
    jrline Posts: 2,353 Member
    NO as said above it is just a unit of measure
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,223 Member
    edited March 2015
    Basically the OP is asking, are there any bad foods, and suggests that deep fried food might be. Carry on people. :)
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    rsm193 wrote: »
    Is there a difference between good and bad calories or are calories just calories...like is it ok to eat fried food from home made in the deep fryer? Are those considered bad calories?

    It depends on what you mean. Nutrition is important. But, as long as you are meeting your nutritional needs and not overeating, then I'd say all your calories are good.

    Fried food is fine as part of an overall well balanced diet.
  • rsm193 wrote: »
    Is there a difference between good and bad calories or are calories just calories...like is it ok to eat fried food from home made in the deep fryer? Are those considered bad calories?


    So what if they are bad calories or not? That's just bad food for your body period. Eat whatever you want, but you won't get anywhere eating that stuff.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    rsm193 wrote: »
    Is there a difference between good and bad calories or are calories just calories...like is it ok to eat fried food from home made in the deep fryer? Are those considered bad calories?


    So what if they are bad calories or not? That's just bad food for your body period. Eat whatever you want, but you won't get anywhere eating that stuff.

    I disagree. What precisely is bad about it?
  • julietadimova
    julietadimova Posts: 13 Member
    I'm actually finishing a book called Good calories Bad calories. They explain that a calorie carries a specific amount of energy. However, some calories (with higher GI) spike up your insulin and cause you to store more fat, as well as have cravings. So in that sense, there is some differentiation between the calories. Hope this helps.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,223 Member
    edited March 2015
    I'm actually finishing a book called Good calories Bad calories. They explain that a calorie carries a specific amount of energy. However, some calories (with higher GI) spike up your insulin and cause you to store more fat, as well as have cravings. So in that sense, there is some differentiation between the calories. Hope this helps.
    No, that's food, not calories, and your insulin could spike all day long and unless you eat too much food on any given day, nothing is getting stored as fat, t's called energy balance, but unfortunately Taubes believes that people eat too much because they're obese and not because of the calories, but then goes on to say it's carbs that cause obesity......good story for a book.

  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    I'm actually finishing a book called Good calories Bad calories. They explain that a calorie carries a specific amount of energy. However, some calories (with higher GI) spike up your insulin and cause you to store more fat, as well as have cravings. So in that sense, there is some differentiation between the calories. Hope this helps.

    As long as you don't have a health issue that influences your body's insulin response, then that does not cause you to store more fat. As stated, fat storage is about energy balance.

  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
    I'm actually finishing a book called Good calories Bad calories. They explain that a calorie carries a specific amount of energy. However, some calories (with higher GI) spike up your insulin and cause you to store more fat, as well as have cravings. So in that sense, there is some differentiation between the calories. Hope this helps.

    You should throw that book away.

    bookburning.jpg

  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    No.
  • sgthaggard
    sgthaggard Posts: 581 Member
    A calorie is only a measurement of energy.

    Food gives you calories and some foods more nutritious than others but calories are just calories.
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    In terms of weight loss?

    Nope.A calorie is a calorie is a calorie.

    In terms of nutrition and health?

    You betcha. A crap-ton of difference. All the difference.

    This.

    If you eat your calories in just chocolate ever day, you'll lose weight. It's been done.

    How is eating mainly twinkies, but taking a vitamin, eating vegetables and a protein shake, eating just chocolate everyday?

    And no one has suggested this to anyone to be a good idea.
  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
    Basically the OP is asking, are there any bad foods, and suggests that deep fried food might be. Carry on people. :)

    When people ask if there are bad calories or good calories they are usually talking in terms of weight loss and not nutrition. When they talk about nutrition they usually use the term 'bad food'. I see and hear it all the time.

    Most everyone knows there are 'bad' food. Fried food in large quantities is bad for you but eating a lot of lettuce not so much. However people have a hard time wrapping their head around the idea that, in the context of weight loss, where the calories come from doesn't matter. The calories area all the same.
  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
    edited March 2015
    .



  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
    I'm actually finishing a book called Good calories Bad calories. They explain that a calorie carries a specific amount of energy. However, some calories (with higher GI) spike up your insulin and cause you to store more fat, as well as have cravings. So in that sense, there is some differentiation between the calories. Hope this helps.

    You should throw that book away.

    bookburning.jpg

    Yep! If things were as easy as Taubes claims then why is Taubes overweight himself?
  • Mikolinz
    Mikolinz Posts: 23 Member
    rsm193 wrote: »
    Is there a difference between good and bad calories or are calories just calories...like is it ok to eat fried food from home made in the deep fryer? Are those considered bad calories?


    So what if they are bad calories or not? That's just bad food for your body period. Eat whatever you want, but you won't get anywhere eating that stuff.

    i beg to differ. a little fried food here and there aint BAD
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
    rsm193 wrote: »
    Is there a difference between good and bad calories or are calories just calories...like is it ok to eat fried food from home made in the deep fryer? Are those considered bad calories?

    This a much more complicated question than I think you realize. As already mentioned, you could lose weight eating dorito's and twinkies. But that doesn't mean it's a good idea.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    rsm193 wrote: »
    Is there a difference between good and bad calories or are calories just calories...like is it ok to eat fried food from home made in the deep fryer? Are those considered bad calories?
    Calories are just a measure of energy, so a calorie is a calorie.

    In terms of nutrition (which is not calories) if your diet as a whole consistently meets your body's nutritional needs (vitamins and minerals) then it is good. If it doesn't then that's bad. Also note that exceeding your nutritional needs does not make you "even healthier" so it is not necessary to eat nothing but "health food" in order to stay in good health.
  • PiSquared
    PiSquared Posts: 148 Member
    The way I look at it, is more about the quality of the food. As others have mentioned, a calorie is a calorie, no matter where it came from. This is the basis for the calories in/calories out approach to weight loss, or as I like to call it, the eat less, move more diet. So, no, calories are neither good nor bad. With that out of the way, I feel like that there is a huge range in the quality of foods available, even when we're talking about junk food. For example, a friend of mine is a terrific baker. She makes amazing desserts. If I know that we're having dinner together, and she's made something awesome for dessert, I am much more willing to forgo, say, a bag of Doritos at lunch, for one of her homemade chai spiced whoopie pies later in the evening. Both are junk food, with a heavy calorie cost for little to no nutritional value, but I find I will enjoy the homemade whoopie pie much more than the Doritos. Keeping a food diary has really driven this point home for me. If I only have a limited amount of calories to spend, then I am going to spend them on the better quality food.
  • wgaue
    wgaue Posts: 222 Member
    PiSquared wrote: »
    The way I look at it, is more about the quality of the food. As others have mentioned, a calorie is a calorie, no matter where it came from. This is the basis for the calories in/calories out approach to weight loss, or as I like to call it, the eat less, move more diet. So, no, calories are neither good nor bad. With that out of the way, I feel like that there is a huge range in the quality of foods available, even when we're talking about junk food. For example, a friend of mine is a terrific baker. She makes amazing desserts. If I know that we're having dinner together, and she's made something awesome for dessert, I am much more willing to forgo, say, a bag of Doritos at lunch, for one of her homemade chai spiced whoopie pies later in the evening. Both are junk food, with a heavy calorie cost for little to no nutritional value, but I find I will enjoy the homemade whoopie pie much more than the Doritos. Keeping a food diary has really driven this point home for me. If I only have a limited amount of calories to spend, then I am going to spend them on the better quality food.

    Agree 1000%
  • GoPerfectHealth
    GoPerfectHealth Posts: 254 Member
    From a weight loss perspective, the only problem I can see with fried food is that it is probably high in calories which can be challenging to fit in when you are counting calories. It also might be a bit hard to determine how many calories are in deep-fried foods, although I am sure there are plenty of foods in the database that estimate calories of such deep-fried delights.
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