As I was busy working in the past weeks, I did not pay attention to my diet. My excuse was the lack of time and effort. I used to be active at work, and I thought this activity would save me from gaining weight. Then, came the day to step over the scale. And I wish I was not that brave. I am bored of being on diet so I lose weight then I go back to my normal diet and gain weight again. I felt like an accordion. I decided to find something else. At the same time, I relative of mine came to visit. She is obsessed in healthy nutrition, so she decided to be a nutritionist. And I think She made the right decision. During her visit we had long conversations talking about food and diet. I have never spent such time talking about food as much as I did this time. Then I started reading about diet. And I will whisper to you in some informations I found useful to us.
When we mention nutrition, our minds will be directed to weight gain and loss.. and calories. We keep thinking about calories all time. We find them everywhere, in the packages of our foods in the supermarket, even in the menus of the restaurants. When we hop on the trade mill, we keep staring at the "calories burned" screen.
So, what are calories? Is it true that the more calories we take, the more flab we gain? Can we judge the quality of foods from the amount of calories they posses? Or is 500 calories of lettece equals 500 calories of Oreo? Here are some facts about calories:
1- We think calories are the main source of energy in our bodies:
They are not...
A calorie is a unit of measure for heat. It was used to explain the heat conservation in steam engines. The term used in the world of nutrition in 1890, so a calorie was defined as the unit of heat required to raise 1 gram of water 1ºC. So, scientists used to set food on fire and then measure how well the flame could warm a water bath. The warmer the water the more the calories this food contained! (Today, food`s calories are measured from its carbohydrates, fats and proteins contents). Now, calories are defined as the amount of heat required to raise 1 kilogram of water by 1ºC.
However, this concept can not be applied to our bodies as our bodies are not engines. We do not depend on heat to produce energy, instead, we have chemical energy. The food undergoes into complicated oxidation procedures of carbohydrates, fats and proteins, which takes place in the mitochondria. "We can say, the mitochondria are like small power plants" says Maciej Buchowski, PhD, a research professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "Instead of one central plant, you have several billion, so it`s more efficient".
Our Advice: Track carbohydrates, fats and proteins when you evaluate foods, not just the amount of calories.
2- We think all calories are created equal:
Not exactly..
As we know, our food comes from three sources: carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Alan Aragon who is a men`s health nutritional advisor says: " They are handled by the body differently. So that the old calories in, calories out formula can be misleading. Carbohydrates, proteins and fats have different effects on the equation".
For example: for every 100 calories of carbohydrates we consume, our bodies uses 5 to 10 to digest it. The digestion of fats is even easier so they require less calories to be digested. And we end up gaining a least 90 calories for every 100 calories we consume. However, for proteins it is different. For every 100 protein calories we consume, our bodies need 20 to 30 for digestion so we end up gaining less calories.
Our Advice: If you want to lose weight, make proteins a priority in your diet.
3- We think Calories Ingested = Calories Digested:
Not that simple..
As we swallow food, its digestion takes place from the moment it enters our mouthes, passing the esophagus, stomach and finally the intestine. But, 5-10% of the calories ingested pass through our bodies without absorption. So they do not share in building our flab.
Fat digestion is usually easily done by the intestinal walls. However, this is not the same for proteins especially plant source proteins. Even carbohydrates, they are processed in different rates. Glucose and starch are absorbed easily but fibers are very hard to absorb. While some fibers like those existing in vegetables and grains may inhibit the absorption of calories from other foods.
Our Advice: Maximize your fiber intake by increasing the amount of fruits, vegetables, cereals and whole grain bread in your diet.
4- We think exercise burns most of our calories:
Not even close!..
Even most fitness nuts burn no more than 30% of their daily calories intake at the gym. Most of our calories are burned to keep us alive. Dr. Wanda Howell, PhD, a professor of nutritional science at the University of Arizona says:" Some 60-70% of our total caloric expenditure goes toward normal bodily functions. This includes replacing old tissues, transporting oxygen, mending shaving wounds and so on."
So you do not need only exercise to burn calories. You can burn calories during preparing breakfast, window shopping or chasing the bus. Brandon Alderman, PhD, director of the exercise psychophysiology lab at Rutgers University says:" a conscious effort to spend more time on your feet might net a greater calorie burn than 30 minutes of daily exercise".
Our Advice: Take frequent breaks from your desk or couch and move your body to burn more calories.
5- We think Low-Calorie foods help us lose weight:
Not always..
Take sugar-free foods, for example. We replace sucrose (sugar) with other artificial sweeteners such as sucralose and aspartame. But these artificial sweeteners can backfire. We think by consuming no calorie sugar that we are safe of gaining weight. This leads to overeating.
A study in the University of Texas found that consuming as few as three diet sodas a week increases a person`s risk of obesity by more than 40%. And in a 2008 study by Purdue University, rats that ate artificially sweetened yogurt took in more calories at subsequent meals, resulting in more flab.
Our Advice: Avoid artificial sweetners and consume more low calorie sugars available in fruits and vegetables.
At the end, I hope you gained some useful information as I did. To me, it is more important to know why I should stop eating this kind of food while have more of that one than having a ready made diet to follow. Now I can customize my own diet in the way I like.
With all my wishes to you of a healthy life...
Warm regards..
- Refrences:
Zinczenko, David. Goulding, Matt. Eat this not that! supermarket survival guide. 2011. Rodale Inc.
