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The Misunderstood Calorie

We count them. We ration them. We do everything we can to burn them off our frame. But, these days, they are more prevalent than ever — and they seem to infiltrate our bodies at every turn. By Eric Harr, Exclusively for ORGANIC FOOD BAR

It’s the calorie, and aside from the mole, it is one of the more maligned and misunderstood scientific units. If we better understood the nature of calories, how they work and what role they play in ruthlessly transforming lifesavers into lovehandles, we could work with them, rather than against them.

Sometimes it feels like no matter what we do — no matter how few calories we consume — we still put on weight. One day science will likely identify an airborne mutation of the calorie, that floats around and clings to innocent people who simply wander too close to hot dog stands.

Despite its poor reputation, the calorie is not inherently good or evil. It is the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. Calories are found, in varying amounts and densities, in every edible food. In nutritional terms, it is “a unit of energy-producing potential equal that is contained in food and released upon oxidation by the body.”

Therein lies the secret to the good and bad potential of the calorie. How it behaves depends on how you behave once it’s in your body.
If you release its “energy-producing potential” upon “oxidation by the body” (exercise), then the calorie will faithfully fuel your body and dissipate into the environment as heat. If, however, you eat too many Butterfinger McFlurrys and remain sedentary, then the “energy-producing potential of the calories will become very actual bodyfat.

However, if you deprive yourself of too many calories, your metabolic rate slows, which is an act of self-preservation. Your body is essentially saying: “You’re only eating gummi worms — and in case we’re starving here, I’m going into conservation mode.” Then, of course, when you return to eating normally, your body respond by storing every available spare calorie as bodyfat, as insurance against the future — in case you decide to “semi-starve” yourself again. That’s why restricting calories never works. Your body is concerned with one thing: survival, not aesthetics.

Dave Barry has a healthy perspective of calorie deprivation: “For decades, everybody operated on the Calorie Counter Theory of dieting, which basically states that you should never eat anything that tastes good. But there is another major theory that says you can eat all the fat you want, but you can’t have carbohydrates; that you can snork down an entire pig for breakfast, but eat a single Froot Loop and you will bloat out like a military life raft.”

So, are all calories created equal? In other words, does science say that 100 salad calories will affect your body in the same way that 100 frosting calories do? The answer is a qualified “yes.” The distinction is that you can have a small bowl salad and use your 100 calories, or have a half a tablespoon of frosting. Fat is more calorically dense: One gram of fat has nine calories while one gram of protein (or carbohydrate) has four.

So, why is it so outrageously easy to put on weight? There are two reasons: First, the caloric density of foods has risen sharply over the past five years: the average 7-ounce fast food cheeseburger contains 540 calories. Second, large amounts of calories are fairly difficult to burn off. To neutralize that single cheeseburger, you must run five and a half miles. We’re getting fatter because we’re eating more calories and not burning them off.

Weight management comes down to this relationship: calories in versus calories out.

The key is — and always has been — to eat a moderate amount of calories, from a variety of healthy foods and to spend 30 minutes or more five days a week burning them off.

Have the occasional indulgence, just commit to lacing up those running shoes the next day and running it off.

Lifestyle

ORGANIC FOOD BAR is more than a bar, it’s a lifestyle.

Eating ORGANIC FOOD BARS will enhance your health and help redefine your relationship with food. Understanding how food affects our health and making smarter, more instinctual food choices for yourself and your family each day are two essential steps to living your best life.

We founded ORGANIC FOOD BAR to help you look, feel and live healthier. It’s that simple. It’s why we’ve created the world’s healthiest food bar. It’s why we form partnerships with worthy health organizations here and aboard. It’s why we provide “official energy support” at events each year. It’s why we present the RAISE THE BAR podcast to you each week. And, it’s why we’ve created this “Live the lifestyle” section of the website.

Each week, we will post a new column here with one goal: to help you live your best life. If you have a topic you’d like us to cover, just let us know!