Considering Calories
The strongest evidence as of this date shows that calories make a difference; however, concentrating on food quality is an important part of promoting weight loss and preventing weight gain. You need to concentrate on eating foods that are high in quality and promote weight loss. You also need to eat high-quality foods in the right proportions.
An often repeated dietary slogan is “a calorie is just a calorie.” Not eating too much is an important health measure. Rather than concentrating on calories alone, up-to-date research indicates that quality is also key in defining what you should eat and how to maintain healthy body weight.
Instead of selecting food based on caloric value, you need to instead think about choosing high quality, nutrient dense foods and cutting down on low-quality foods.
High-quality foods include minimally processed foods, such as vegetables and fruits, healthy sources of protein, healthy fats, and whole grains as recommended in MyPlate.
Low-quality foods include processed snack foods; foods high in trans fats, high glycemic index foods (such as potatoes), fried foods, refined sugar, white grains, sugar-sweetened beverages, and highly processed snack foods.
What The Science Shows
One research study looked into whether or not certain foods were more or less expected to cause weight gain. This type of research examines specific drinks and foods that allow you to understand whether or not a calorie is just a calorie, or if eating high-quality foods and fewer low-quality foods will lead to weight loss.
Researchers at the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health reveal that quality is, in fact, essential in determining what we should eat in order to achieve a healthy weight and maintain it.
The idea that a calorie is just a calorie doesn’t tell the entire story.
A study of more than 120,000 healthy men and women spanning 20 years, scientists have determined that weight gain was most strongly associated with the intake of processed and unprocessed red meats, sugar-sweetened beverages, potatoes, and potato chips.
The scientists determined that eating highly processed foods (such as sugars, fats, refined grains, and starches) could cause weight gain.
Foods found to be associated with weight loss included yogurt, nuts, fruits, whole grains, and vegetables.
The scientists did not disregard the importance of calories, instead proposing that selecting high-quality foods was an important factor in helping people eat fewer calories.