Are All Calories Equal?

Are all calories equal?

We all need six categories of nutrients to function as humans namely carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals and water. There are so many sources of these nutrients but are they all equal?

Just like most of the things in the world, there are high quality and low quality foods. With sheets, this is calculated in form of thread count, pixels with cameras and if I am not so wrong I believe that its horse power in cars.

With food, we use nutrient density. This refers to the amount of nutrients in a particular food as compared to the amount of calories you get from the same food. Nutrient dense foods give you the most nutrients for the fewest amount of calories. Let me put it this way, in three meals a day, we can only eat so much food. Our bodies need to get carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals daily from those three meals. We need to therefore eat foods that will provide all the above and still be within the caloric range we are supposed to consume in a day. If for example you drink 500ml soda, you will get like 210 calories and no minerals or vitamins, no proteins, no fat, no fiber, just sugar. A medium potato on the other hand would have all the nutrients on the image below.

This means that a potato is nutrient dense and the soda is calorie dense in that it gives you most calories and fewer nutrients.

There are however foods that are high in calories but very good for you. A good example is avocados.

You can get 26% of your daily Vitamin K needs from an average size avocado, 20% of your daily Folate needs, 17% daily Vitamin C, 14% of your daily Potassium, 14% of your B5 Vitamin, 13% Vitamin B6, and 10% of the daily vitamin E needs. It also contains small amounts of Magnesium, Manganese, Copper, Iron, Zinc, Phosphorous, Vitamin A, B1 (Thiamine), B2 (Riboflavin) and B3 (Niacin).

Avocados do not contain any cholesterol or sodium, and are low in saturated fat. This is a very good deal for 160 calories.

I cannot breakdown the calories and nutrients of all foods in this article but I can help you choose nutrient dense food with the following guidelines;

v  For carbohydrates, try and choose those high in fiber. This includes whole grain breads commonly referred to as brown breads, sweet potatoes, oats, brown pasta, brown rice, all kinds of legumes (beans, peas, lentils etc) and yes beans are also a good source of carbohydrates and pumpkins. The above examples of carbohydrates are referred to as complex carbohydrates. This means that they take longer to be digested and absorbed. They are also packed with fiber, vitamins and minerals.

v  Stay away from processed foods which includes anything made with white wheat flour, anything made in a factory like biscuits, cookies, cakes, added sugars and am sure that by now you get the picture. These are simple carbohydrates which means that they are quickly digested and absorbed into the blood stream. Most of them don’t include the vitamins and minerals that the complex carbohydrates carry and they definitely don’t come with fiber. If you can’t help but buy factory made carbohydrates, stay away from those with the words bleached, processed or refined on the package.

v  With proteins, choose those that are lean which means that they have less fat. Trim the fat off your meat, remove the skin on your chicken, do not over do with eggs, and remove the cream from your milk. Plant proteins like beans are generally healthy and when choosing fish make sure that they are low in impurities like mercury. Pick yogurt that is high in calcium and when craving ice-cream, just freeze yogurt and enjoy.

v  Choose fats that are plant based like olive oil and the many liquid oils we have in the market. Seeds and nuts are also good sources of fats and proteins but do not over do them if your goal is to lose weight.

v  Fruits are good sources of vitamins and minerals. Do remember that fruits count as calories and if you have a food record, include them as well.

v  Vegetables are generally very low in calories and nutrient dense. They are the one food group that you should go all crazy with.

A very good friend of mine asked me how people gain weight by eating carbohydrates. My answer is; you can definitely gain weight by eating the wrong kinds of carbohydrates. You could also gain weight by eating good carbohydrates in large amounts. Carbohydrates should account for about 45% - 65% of our daily caloric needs to fuel our bodies, and brains but almost all of the extra carbohydrates we eat are stored as fat and which will cause weight gain. 

Here is the thing with complex carbohydrates, they have fiber. They take time to be digested and absorbed into the blood stream which keeps you fuller for longer, making you eat less.

 Simple carbohydrates make your blood sugar levels go up very quickly. Insulin is then released to take care of all the blood sugar and then when all of it has been cleared from the blood, in a very short amount of time, you get so hungry and you have to eat again. Research shows that simple sugars aka processed sugars suppress your immunity by lowering the ability of your white blood cells to engulf bacteria. We also know that they cause tooth decay, hyperactivity and low cognitive (brain) performance. So, friend, choose complex carbohydrates and remember to eat what your body needs then save the rest for the next day.

All the best as you try and choose better foods from all of the food categories.