Is It Carbs or Calories? What’s More Important for Your Diet

The title of this post itself has raised debates, spark internet wars and even ended in the death of the reputation of many. With all the drama surrounding a single question, you might be surprised that till this day, people are still confused whenever a question as such is asked.

So the purpose of this article is to provide a clear picture and shed some light on this age old question.

“Is it how much I eat or the type of food I eat?”

To make it extremely simple, and to put it in the context of losing or gaining weight, how much you eat wins the battle.

That means that calories do matter.

However, I’m not saying that calories are the only thing that matters, there are other factors that needs to be accounted for. This is especially true if losing fat or gaining muscle is your primary goal.

Do note that losing weight doesn’t necessarily means you’ll lose fat, neither does gaining weight mean all the weight gained will be muscle.

The type of food you eat and the kind of exercise you put your body through will play a role in altering your body composition.

The basis of losing or gaining weight is mainly determined by something known as energy balance.

Consuming more energy than we expand will cause weight gain and expanding more energy will cause weight loss.

This energy is measured in calories and food contains calories.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a nutrient rich food like a piece of fruit or junk like barbecued potato chips, they all contain calories.

Consuming too much of a certain food that exceeds the amount of calorie you expand will cause weight gain no matter what food it is.

That means eating a crap ton of “healthy foods” will cause you to gain weight and still make you unhealthy. While eating ice cream can be good for you  if it’s what keeps you on track on your fat loss goals.

P/S: I’ve actually eaten 4 scoops a day of ice cream every other day for 20 consecutive days in a row. You might think that I look like a heavy weight wrestler now, but I’m actually very much on track with my nutrition goals.

To put things into perspective, a professor in the United States went on a diet eating only Twinkies. The amount he consumed was below the amount of calories he expanded and he lost weight.

Most will label Twinkies as junk and a food that’s devoid of nutrients, but because he lost weight, his blood profile improved and that made him healthier.

Another study done by Tate Et Al(1) in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that replacing calories beverages like your typical soft drinks or juices with water or diet beverages which have zero calories improved weight loss and could have a significant effect on public health.

I’ve also seen this image pop up on the great land called the internet.

And I must say that information in this image isn’t exactly the gospel truth.

First up, the term “better” doesn’t exactly describe anything.

What is it better for?

Health?

Is it better consumed cold?

Or is it better tasting?

However, based on the study I referenced above, if someone needs to put themselves in a calorie deficit then consuming the diet coke would be better for weight loss compared to the juice.

I’m not saying that everyone should go on a diet with only Twinkies and Diet Coke, I’m just trying to put into perspective that how much you eat matters more than what you eat.

Just like most of the things in life, when it comes to food, the poison is in the dose.

Just like most of the things in life, when it comes to food, the poison is in the dose. Calories do matter <—– Click to share this awesome quote!!

References.

1. Replacing caloric beverages with water or diet beverages for weight loss in adults: main results of the Choose Healthy Options Consciously Everyday (CHOICE) randomized clinical trial. (Tate Et Al 2012)

Did I enlighten you with some knowledge bombs today?Or do you think I’m just blabbering? Leave your thought and comments below. Also don’t forget to share it with someone you know will help them, because sharing is always caring.

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