why do people say A calorie is a calorie, a carb is a carb.
mmreed
Posts: 436 Member
I keep reading people saying things like A calorie is a calorie, a carb is a carb. - that as long as you take less in than you expend out, you are ok.
How the heck can this be true?
a carb is not any carb - refined sugar carbs are certainly different and impact worse than a slow burning whole grain carb
so a calorie cannot be "a calorie"
it has to depend on TYPE.
am I wrong in thinking this?
How the heck can this be true?
a carb is not any carb - refined sugar carbs are certainly different and impact worse than a slow burning whole grain carb
so a calorie cannot be "a calorie"
it has to depend on TYPE.
am I wrong in thinking this?
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Replies
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No. Everything you eat affects your body differently. The general idea behind weight loss is calorie in vs calorie out, but to be in your best health and prevent future dietary health-related issues, you should want to eat healthy foods and get exercise.
Also, an added benefit of healthy eating is, generally speaking, healthy foods are lower in calorie density. For example, you can eat 2 chicken breasts and still come out to less calories than a big mac. Almost can even eat 3. If you eat healthy foods, you can eat til you are actually satisfied so you're not hungry 24/7.0 -
I keep reading people saying things like A calorie is a calorie, a carb is a carb. - that as long as you take less in than you expend out, you are ok.
How the heck can this be true?
a carb is not any carb - refined sugar carbs are certainly different and impact worse than a slow burning whole grain carb
so a calorie cannot be "a calorie"
it has to depend on TYPE.
am I wrong in thinking this?
Honestly.......other than the amount of time it takes to be converted......there really isn't much difference between "good" and "bad" carbs.0 -
I think the answer is really yes and no.
Calorie is a Calorie is true. But as you said, some foods will give you calories in a quick burst of energy (like refined sugar) that will likely cause you later a crash that will take to eat more "calories" later. Plus they satisfy you less, so your body will tell you that you need to eat more calories.
but at the end of the game, as long as you eat less calories than you expend, you are going to loose weight. It doesn't matter if you just drink 4 glasses of Orange Juice for the entire day or eat a lot of veggies and quality protein. Although one way is A LOT more difficult than the other for sure.0 -
By and large, yes. for the average person with no health or allergy problems like say diabetes, a calorie is a calorie. As long as your hitting your macro breakdown properly and calorie total, those calories from carbs can be pure sugar, or pure veggies, and it won't make a single bit of difference to your bodies ability to lose weight.I keep reading people saying things like A calorie is a calorie, a carb is a carb. - that as long as you take less in than you expend out, you are ok.
How the heck can this be true?
a carb is not any carb - refined sugar carbs are certainly different and impact worse than a slow burning whole grain carb
so a calorie cannot be "a calorie"
it has to depend on TYPE.
am I wrong in thinking this?
That said, there is some evidence that if you do say a pure carb diet vs a healthy macro split, even with equal calories, you might have issues and differences. But thats a moot point as the whole point of a balanced diet is to get a balance of macros. And study after study pretty much shows in regards to fat loss, as long as you have a macro balance, the source of said macros means nothing.
Hell, there are dozens upon dozens of blogs that all show the same thing. On fittit recently, a guy only ate big macs and double downs and all other mannor of fast food for the last like 4 months. He hit his macros and calories needed and came out looking ripped as hell. There have been lots of 'mcdonalds only' diets where people got leaner and had their bloodwork improve. One professor I know of did a protein shake + twinkie only diet for a couple months and lost a ton of weight too. Just to prove the point that macros and calories matter, and food source means nothing.
Meet your calories and meet your protein. Where the remainder of your carbs come from means absolutely nothing to the body.0 -
The glycemic index of white sugar is 65, less than the 71 of whole wheat bread and not a mile off the 51 reported for "100% Whole Grain™ bread" at http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Glycemic_index_and_glycemic_load_for_100_foods.htma carb is not any carb - refined sugar carbs are certainly different and impact worse than a slow burning whole grain carb
So while I agree with you that the impact of carbs is very variable, we have to be a bit careful with the facts :-)0 -
Because they are! A calorie is a unit of heat energy.
Neither calories or carbs are inherently good or bad.
The type of foods you choose to eat can certainly have an impact on your health, but even so "a calorie IS a calorie".0 -
This is correct, however try saying something like this around here, and many will jump on you with the "all calories are the same thing" BS.I keep reading people saying things like A calorie is a calorie, a carb is a carb. - that as long as you take less in than you expend out, you are ok.
How the heck can this be true?
a carb is not any carb - refined sugar carbs are certainly different and impact worse than a slow burning whole grain carb
so a calorie cannot be "a calorie"
it has to depend on TYPE.
am I wrong in thinking this?
I think there are a lot of people who will twist information in order to justify their continued poor eating.0 -
Bro/Ho science on this forum perpetuates such ridiculous myths.
Yes, eating 1 calorie of a macronutrient is a calorie, the grams are what most ignore. Like those who say they eat what they like and as long as they are under their daily goal then everything is good.
Really? Absolute nonsense.
A body built on 2000 kcals of fat will be just that, just because you haven't exceeded your calories doesn't give an excuse to eat rubbish and feel pleased about it. And yes, there are good fats and bad fats HDL and LDL and carbohydrates that are absorbed quickly and those that are slow release in the GI scale.
80% of your body is built in the kitchen, the other 20% in the gym. You feed your body crap and that's what you'll get in return. Too much viral information on here, if you don't eat correctly with the right ratio of macronutrient suited to your goals you will never get anywhere and end up moaning and complaining and posting countless rants in the motivation forum.
Ensure you have sufficient protein and carbohydrates, these are the main two requirements. Fats in the form of HDLs to keep your body functioning as it should.
Anything else and you are wasting your time.0 -
A calorie is a calorie as far as weight loss goes, period, end of story. No one here is some magical mystery machine that can overturn the laws of physics. Humans are thermodynamic machines that follow the laws of thermodynamics, there is simply no way around that, no matter what. A calorie is a calorie. That's not Bro or Ho science, it's just science.
That doesn't mean that all foods are equally nutritious. Or that all people react to all foods exactly the same, but that also doesn't change reality. If you burn more calories than you take in you will lose weight.0 -
Sure...you can fill up on "healthy" carbs and calories or "junk" food. They may both look the same calorie-wise but junk food will not make your body healthy.0
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A calorie is a calorie because it's a unit of measure, like an inch is an inch regardless of what's being measured.
Carbohydrate is a catch-all term for anything that's not a protein, fat or alcohol in food.0 -
If a carb was not a carb, or a calorie not a calorie, they would be called something else.
Although a Great Dane and a Chihuahua are both dogs. Just because they're the same thing doesn't mean they're completely equal.0 -
A calorie is a calorie as far as weight loss goes, period, end of story. No one here is some magical mystery machine that can overturn the laws of physics. Humans are thermodynamic machines that follow the laws of thermodynamics, there is simply no way around that, no matter what. A calorie is a calorie. That's not Bro or Ho science, it's just science.
That doesn't mean that all foods are equally nutritious. Or that all people react to all foods exactly the same, but that also doesn't change reality. If you burn more calories than you take in you will lose weight.
Really? Protein has a 30% thermogenic ration which means you only process 70% of what you eat. Carbohydrates around 15% and fat is 2% so eating the and equal amount of all three will result in more fat being processed and stored if not burnt off. Looks like the calories are different.
Burn more than you take in and you'll lose weight? So why are so many on here complaining that dieting doesn't work and they they've either stalled, hit a plateau or dieting doesn't work even though they exercise? Lack of sufficient calories to fuel your body screams at the top of its lungs or not enough correct nutrients.
Thomas Jefferson stated 'All Men are Created Equal' and some are more equal as George Orwell wryly observed. Same for calories.
So if you have a ridiculously low carb diet then you'll have the energy to burn off excess calories without losing muscle mass? Won't this impact ATP production and isn't catabolism a problem?
As I said, Broscience0 -
As others have pointed out, yes a calorie is a calorie in mathematical terms, but the source of the calories causes a different biochemical response which can affect appetite, mood etc. differently. This is often pointed out in studies where the participants consume regular soft drinks and others consume the sugar free variety (i.e. coke and coke zero), it is often stated that the sugar free kind cause more weight gain over the experiment duration than the regular kind despite the fact that they contain much less 'sugars'.
Also,A calorie is a calorie as far as weight loss goes, period, end of story. No one here is some magical mystery machine that can overturn the laws of physics. Humans are thermodynamic machines that follow the laws of thermodynamics, there is simply no way around that, no matter what. A calorie is a calorie. That's not Bro or Ho science, it's just science.
That doesn't mean that all foods are equally nutritious. Or that all people react to all foods exactly the same, but that also doesn't change reality. If you burn more calories than you take in you will lose weight.
If you're going down this route you would be better off saying principles of biology/biochemistry etc. to demonstrate the ways in which calories from different sources affect the body, although I assume you were referencing the first law.
The four laws of thermodynamics are:
Zeroth law of thermodynamics: If two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a third system, they must be in thermal equilibrium with each other. This law helps define the notion of temperature.
First law of thermodynamics: Heat and work are forms of energy transfer. While energy is invariably conserved, the internal energy of a closed system changes as heat and work are transferred in or out of it. Equivalently, perpetual motion machines of the first kind are impossible.
Second law of thermodynamics: The entropy of any isolated system not in thermal equilibrium almost always increases. Isolated systems spontaneously evolve towards thermal equilibrium -- the state of maximum entropy of the system -- in a process known as "thermalization". Equivalently, perpetual motion machines of the second kind are impossible.
Third law of thermodynamics: The entropy of a system approaches a constant value as the temperature approaches zero. The entropy of a system at absolute zero is typically zero, and in all cases is determined only by the number of different ground states it has. Specifically, the entropy of a pure crystalline substance at absolute zero temperature is zero.0 -
A calorie is a calorie as far as weight loss goes, period, end of story. No one here is some magical mystery machine that can overturn the laws of physics. Humans are thermodynamic machines that follow the laws of thermodynamics, there is simply no way around that, no matter what. A calorie is a calorie. That's not Bro or Ho science, it's just science.
Speaking of thermodynamics:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2897733/
Regardless, even if you took the thermic effect into account and then said "a calorie is a calorie is a calorie," I'd still disagree b/c your macronutrient profile is very important. Furthermore, unless you're like Iceman with your diet and never have any issues wanting to over-eat, then factors like the glycemic index and avoiding sugar are also very important. Naturally there are legions of people who will point out that you can technically lose weight while eating tons of sugar b/c "a calorie is a calorie is a calorie." But that's doing things the very hard way, and it s a great method to fail miserably in the long run.0 -
For weight loss purposes a calorie is a calorie. But anyone trying to equate an all-or-nothing scenario of 2000 calories of ice cream compared to a 2000 calorie diet consisting of appropriate macro and micronutrients, is just being silly.
Macronutrients matter for a variety of reasons (body composition, behavior, performance, hormones, etc etc). Micronutrients matter for a variety of health reasons.
But none of this changes the energy value of a calorie. The bigger problem is people taking these statements and twisting them beyond their meaning.
This is a long read, but Matt Perryman writes some great stuff:
http://www.myosynthesis.com/calories-arent-calories0 -
It still comes down to eat less, exercise more, lose weight. And like I said, not all foods are equally nutritious, but the truth is you can eat nothing but McDonalds, or Twinkies, or white potatoes and still lose weight (and see all your health markers improve) as long as you're eating at a deficit. We can sit here and split hairs all day long, but the simple energy in vs. energy out equation still won't change.
If you want to argue that that's not a healthy way to eat, or the best way to lose weight, I'll agree with you completely, but that's a different argument.0 -
I do agree - a calorie is a calorie, but the argument should be whether it's nutritional or empty calories. Sure, I can eat junk food and eat all of my daily calories for the day in that sense (would probably go over recommended fat though). However, I can almost bet I'd still be hungry because of the empty calories I've consumed.... which would lead to eating more than my daily calorie allowance.0
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I ran across that great article the last time
http://goo.gl/LpwPGA review of simple thermodynamic principles shows that weight change on isocaloric diets is not expected to be independent of path (metabolism of macronutrients) and indeed such a general principle would be a violation of the second law. Homeostatic mechanisms are able to insure that, a good deal of the time, weight does not fluctuate much with changes in diet – this might be said to be the true "miraculous metabolic effect" – but it is subject to many exceptions. The idea that this is theoretically required in all cases is mistakenly based on equilibrium, reversible conditions that do not hold for living organisms and an insufficient appreciation of the second law. The second law of thermodynamics says that variation of efficiency for different metabolic pathways is to be expected. Thus, ironically the dictum that a "calorie is a calorie" violates the second law of thermodynamics, as a matter of principle.0 -
I keep reading people saying things like A calorie is a calorie, a carb is a carb. - that as long as you take less in than you expend out, you are ok.
How the heck can this be true?
a carb is not any carb - refined sugar carbs are certainly different and impact worse than a slow burning whole grain carb
so a calorie cannot be "a calorie"
it has to depend on TYPE.
am I wrong in thinking this?
Honestly.......other than the amount of time it takes to be converted......there really isn't much difference between "good" and "bad" carbs.
The time and energy used to convert them IS the difference.0
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