The More You Chew, The More You Lose?
A lot of us are programmed (erhem) to count calories and to think that weight loss is all about “calories in versus calories out.” Some of us have accepted that it gets more complicated and that calories do not have civil rights and are not viewed as equal. So maybe you wean yourself off the Hungry Girl processed foods diet and incorporate more whole foods. Yep, check, got it.
But did you ever stop to think that the “calorie system” as we know it — the totals listed on the back of our favorite foods that we pay so much close attention to — may be antiquated and incorrect?
Photo from The New Scientist here.
You’re just 340 calories, Mister Burger, right? So I should definitely choose you instead of that 450-cal pita with avocado, right?
Check out this article in The New Scientist called “The Calorie Delusion: Why Food Labels are Wrong” here.
Here is my very “For Dummies by a Dummy” summary (because I’m not a scientist, sorry!):
- The scientist dude who created our calories method screwed up because he based energy consumption and expulsion on an incineration method. Our bodies don’t light our food on fire (gee, that would be interesting), but digest it instead. So, what does that mean to me? That means that the current way food is labeled may undervalue the fiber and protein that actually require more energy to digest than had been presumed. That means that if you are a calorie counter and are choosing between a granola bar and a brownie (this example borrowed from the article) and you see that the brownie is actually less in calories, you might opt for the brownie instead of the granola. Why is that lame? Because the caloric value of the protein and fiber in the granola bar are overestimated and you might very well have been better off choosing the granola over the brownie. I hear some of you going “duh! I would choose a granola bar over a highly processed brownie any day no matter what the calories said!” To you I say, congrats, but the issue gets more complicated.
- Turns out that a foods “chew factor” also affect your waist line. Softer foods take less energy to digest which means that’s more energy left in your body that you need to burn off if you’re trying to lose a few, maintain, or whatever. Please don’t use this an excuse to go on a bubble gum and rocks diet. However, cooking foods makes their nutrients more easily extractable and absorbed by the body. So which is better? Hell if I knew.
- We know that energy from refined carbs is more easily extracted by the body than complex carbs — this isn’t accounted for in that brownie label. This means basically that more of your whole-wheat pasta is going to be expelled by the body in the form of fiber etc. than the refined flour pasta which your body quickly sucks up and stores for energy.
This small helpful image below: Click here for full-size.
Food For Thought (0 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g fiber, 0 g protein)
- Am I the only one who thinks that taking how fiber is digested into account is what Weight Watchers does with their Points system? Does this mean I should quickly come up with a Weight-Watchers-like diet plan where we now incorporate the way protein is digested and market the hell out of it and make a million dollars? If so, any scientist want to join my “let’s take a risk ‘cuz I’m a broke college student” brigade to make money?
- Is this article advocating a raw foods diet for weight loss? Is this the “The More You Chew, the More You Lose” campaign?
- Am I the only one who found this both utterly confusing and fascinating? It also made me hungry.
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Alright my friends, I know this was a really boring post, but I get a major kick out of being a nerd reading about these things. I’m off to get ready for a nice run. I can’t tell you how many love songs I’ve been singing to my right knee — thanking her for getting over her tendinitis and allowing me to have my favorite form of cardio and stress -relief back. Love your bodies for all they do for you.
<3, The Cranky One
Tags: calories
11 People have left comments on this post
you are just like me. i am always being nerdy and reading articles about all of this health stuff..people think im nuts. oh well
but this article brings up a lot of good points. it is exactly why pauline nordin claims that Wheat BRAN is a free food because our bodies can’t actually absorb any of the calories that it provides. interesting stuff! our bodies are so scientific it is amazing to me!
oh god all this science is enough to drive a girl insane — i’ve also heard that drinking ice water burns calories because your body needs to exert more energy to warm the water up?! a yi yi — who knows!
what i do know is that i want that kashi coupon.. printing it now
thanks, girllllll!
Well, if nothing else, maybe people will actually start chewing their food!!
Many people do tend to “ingest it” rather than enjoy it!
Another point, if you chew you food completely, swallow & rest between bites, you give your stomach time to register that it is full. It takes our tummy 20 minutes to register that fullness.. so, eat complex, real foods, take your time eating, put the fork, spoon or whatever down in between & allow for your stomach to feel full. It may have you eating less this way!
PS.. never boring!
I thought it was interesting too. But then I am a scientist turned even nerdier lawyer.
JODI – what you described actually has a name. It is called the pistachio factor. Basically the pistachio factor says you eat less pistachios because you have to take each nut out of the shell, which takes time between bites. You body then gets a few extra seconds between eat nut to send the “I’m full signal.”
JENNY – true about ice water. Another theory states that drinking cold fluids while eating slows the metabolic process. Don’t know if I buy the metabolic process argument, just saying it is out there. We have a client who wrote a book call The Hot Diet. The author claims his hot diet cured his cancer. I am not so sure.
Very interesting article A! Thank you for sharing. Food for thought for sure!
I’m skipping a bike ride today because my left knee is pretty sore. You’re so right — don’t take your body for granted!
BTW – this post & all your other posts are far, far from boring.
Me. brain. hurt. No. under. stand.
Sometimes my head starts to spin…once I think I have this healthy eating/calorie counting/live in a deficit stuff down pat, some new research comes out to completely confuse me.
What works for me? Eat clean as much as possible. Workout like fiend. Don’t binge on crap. When I do these things I lose weight/feel healthy and great.
Thanks for sharing the link and your thoughts on the article. I have always been kind of skeptical of the amount of calories in things and think that this info often does more harm than good (and I’m also too lazy to count calories.)
I think focusing too much on calories alone can be very dangerous. A good friend of mine ate “garbage” for years because it was low in calories. Watching her do so much damage to her health was enough of a warning to me to focus on nutrition instead of calories.
I’m so glad that the truth is starting to be revealed. A lot of natural health practitioners have known this for ages… The quality of your food is more important than the quantity – not only when it comes to weight loss, but especially when it comes to health. Work on the quality (i.e. cut out the crap) and the quantity will follow because our bodies will be nourished and we will eventually lose our desire to overeat.
Interesting stuff. Good thing I stopped counting calories
Great post!
I went to a nutritionist, and she told me that I was eating /too many/ fruits and vegetables, and my body couldn’t handle all the fiber. She wants me to eat loads of bread and grains, but not so many of those pesky nutritious vegetables. She left me scratching my head and full of questions.
I mean, wouldn’t it make more sense to suggest /cooking/ the veggies, going for vegetable soup, or something like that which allows for a highly nutritious diet? It doesn’t make sense to lose weight if I’m missing out on all the nutrients in vegetables.