A calorie is just a calorie - the truth

A calorie is a calorie. How many of you have heard that from people or fit individuals and/or trainers. Well before get into the topic, let’s talk about what is a calorie first since many don’t even know that. A calorie is a unit of energy. In nutrition and everyday language, calories refer to energy consumption through eating and drinking and energy usage through physical activity. For example, an apple may have 100 calories, while a 1 mile walk may use up about 100 calories. Two different usages for the same word.

The human body needs calories (energy) to survive, without energy our cells would die, our hearts and lungs would stop, and we would perish. We acquire this energy from food and drink. Have you also heard this one? To lose weight you need to consume less calories on a daily intake than your consumption and to gain weight and muscle you need to consume more calories than what you expending. Well this is what this blog is about. Is that true? And if it is to what extent. Let’s start with the easy one. Yes, you do require more calories in a daily consumption to gain weight. You wouldn’t be able to build a house without the extra materials now would you? Well same principle. Your body requires additional energy to build itself. The question though is; is a calorie a calorie? Are they all created equal? The answer is the following; The truth is that calories matter… but the types of foods we eat are just as important. That is because different foods go through different metabolic pathways in the body The foods we eat can directly impact the hormones that regulate when and how much we eat, as well as the amount of calories we burn.

Here is an example of what I am talking about and why a calorie is not just a calorie in similar terms. Consuming protein can boost metabolic rate and reduce your appetite compare to the same amount of calorie that would come from fat and carbs. Consuming protein also increases lean muscle mass which additionally would increase your metabolic rate in turn over time. A calorie might be a calorie when broken down into your system but the macronutrient that calorie is coming from can affect you in different ways. Hormones after all control a huge amount of what goes on in our bodies, so the calories might be the same but the source of where those calories are coming from can affect our desired goals. All calories are not created equal, for that matter the food choices we pick are important and crucial to our desired goals. Different foods go through different metabolic processes and pathways and have different effects on our hunger, hormones and health.

#nutrition #health #calories