This topic has been discussed, researched and argued to death amongst the nutrition community, with a different answer depending on who you ask. But it's an important question for anyone concerned with losing bodyfat, or gaining muscle. So are all calories created equal?
Well on the one hand, there’s no escaping the magic rule of weight management – calories in vs calories out. i.e. take in more calories from food than you expend through your metabolism and exercise, and you will gain weight in the form of fat and/or muscle. Consume fewer calories than you burn, and you will lose weight.
Most women’s magazine diets, celebrity nutrition programs and popular support groups such as Weight Watchers use some form of calorie counting to design their diet plans.
And it’s a good place to start. But if a calorie REALLY was just a calorie, then what do you think of this scenario?
Two twins, Bill and Bob, decide they want to lose 5kg before beach season. They estimate that they burn about 2500 calories a day in total, so from now on will eat 2000 calories per day, putting them in a daily deficit of 500 calories. Bill creates his menu plan around lean meats, vegetables, fruit, raw nuts and seeds. Bob can’t give up his chocolate, so cleverly decides to get his entire 2000 calorie allotment from chocolate – both meeting his target for weight loss and not depriving himself of his favourite treat.
Who is going to lose the most weight? And who is going to be a very sick puppy and swear never to eat chocolate again? Now obviously this is an extreme example, but you can see where I’m coming from! A calorie derived from whole foods is digested much differently to processed, artificial food.
Protein for example is the most ‘thermic’ of the food groups, meaning it requires more energy to digest than carbohydrate or fat. Veggies and fruit contain a ton of fibre, which also demands a lot of energy to digest, while not containing many calories. On the other hand, flour and sugar based products contain little fibre or protein, but a lot of energy.
A number of recent studies that have shown that subjects following low-carb diets actually lose more weight than their counterparts on low-fat, high-carb diets despite the fact that the low-carbers consumed considerably more calories. This is due to the increased metabolism from protein, fibre and fat digestion. The added bonus of this type of eating is that hunger is reduced compared to a higher carb diet, as the extra protein, fibre and fat is much more filling.
So if you want to lose bodyfat, make it easy on yourself and forget about counting calories. Be sure all of your food comes from lean proteins, lots of veggies and fruit and good fats such as raw nuts, avocados, olive and fish oil. If gaining muscle is your goal, then some processed foods (breads, pasta, sports drinks etc) can be useful post exercise to speed up recovery and provide extra energy to build muscle.
Darren Ellis has an MSc specialising in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition. He is the co-owner of CrossFit NZ, a functional fitness facility in Panmure, Auckland. His clients range from world champion athletes to stay at home parents, to high school children. He can be contacted at darren@crossfitnz.co.nz
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