As we start 2021, I thought it would be a good idea to review a few of our popular topics from previous Healthy Eating Tips. Today’s topic is important to understanding and choosing the right food for successful weight loss.
If you are trying to lose weight, knowing a little about what is in food can help you choose the right things to eat. A “Calorie” is a measure of energy in food. Our bodies “burn” calories like a fire burns wood. Calories that are leftover or not burned are stored in our bodies as fat. Eating more than we need to burn every day leads to the added weight that we all need to lose.
Macronutrients are the large categories of food that supply our bodies with calories. They are carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Carbohydrates are sugars and starches that are found in fruits, vegetables, grains, beans and processed foods. One gram of carbohydrates contains four calories. Contrary to popular belief protein is in many foods, not just meat. Beans and grains are a very good source of protein. One gram of protein also contains four calories. Fat is found in just a few vegetables, but also nuts and seeds, and meat is almost always associated with some amount of fat. Processed foods usually have large amounts of fat in them. One gram of fat contains nine calories. One gram of alcohol contains seven grams of calories.
- Carbohydrate 1gram = 4 calories
- Protein 1gram = 4 calories
- Fat 1gram = 9 calories
- Alcohol 1gram = 7 calories
“Caloric density” refers to the amount of calories that are in a given weight of food; usually calories per pound. A food high in caloric density has a large number of calories in a measured weight of food, and a food low in caloric density has fewer calories in the same measured weight of food.
Caloric Density Scale
- Vegetables: 60-195 calories per pound
- Fruit: 140-420 calories per pound
- Potatoes, pasta, rice, corn, hot cereals: 320-630 calories per pound
- Beans, peas, lentils: 310-780 calories per pound
- Breads, bagels, muffins, dried fruit: 920-1,3360 calories per pound
- Sugars; granulated sugar, honey, corn syrup, agave, maple syrup: 1,200 -1,800 calories per pound
- Dry cereals, chips, crackers: 1,480-3,200 calories per pound
- Nuts and seeds: 2,400-3,200 calories per pound
- Oil: 4,000 calories per pound
An apple is an excellent example of a food that is low in caloric density. An average apple weighs around 100 grams and provides just 50 calories. Furthermore, it has what is called nutritional density as opposed to caloric density. That means it provides more nutrients and fewer calories. One thing that nearly 100 percent of calorically dense foods lack is fiber. Fiber does a few things, but the most important one in regards to weight loss is that it fills your stomach up.
Speaking in general terms, an average-sized man needs about 2,000 calories a day and an average-sized woman needs 1,800 calories a day.
Think of a stomach like a fishbowl that we put foods into. Put fiber-rich foods into your stomach, and the fiber soaks up water, expands and limits the amount of food and, therefore, calories that you can fit into the fishbowl. If the food you put in the fishbowl has little fiber and is calorically dense, then you can fit a lot of food in the fishbowl. Fiber also slows digestion so that the fishbowl empties a lot slower. Most calorically dense foods transit through the stomach quickly, leaving you hungry and wanting to fill your fishbowl up again. A fishbowl full of fiber-rich whole foods might contain 500 calories. A fishbowl full of calorically dense foods nearly void of fiber might contain several thousand calories. What eating the plant-based whole foods diet does is exchange caloric density for nutrient density.
Processing is what we do to whole food products to make the foods that modern Americans love to eat. Processing food almost always eliminates fiber. Processing brown rice removes the germ and bran and turns it into white rice, which is a calorically dense and nutritionally deficient food. Processing wheat berries removes the germ and bran and turns whole wheat flour into white flour, which is a calorically dense and nutritionally deficient food. Many nuts and seeds are processed into oil by removing nearly everything that is the essence of a food except the oil. There is absolutely nothing dietarily evil about fat at all, but oil is a highly processed food that is almost entirely void of any nutrients except the calories. It is the quintessential calorically dense and nutritionally deficient food and something you need to limit in your diet!
Dr. Joel Fuhrman has emphasized the concept of nutrient density more than any other plant-based whole foods diet advocate. He has written many books including Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss. I would suggest this as an important resource if the concept of nutrient density touches a nerve with you. His Eat to Live diet is another diet on the healthy eating spectrum that warrants a look. Dr. Fuhrman has come up with a nutrient density scale he calls an ANDI score. Some of the list is below. Notice how high the green leafy vegetables are on the list and how low soda is on the list. The higher scores indicate foods with fewer calories and more nutrients and the lower scores indicate the “empty calories” we mentioned. Those are foods with more calories and fewer nutrients. Many empty calories actually have no nutrients and are only calories. Technically that is not a “food!” You can read about the ANDI scoring system on Dr. Fuhrman’s website.
- Kale: 1000
- Bok Choy: 865
- Spinach: 707
- Romaine Lettuce: 510
- Brussels Sprouts: 490
- Carrots: 458
- Cabbage: 434
- Broccoli: 340
- Cauliflower: 315
- Tomato: 186
- Iceberg Lettuce: 127
- Green Peas: 63
- Corn: 45
- Eggs: 31
- Milk, 1%: 31
- Ground Beef, 85% lean: 21
- French Fries: 12
- White Pasta: 11
- Cheddar Cheese: 11
- Apple Juice: 11
- Olive Oil: 10
- White Bread: 9
- Ice Cream: 9
- Corn Chips: 7
- Sodas: 1
Make no mistake, weight loss is about improving your health; it is well worth the effort!
Have a great week!