Contrary to popular belief the type's of calories you eat DO make a difference...

shawnnam

shawnnam

New member
Eat Trans Fat, Get Big Belly

I heard about this in my nutrition class at my University. The professor said the monkeys where fed a diet in the right number of calories to maintain, but some monkeys were fed a balanced diet and others fed a diet high in transfat (but same number of calories) the results were that the monkeys who were fed high amounts of transfat got BEER BELLIES, weird! I was one of the people who thought "a calorie is a calorie" but, if you are eating lots of transfat, even if you stay in your calories, you could be keeping your gut around or making it worse.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PLB
My husband and I was just talking about something similar to this the other day. We were discussing the outcome of two people eating a 1200 calorie diet every single day. But one person eats 1200 calories in lettuce and the other eats 1200 calories in oil.

...and we're taking a nutrition class together next semester. How did you like the class?
 
Emerald said:
My husband and I was just talking about something similar to this the other day. We were discussing the outcome of two people eating a 1200 calorie diet every single day. But one person eats 1200 calories in lettuce and the other eats 1200 calories in oil.

...and we're taking a nutrition class together next semester. How did you like the class?
Click to expand...

I love the class, it is very interesting :)
 
I think the title is a little off. Because, contrary to popular belief, there isn't more than one type of calorie. A calorie is a calorie - that never changes. It's just the food in which you get the calories from that varies.
 
Also, I don't think that anyone here has claimed that eating 2000 calories of Oreos and twinkies is the same as eating 2000 calories of lamb and hummus or... well, anything else. Most of the 'A calorie is a calorie' comes out when people claim that you can eat unlimited calories a day and lose weight as long as you obey some specific rules. Low fat, low carb, low... whatever...

When people say calories matter, it's shorthand for saying that the single largest factor in how much weight you lose is the number of calories is consumed/burned. However, that doesn't mean that your health isn't greatly impacted by your food choices.

Interestingly, stress can also encourage beer bellies. As can insulin resistance. And probably lots of things I'm not thinking of :)
 
It's the internets, it's easy to misunderstand, although I thought you were just saying it was interesting! :D

This post definitely brings up at least one thing all scientists seem to agree on: Transfats are teh devil ;)

If you are interested in some of the physiology, then I will also recommend the book I just finished reading, found fascinating, and therefore it must be shared with all... or something ;)

Seriously though, if you are interested in underlying physiology, Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers is fascinating. The cover makes it seem kind of like a self-help book for coping with stress, but really it's quite possibly the most interesting physiology text on the planet ;) Gets into energy stores, hormone reactions, what your brain is doing, how things normally work and what happens when "Oh no! A LION!"
 
Jeanette401 said:
If you are interested in some of the physiology, then I will also recommend the book I just finished reading, found fascinating, and therefore it must be shared with all... or something ;)

Seriously though, if you are interested in underlying physiology, Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers is fascinating.
Click to expand...

I'm a Biology student and this should only add to the great books on our shelves. (As you read this) I am looking it up on Amazon. It basically has a 5 out of 5. Thanks ^_^
 
Hehe, yeah! I saw it did get a rating of 1 from someone who thought the author shouldn't have put so much science in the book about... er, a scientific subject :)

I admit I didn't read it in one go because it was a lot to digest, but I did actually stay up later than I intended a few times because I couldn't wait to get to the end of a section!
 
I just thought it was interesting because I have seen many people tell others "It doesnt matter what you eat because if you burn more calories than you eat you will lose weight." The point of the article shows that even if you do eat within your calories to maintain or even lose you will still gain weight and add to your belly fat if you consume transfats.

So if I go to McDonalds and eat a 350 calorie cheese burger that has lots of transfat and go workout for enough time to burn those 350 calories, I can still gain weight or add fat to my stomach area, even if I did burn those 350 calories, which should theoretically equal out to zero. Nothing gained and nothing lost.
 
Nutrition is so important. That's why even though I don't really need the class for my major, I'm still going to take it.
 
It's definitely something I think most people should know more about- there's so much rubbish information out there and (to the uninitiated- I'm speaking of myself, I'm educated in the humanities) it's sometimes really hard to pick out the sheep from the goats (and the goats from the just plain crazy). I'm surprised by how many people still need to be told things like (in the UK, for example) you need to eat 5 serves of fruit and vegetables a day. Really people? It's written everywhere ("this contains one of your five a day" on a lot of packages), and even if it weren't, who grows up without realising you have to eat fruit and vegetables? (That being said, more complicated information is harder to come by- I searched for ages before finding out what was meant by a "serving"- 80g)
 
shawnnam said:
I just thought it was interesting because I have seen many people tell others "It doesnt matter what you eat because if you burn more calories than you eat you will lose weight." The point of the article shows that even if you do eat within your calories to maintain or even lose you will still gain weight and add to your belly fat if you consume transfats.

So if I go to McDonalds and eat a 350 calorie cheese burger that has lots of transfat and go workout for enough time to burn those 350 calories, I can still gain weight or add fat to my stomach area, even if I did burn those 350 calories, which should theoretically equal out to zero. Nothing gained and nothing lost.
Click to expand...

The same could be said for if you eat 350 calories of fresh fruits and vegetables. You can eat 350 calories of fresh fruits and vegetables, go workout to burn those 350 calories and have nothing gained or nothing lost. A calorie is a calorie - it doesn't matter where you're getting it from.

It's the food that matters. Not the 'types' of calories. Different nutritional statistics (fat, carbohydrates, cholesterol, sodium, etc) have an effect on your body, but as long as you manage your caloric intake and burn more calories than you consume, you are going to lose weight.

It may take more work to burn off calories from eating foods that are high in fat, carbohydrates, cholesterol, sodium (etc) - you might have to jog an extra mile or so to burn off those 'bad' things - but the calories you get from those things are no different than the calories you get from eating fresh fruits and vegetables.

And, that's why I said the title is a little off.
 
ChefChiTown said:
The same could be said for if you eat 350 calories of fresh fruits and vegetables. You can eat 350 calories of fresh fruits and vegetables, go workout to burn those 350 calories and have nothing gained or nothing lost. A calorie is a calorie - it doesn't matter where you're getting it from.

It's the food that matters. Not the 'types' of calories. Different nutritional statistics (fat, carbohydrates, cholesterol, sodium, etc) have an effect on your body, but as long as you manage your caloric intake and burn more calories than you consume, you are going to lose weight.

It may take more work to burn off calories from eating foods that are high in fat, carbohydrates, cholesterol, sodium (etc) - you might have to jog an extra mile or so to burn off those 'bad' things - but the calories you get from those things are no different than the calories you get from eating fresh fruits and vegetables.

And, that's why I said the title is a little off.
Click to expand...

False. TEF by definition proves this false as a calorie of protein will affect the body less than a calorie of carbs or fat due to the nature of how digestion works...

Can take this further when studying insulin response. There is a reason why 100% of pros, when losing body fat, control carbs down to the calorie. It has nothing to do with total calories being eaten, and everything to do with the kinds of calories being eaten. Long story short, give someone 2 different diets, same amount of exercise, and both a XXXX amount of calories. Diet 1 can result in fat loss. Diet 2 can result in fat gain. Yes, this is possible.. Macros matter a lot.
 
Jynus said:
False. TEF by definition proves this false as a calorie of protein will affect the body less than a calorie of carbs or fat due to the nature of how digestion works...

Can take this further when studying insulin response. There is a reason why 100% of pros, when losing body fat, control carbs down to the calorie. It has nothing to do with total calories being eaten, and everything to do with the kinds of calories being eaten. Long story short, give someone 2 different diets, same amount of exercise, and both a XXXX amount of calories. Diet 1 can result in fat loss. Diet 2 can result in fat gain. Yes, this is possible.. Macros matter a lot.
Click to expand...

Everything you said just supported what I posted. Yet, you start of by saying, "False." I umm...I don't understand.

And, no...there aren't different types of calories. There is only one type of calorie. It's not the calorie that varies; rather, the food in which you get it from. And, different foods contain different nutrients. It's the nutrients that vary, not the 'types' of calories.

Fat, protein, carbohydrates, etc - those are all nutrients - not calories.
 
My point is not about calories at all. I just want to make that clear.

My point is this. The body is very happy burning carbohydrates. The main function of carbohyrdrates is energy. The body prefers carbohydrates as a sources of energy than protein. The body burns carbohyrates in conjunction with fats but the proportion of carbs to fats is higher. When you run out of carbs, your body will convert protein to energy but its not its first choice.

Insulin - resistant people have trouble with carbs so they are better off losing weight on a higher protein diet and lower complex carbs.

I'm challenging this statement ...

"It may take more work to burn off calories from eating foods that are high in fat, carbohydrates, cholesterol, sodium (etc)"

That said, given how the body burns the different macro nutrients, it does seem that it is more difficult to burn fat. Extra protein and carbs get converted to fat. Fat doesn't converted back to anything. Its always only burnt along with another energy component and always it seems in a lower proportion. Its seems its not so easy to convert that solid fat back into something the body can burn which is triglycerides, i think.

Although there are situations when the proportion of fat burnt increases - after a long duration of exercise for instance. I've read its 90 minutes. So on my cycling trip, i expect to lose lots of fat since i will be cycling about 6 hours per day most days.
 
fortyfour said:
I'm challenging this statement ...

"It may take more work to burn off calories from eating foods that are high in fat, carbohydrates, cholesterol, sodium (etc)"

That said, given how the body burns the different macro nutrients, it does seem that it is more difficult to burn fat. Extra protein and carbs get converted to fat. Fat doesn't converted back to anything. Its always only burnt along with another energy component and always it seems in a lower proportion. Its seems its not so easy to convert that solid fat back into something the body can burn which is triglycerides, i think.

Although there are situations when the proportion of fat burnt increases - after a long duration of exercise for instance. I've read its 90 minutes. So on my cycling trip, i expect to lose lots of fat since i will be cycling about 6 hours per day most days.
Click to expand...

You're 'challenging (my) statement', but then you go on ahead to support it. That's two people in a row who have supposedly not agreed with what I said, but then immediately continued on to support my statement, HAHAHA.

I'm cornfused.

:willy_nilly:
 
Awesome! You'll have to let me know what you think of it. I'm starting my second read through to see how much of it stuck with me ;)
 
It may take more work to burn off calories from eating foods that are high in fat, carbohydrates, cholesterol, sodium (etc)
Click to expand...

Also, somewhat more on topic... I figure I'll clarify this a little... There's something called the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF). When you calculate the calories you burn during a day, your BMR includes the calories you burn to digest food. There have been studies out that show the TEF for 100 calories worth of protein is higher than for 100 calories of carbs or fat. Likewise, the TEF for unprocessed food is higher than that for processed foods. So you burn more calories burning the less efficient food source, just from digestion.

Which is an entirely separate issue from fat mobilization, and where your body draws it's energy from. It takes time to mobilize fat, glycogen is the fast acting fuel source. But if you burn off 500 calories from primarily glycogen, it's not uncommon for your body to burn fat for energy after the fact while refilling the glycogen stores. ... To sum up the summary of the summary, bodies are complicated ;)

As a side note - your brain also burns a lot of energy! There have been studies that you actually burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top