The amount of calories or the nutritional content? If you have to choose, what is the most important thing to invest in? The answer to that depends entirely on what the purpose is, writes our registered dietitian at NordIQ Life.
The amount of calories, of course it is important. In any case, if the purpose is to lose weight, not to mention necessary. Eating healthy with lots of good fats, clean proteins, lots of whole grains and vegetables is amazing and what you wish everyone wanted, could and had the opportunity to do.
The nutritional content does not matter – if the calorie amount is too great
If you eat too much, for example by snacking on almonds throughout the day, shooting olive oil and enjoying hummus sandwiches on Danish rye bread between main meals, it matters less whether the food has been nutritious or not. You’re likely to gain weight, or at least not lose it, anyway. Unless you have a very high energy requirement. This is despite the fact that you give yourself super fine, good food full of nutrition. Sure, it’s harder to overeat if you’re eating low-energy foods, but it’s far from impossible.
Food without nutrition makes you eat more
On the other hand, if you choose to only look at the calorie count to get closer to a sustainable method, you may be in for a big surprise. Let’s take a closer look at a regular sandwich. We start by focusing on the bread:
- In the belief that the Danish whole grain bread is low in energy, we see that a substantial slice has a whopping 115 calories.
- Compare that to a slice of white flour loaf, which is only 49 calories.
Of course, we choose the energy-saving white flour loaf if the goal is to lose weight. Or? Yes, if we just look at the calorie count, it sounds like the obvious choice, but it’s rarely that simple. The rye bread, which takes a while to chew, may be more energy-rich, but in return provides significantly greater satiety. So, maybe we settle for a rough sandwich while the white requires more to fill us up.
The less you eat, the more careful you should be
If we go a step further and choose smoked turkey and Philadelphia cheese on the coarse bread and cheese and butter on the light, you have actually made a calorie gain despite the difference in the bread itself. So: In the end, it is the total amount of calories that counts if the goal is to lose weight. However, to ignore the nutritional content is to do yourself a disservice. To stay healthy and get all the nutrition you need, it’s important to eat well. And the less you eat, the more it matters.
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