{"id":14351,"date":"2021-11-22T20:06:46","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T20:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theguthealthdoctor.com\/?p=14351"},"modified":"2023-02-28T13:00:23","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T13:00:23","slug":"why-calorie-counting-is-flawed-scientifically","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theguthealthdoctor.com\/why-calorie-counting-is-flawed-scientifically","title":{"rendered":"Why calorie counting is flawed, scientifically"},"content":{"rendered":"

If I don\u2019t count calories, surely I\u2019ll gain weight?<\/p>\n

This is one of the many diet myths I bust in ‘Eat More, Live Well<\/a>‘. I get why this thought is all over the shop – the idea of balancing calories consumed versus calories out to maintain a healthy weight is the basis of many diet plans, healthy eating advice and government guidance.<\/p>\n

But, newsflash: when it comes to eating a whole food, plant-based diet (remember that’s not necessarily plants only), you can forget about fixating on kcals and faffing with numbers, sums and percentages. Here\u2019s why calorie counting is flawed, scientifically:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Calorie counts on food packets or tracking apps are not as accurate as you might think. These are determined in a lab, in a very different process to what happens in your digestive system. Your body does not extract every last calorie from whole plant foods – almonds, for example, have been shown in studies to provide 30% fewer calories than the pack says. (Highly processed foods are different – most of the \u2018digesting\u2019 has been done for you by machines, so the calories are much more accessible.)<\/li>\n
  2. Your body burns calories while you eat and digest your food – this is known as the \u2018thermogenic effect.\u2019 Whole foods like fruit, veg and nuts, which need chewing and breaking down, burn more calories as they go through eating and digestion – they have a higher thermogenic effect.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    One study showed that around 50% fewer calories were burned in digesting a meal made up of processed foods, versus those burned after a whole food meal, despite both containing the same ‘theoretical’ calories.<\/p>\n

    Still not convinced? A review paper collating the results of 15 studies showed that simply switching to a diet with whole plants resulted in weight-loss (NOT weight-gain), without any calorie counting or portion controlling.<\/p>\n

    The takeaway<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Ditch your calorie fixation. Labels are often inaccurate, as your digestive system is so much more complex than they allow for – plus, eating whole plant foods has been shown to keep you at your happy weight, with no need for restricting calories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    If I don\u2019t count calories, surely I\u2019ll gain weight? This is one of the many diet myths I bust in ‘Eat More, Live Well‘. I get why this thought is all over the shop – the idea of balancing calories consumed versus calories out to maintain a healthy weight is the basis of many diet…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":16744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-or-nutrition","category-myth-busting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy calorie counting is flawed, scientifically | The Gut Health Doctor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""If I don\u2019t count calories, surely I\u2019ll gain weight?" 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