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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Calories are calories, whether they come from apples or chocolate fudge. Every time you eat, you take in calories. All foods, except water, have some. Your body is a machine that uses food calories as fuel. All these facts are true. But, still myths about calories abound. Let’s debunk a few.
Sugar and fast food do not make you fat.
There is no specific food that causes weight gain. The only thing that makes you fat is eating too many calories. If you eat too much sugar and too many fast foods, you will gain weight. If you eat both in moderation you won’t. People who eat a lot of sugar or fast food also frequently eat larger portions, eat more often, and eat fewer good-for-you foods, like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Smoking is not an effective weight loss strategy.
As a matter of fact, research has shown that smoking encourages the accumulation of belly fat. Smokers, even lean ones, have thicker waists than nonsmokers.
Skipping meals does not help you cut calories.
People who eat many small amounts during the day are slimmer than those who eat few larger meals. Regular breakfast skippers are 450% more likely to be overweight. Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full is a simple rule that is difficult to follow. But those who do usually eat fewer calories than people who sit down to a big lunch or dinner simply because the clock says it’s time to eat.
Nighttime calories are no more fattening than daytime calories.
Time of day doesn’t matter, it’s the calorie that count. You can eat all the calories you need for an entire day between midnight and 6 A.M, if you wish. As long as you don’t eat any more during the rest of the day, you won’t gain weight. The warning against late night eating does have value if the calories eaten watching TV or coping with stress are on top of the calories you’ve already eaten during the day.
You Should Know —
For women it may be their brains and not their stomachs that lead to overeating. A recent imaging study showed that a woman’s brain drives her to overeat when presented with her favorite foods or when she is under emotional stress. The same is not true for men.
One package does not always equal one serving —
Read food labels carefully to see if a package – even a smaller one – contains more than 1 serving. Many smaller sized packages may hold more that 1 serving. For example, a small bag of chips may hold 2 ½ servings. Eat the whole bag and you’ve eaten 2 ½ times the calories listed as a serving.
Fat-free and sugar-free are not calorie free.
Buying fat-free or sugar-free foods seems virtuous and can seduce you into eating larger amounts. But beware: some brands of sugar-free cookies and fat-free crackers have the same number of calories as – and sometimes more – than the regular versions. Few foods are calorie free. If a fat-free salad dressing has half of the calories of a regular version and you use twice as much, or you eat a box of sugar-free cookies, there is no calorie benefit.
Water is a powerful calorie burner.
Seventy-five percent of people don’t drink enough water. When you have too little water in your body, your metabolism slows down and you burn fewer calories. Exercising, running errands and staying out in the sun can all make you mildly dehydrated. Water, juice, seltzer, mineral water, milk, and even caffeine-containing coffee, tea, and soda all contribute to your fluid intake. If you don’t urinate at least every 4 hours when you are awake, you probably need to be drinking more.
If you sleep too little you may weigh too much.
People who sleep more weigh less. Getting too little sleep triggers hormonal changes that lead to increased appetite. Plus, more hours awake means more time to eat, and if you’re tired, you’re less likely to exercise — all adding up to extra pounds. Aim for at least 7 hours a night.
For more information on calories and the calorie counts in over 20,000 foods look for THE CALORIE COUNTER, 5TH ED. Published by Pocket Books, available this month in your favorite book store.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with 12 current titles and sales in excess of 8 million books. The books are widely available at your local or on-line bookseller.
Current titles include:
The Calorie Counter, 5th Ed., 2010
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2009
The Fat Counter, 7th ed., 2009
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
The Cholesterol Counter, 7th Ed., 2008
The Diabetes Carbohydrate and Calorie Counter, 3rd Ed., 2007
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to The Nutrition Experts
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