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Is a calorie equal to a calorie?

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  • PikaJoyJoy
    PikaJoyJoy Posts: 280 Member
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    TRXRocks wrote: »
    I’m just curious if anybody has any links to a scientific article or journal talking about calories in terms of if 100 calories of apples is equal to 100 calories of oreos.
    I was debating this in my head while reading some other discussions. Depending on what I eat, how hungry I am, and how active I am, I eat between 1700-3000 calories. On average it’s around 2000. My calories only come from whole fruits and vegetables. I’m just thinking...I don’t think a calorie really equals a calorie because the body uses the food differently. White bread vs Sweet Potato, PB2 vs Almond Butter, Cane sugar vs Dates, Faux Chicken vs spinach, etc etc
    No, all calories are not created equal the same way that a pound of cement is not the same as a pound of feathers. Calories from junk food are not the same as calories from clean whole foods. your body just uses them differently.

    Are you denying they're both a pound?

    Oh god, please don't. Was hoping this comment would fly under the radar.

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  • NewyRob
    NewyRob Posts: 22 Member
    edited February 2018
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    myinsbroker wrote: »
    » show previous quotes

    I eat less calories over all because the calories I changed to gave me more energy that last longer and also no longer binge eat because the calories I eat now fulfill me, So I am not starving any more

    It's been said, but, as a calorie IS a unit of energy, you cannot argue that a calorie, from different sources provides more or less energy.

    One calorie of food delivers one calorie of energy.

  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Synecdoche. Synecdoche. Synecdoche

    Gonna keep sayin' it; ain't gonna change a thing. Well, maybe it'll let me keep reading for laffs and kittez without my head exploding. It's like my modern mantra. Wait, that's a different thread, isn't it?

    I honestly have no idea what your point is other than that you're laughing at us? I guess that's the MFP way.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    PikaJoyJoy wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Not sure what you mean a calories is a unit of measure in energy

    If you have 300 calories in pure suger vrs 300 calories in complex carbs you will have difrent longevity of energy

    that would be like going to the Indy 500 with a beat up old car because a car is a car

    Maybe come back when you have an understanding of what 'energy' is (in the sense of 'energy balance', which is what defines how weight is lost or gained) and it will make more sense to you.

    I do now, The point is at one time I didn't, I looked for advise from those that are supposed to be experts. to say a calorie is a calorie and then say well you need to learn physics is ridiculous.

    I am not going to sell and Insurance policy without breaking it down to an understandable language that people can understand in a practical real world way

    Same way giving that advice to a person new to losing weight is harmful

    and that's the last I will say on it

    We're saying that because there are multiple types of energy. And you are confusing two of them. You are telling us we aren't correct because you aren't understanding the terms we are using. But you don't want to talk about it anymore so it is what it is I guess :drinker:

    Because I don't really want to argue or make everyone angry and I can see this is going nowhere

    All I wanted to do is try and make people aware that the blanket statement that a calorie is just a calorie can cause harm.

    I didnt get it here when I was told this it was from my heart doctor well before I seen this forum. All I am saying is that blanket advice took me from 320lbs to 360 lbs and a lot of pain struggling with binging.

    I have since went to the internet becuase I was 368 and learned how to eat right. Now I am at 305

    I know see this same blanket statement on this forum and all I want is for the next person to not be misled. I am not trying to start a fight I just know the pain I have had over it and dont want to see others do the same, That is all

    ...but...but...
    and that's the last I will say on it

    You lost weight because your caloric intake was less than your caloric output. How is this confusing?

    My calorie intake is less because the calories I take in work better

    To elaborate. You ate "better" (whatever "better" is to you) which more than likely means you were eating more less calorie dense foods and less of the heavy calorie dense foods than you were eating before.

    Which means *DRUM ROLL* - you were eating less calories and therefore by the powers of SCIENCE, I deem you were eating less calories (regardless of calorie origins) and therefore lost weight because you were eating less than was required to maintain your weight.

    I eat less calories over all because the calories I changed to gave me more energy that last longer and also no longer binge eat because the calories I eat now fulfill me, So I am not starving any more

    If you took the word "calories" out of this statement and replaced it with "foods" I doubt that you'd get any pushback. The foods you chose sustain you longer and help your hunger levels. That's never been in doubt. I've said that already in this thread at least a couple of times to you. Foods are different and have different effects on the body. That's true. Period. End of statement. But it's not because the calories are different. Calories are not synonymous with food. Calories are not synonymous with nutrients.

    It's like saying you switched to spinach instead of iceburg lettuce because the color green isn't always green. Green is green. But spinach comes with different nutrients than iceburg. It's the nutrients that are different not the calories.
    Ok but the point is If someone is new and dont know what is what.

    Do you think they will automaticly know that without being educated, Thats my piont When the average person who is not as knowledgable in this are hears a calorie in just a calorie, Like my Doc said dont worry about what foods you eat just cap your calories.

    Hell all I knew hearing that was cut calories I went to the supermarket and baught all sorts of things diet. It turned out real bad for me

    Poiint is most times when you hear a calorie is just a calorie there is not dosclaimer or explination,

    This might not make as much a dif when someone is just trying to lose 50 lbs or so but trying to lose more then 150 lbs makes a big dif

    Which is why again, if a person had read through this thread, or the stickied most helpful forum posts, they would have much of this information at hand since it is covered in EVERY SINGLE THREAD on this topic.

    You didn't bother to read it, or try to understand it, just immediately jumped to the same conclusion that everyone else does which is that calories, food, energy, nutrition and satiety are words that can be used interchangeably. That is on YOU, not on the rest of us.

    Here is a link to one of those great sticked threads - I recommend you spend some time familiarizing yourself with the various threads it references...

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10260499/i-like-old-posts-and-i-cannot-lie/p1
  • manderson27
    manderson27 Posts: 3,510 Member
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    PikaJoyJoy wrote: »
    ch3bgqylb1gu.png

    Here is my example. Not that it will help much as it seems that some people still don't understand the basics.

    It does not matter what the calories are made from 400 calories is still 400 calories.

    The nutrient content does not change the amount of calories in 400 calories

    The nutrient content does not change the weight loss/gain effect of eating 400 calories

    The nutrient content may change how you feel after you have eaten 400 calories but that does not mean that the calories themselves have changed in any way because a calorie is a measurement of energy in the food not a measurement of quality of that food.


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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,220 Member
    edited February 2018
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Synecdoche. Synecdoche. Synecdoche

    Gonna keep sayin' it; ain't gonna change a thing. Well, maybe it'll let me keep reading for laffs and kittez without my head exploding. It's like my modern mantra. Wait, that's a different thread, isn't it?

    I honestly have no idea what your point is other than that you're laughing at us? I guess that's the MFP way.

    IMO it's the root of the communication problem here.

    "A calorie is not a calorie" is using synecdoche.

    Two of our very frequent tail-chasing thread topics here are "a calorie is/isn't a calorie" and "muscle is heavier than fat". Both involve miscommunication that involves conflicting uses of language. Much of the disagreement revolves around either or both sides of the argument not being willing (or not being able) to recognize what the other side is trying to communicate, but instead focusing on the words with which they say it.

    Edited: typo, missing phrase
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,220 Member
    Options
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Synecdoche. Synecdoche. Synecdoche

    Gonna keep sayin' it; ain't gonna change a thing. Well, maybe it'll let me keep reading for laffs and kittez without my head exploding. It's like my modern mantra. Wait, that's a different thread, isn't it?

    I honestly have no idea what your point is other than that you're laughing at us? I guess that's the MFP way.

    P.S. Not laughing at you, or other individuals, not even a little. Laughing at the overall twists and turns of the thread, though. It's like freestyle folk dancing, only words instead of movement.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    This thread is like the circle of life in a totally negative way. We just keep coming back around to the beginning, reliving the pain and sadness over and over and over and over and...

    Yes. Exactly. (And I'm only on 15, maybe the kittens come back?)
  • myinsbroker
    myinsbroker Posts: 24 Member
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    PikaJoyJoy wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Not sure what you mean a calories is a unit of measure in energy

    If you have 300 calories in pure suger vrs 300 calories in complex carbs you will have difrent longevity of energy

    that would be like going to the Indy 500 with a beat up old car because a car is a car

    Maybe come back when you have an understanding of what 'energy' is (in the sense of 'energy balance', which is what defines how weight is lost or gained) and it will make more sense to you.

    I do now, The point is at one time I didn't, I looked for advise from those that are supposed to be experts. to say a calorie is a calorie and then say well you need to learn physics is ridiculous.

    I am not going to sell and Insurance policy without breaking it down to an understandable language that people can understand in a practical real world way

    Same way giving that advice to a person new to losing weight is harmful

    and that's the last I will say on it

    We're saying that because there are multiple types of energy. And you are confusing two of them. You are telling us we aren't correct because you aren't understanding the terms we are using. But you don't want to talk about it anymore so it is what it is I guess :drinker:

    Because I don't really want to argue or make everyone angry and I can see this is going nowhere

    All I wanted to do is try and make people aware that the blanket statement that a calorie is just a calorie can cause harm.

    I didnt get it here when I was told this it was from my heart doctor well before I seen this forum. All I am saying is that blanket advice took me from 320lbs to 360 lbs and a lot of pain struggling with binging.

    I have since went to the internet becuase I was 368 and learned how to eat right. Now I am at 305

    I know see this same blanket statement on this forum and all I want is for the next person to not be misled. I am not trying to start a fight I just know the pain I have had over it and dont want to see others do the same, That is all

    ...but...but...
    and that's the last I will say on it

    You lost weight because your caloric intake was less than your caloric output. How is this confusing?

    My calorie intake is less because the calories I take in work better

    To elaborate. You ate "better" (whatever "better" is to you) which more than likely means you were eating more less calorie dense foods and less of the heavy calorie dense foods than you were eating before.

    Which means *DRUM ROLL* - you were eating less calories and therefore by the powers of SCIENCE, I deem you were eating less calories (regardless of calorie origins) and therefore lost weight because you were eating less than was required to maintain your weight.

    I eat less calories over all because the calories I changed to gave me more energy that last longer and also no longer binge eat because the calories I eat now fulfill me, So I am not starving any more

    If you took the word "calories" out of this statement and replaced it with "foods" I doubt that you'd get any pushback. The foods you chose sustain you longer and help your hunger levels. That's never been in doubt. I've said that already in this thread at least a couple of times to you. Foods are different and have different effects on the body. That's true. Period. End of statement. But it's not because the calories are different. Calories are not synonymous with food. Calories are not synonymous with nutrients.

    It's like saying you switched to spinach instead of iceburg lettuce because the color green isn't always green. Green is green. But spinach comes with different nutrients than iceburg. It's the nutrients that are different not the calories.
    Ok but the point is If someone is new and dont know what is what.

    Do you think they will automaticly know that without being educated, Thats my piont When the average person who is not as knowledgable in this are hears a calorie in just a calorie, Like my Doc said dont worry about what foods you eat just cap your calories.

    Hell all I knew hearing that was cut calories I went to the supermarket and baught all sorts of things diet. It turned out real bad for me

    Poiint is most times when you hear a calorie is just a calorie there is not dosclaimer or explination,

    This might not make as much a dif when someone is just trying to lose 50 lbs or so but trying to lose more then 150 lbs makes a big dif

    I try to give advice to at least 10 threads a day. I try to type out nuanced and specific posts on my cell phone if I'm away from my computer and see a post that's in my area of interest. I try to go through diaries and food choices with people. I fail most of the time, and instead I typed up and saved two nuanced, generalized posts for hunger problems and plateau threads. Even those, specific bulleted lists are overlooked, ignored, wooed, called spam, and often cannot possibly be nuanced enough to help a specific poster.

    We're all giving the advice we can give. Often on the fly. Often hoping that someone else can chime in and add more details. And we're often told that we're the mean and nasty ones with a new person gets frustrated with us because we can't hold their hand and be the trained dietitian they all want.

    You found your way. I'm truly very glad of that. But if you cannot forgive us for trying to give newbies the very most fundamental rules of weight loss first, before we overload them with too many options, then I fear there is nothing left to say.