Calorie Rant Warning (long)

A calorie is a proposed unit of energy, of heat potential specifically.

This measure was made in a lab burning nutrients and measuring the heat expelled and giving it a unit of energy called a calorie.

FIRST, you have to know, that the calorie amount, even calculated in the lab setting assumes a 20% variable. So, even if the calorie model was accurate (which it can not be) and you work hard to eat 1,500 calories a day, you could very well be consuming 1,800 calories.

This model is very reliable in a closed linear system, and in a closed and linear system the first law of thermodynamics applies, energy is not created or destroyed, therefore calories in relating directly to calories out.

The human body in all its actions and functions is an open, dynamic system. It is not a closed, isolated, or linear system. This law of thermodynamics does not apply in the same way. Calories in (energy) do NOT equal calories out.

We do not burn nutrients like carbs, fat, and protein for energy. We use certain materials to build ATP which is a unit of potential energy that then can be used in our cellular furnaces to burn for energy.

Our gut bacteria actually do most of our “digestion” for us and they determine what then gets passed through into our body.

Depending on the gut-bacterial balance of good bacteria to bad, overall gut health, and absorption capacity, what gets passed into your body from your food can swing by 400%.

This means that the 500 calorie meal you just ate of the perfect balance of macro-nutrients can release the equivalent of 800-1200 calories of nutrients into your body. (I know the math seems off, but that 400% is stronger for carbs and protein and less so for fat, so I take an average).

Proteins are used in every action and function of the body, they make hormones, neurotransmitters, immune cells, red blood cells, build tissues, and much more that have nothing to do with being “burnt” for energy. Fatty acids build and repair our cell walls, support our brain, liver, and build our skin. Glucose creates receptors on each of our cells, fills our glycogen stores in the liver and muscles, and builds our biofilm, and feeds the bacterial population in and on our body.

And I could go on and on……but I hope this illustrates the crazy variations in the energetic, nutrient utilization complex that we call counting calories and how it is simply WAY off if even applicable.

So, what is more, important than calories in weight loss and health?

1. Food Quality over food Quantity…..eat real, whole foods that do not need to be cooked to eat (not saying you have to eat them raw, but if you have to cook them you should limit eating them).
2. Eating less frequently, not less volume. Stick to real food and eat ALL you want, but do not eat more than 3 meals a day, and if you eat 3, do not do that for more than 3 days in a row, skip breakfast or dinner every now and then. Or better yet skip a day of eating all together every week.
3. Get lots of natural fats, nothing chemically processed like vegetable oils, soy, corn, or lard, and never margarine or Crisco.
4. Exercise every day. Exercise helps your gut bacteria, your glycogen stores, and keeps you hormonally sensitive.
5. Get your nervous system in synch!
6. Get checked and adjusted by a chiropractor
7. Meditate
8. Practice paced breathing….5 seconds in, one-second hold, 5 seconds out, hold for one and repeat for 3-5 minutes, 2-3 times a day.

Eat junk, count calories, cut fatback and skip the exercise and your body will breakdown….it is called disease. Period.

Your Choice!

Rant over……if you are still reading.

We can do better!