Science writer Rob Dunn’s article, The Hidden Truth About Calories, recently published in Scientific American, explains why two people could each gain different amounts of weight even though they eat the same diet. It looks like our visible, apparent differences don’t even begin to scratch the surface. For just one thing, it turns out that individuals of Russian descent have guts that are five feet longer, on average, than those whose grancestors (okay, I made that up — I intend it to mean just a few generations ago) came from Italy.
If you’ve never visited “Your Health is on Your Plate” before, visit Lets Start at the Very Beginning to get a jumpstart protecting the health and well-being of the ones you love!! Then check out “A Milestone Celebration — Your Favorite Posts” and “The Most Popular Blog Posts of All” for more great ideas and recipes!
Dunn points out that our bodies weren’t designed to eat processed items that have already had much of the work of digestion completed before we eat them. In nature, there is no such thing as plant-based carbohydrate without its fiber matrix. Think about it: Vegetables, beans, fruits, and grains are the four classes of carbohydrate. And if you pick them from a tree, or a garden, or a meadow, you find yourself holding a fiber-rich source of calories in your hand.
Dunn says that “Over the last thirty years the number of calories we eat has increased, but so has the number of those calories that come from highly processed foods. In this light, we would do well to eat fewer processed foods and more raw ones.” Okay, I buy that. He’s right, but not because of the calories. He’s right mostly because of the nutrients.
It’s not just the fiber that’s missing in stripped carbs. It’s the nutrition. He mentions this in passing (and in parentheses) with “Such foods, after all, tend to have more nutrients such as B vitamins, phytonutrients and minerals and so are good for reasons having nothing to do with counting calories.” And therein lies the pearl.
It’s not just that processed items are easier to digest and so provide more calories (and weight). It’s that they are relatively bankrupt in nutrition, so our desire for Food (with a capital F!) is not satisfied. Which keeps us hungry, all the time.
This is why we can easily scarf down several large bags of Doritos over the course of a ball game, or tip a full sleeve of thin mint cookies right down our gullets. And yet we can’t finish all the lettuce at the bottom of a giant-sized chef salad, or feel good about draining even just a teacup filled to the top with first-press, extra-virgin olive oil. Nutritious food is filling.
It’s not mainly about the calories, Rob Dunn. It’s about the nutrition.
Follow Dr Sukol’s posts on Twitter @RoxanneSukolMD and on Facebook at Roxanne Breines Sukol and at Your Health is on Your Plate.