How much weight each calorie and why not all fatten the same

Whenever you talk about any food, especially if we follow a diet of weight loss in order to reduce our weight, we tend to do it while we talk about the calories that contribute.

So, for example, we talk about the calories that an apple brings, a piece of chorizo ​​or a piece of chocolate cake. But we do not stop to think about something fundamental: if in fact that food that we are going to consume is beneficial from a nutritional point of view, or however it is rich in saturated fats and in sugars.

As you surely know, the amount of recommended daily calories a person should eat depends not only on their sex (that is, if they are male or female), but on their physical constitution and the activity they perform. And it is not equal to the kilocalories that an athlete should eat, which must be consumed by a sedentary person who hardly practices physical exercise.

In this sense, we must bear in mind that there is no exact relationship between the final number of calories that exceed the consumption of your body, and the final weight that increases. Why? Very simple: because it is something that ultimately depends on the constitution, metabolism and genetics of each one.

What are calories?

A calorie is a unit of energy that is used to measure the energy content of the food we eat. Basically it allows us to have a range of possibilities that gives us the possibility of knowing which are the most recommended foods to ingest, depending directly on the needs that our own body has at each moment.

It is a product of the macronutrients that we need to obtain energy; so that, once out of these nutrients, calories are transformed into kilocalories.

Fundamentally this energy is provided by carbohydrates or carbohydrates, The fats (around 9 calories per gram) and the proteins (about 4 calories per gram).

Its energetic value is the same; What changes is if the body at the time of getting energy prefers to use calories that are in the form of fat that of carbohydrates. Therefore, depending on their origin, not all calories gain weight equally.

Let's take an example: a cup of rice contributes about 230 calories, while 2 large sausages contribute the same amount. It is common for us to associate that both foods have the same effect on weight loss or gain, but in reality this is not the case: while calories from sausages tend to get fat, those from rice do not. Here we see how with the same amount of calories, rice tends to put on less weight than sausages.

Not all calories get fat in the same way

At this point it is more than obvious that not all calories get fat equal, in the same way. That is to say, our organism does not tend to process the same calories as, for example, a piece of cake that gives us a handful of almonds, even though it seems to be the same number of calories.

The reason is more than obvious: if most of the calories we consume each day come from foods rich in sugars our pancreas tends to secrete insulin more quickly, which causes the liver to transform excess glucose into fatty acids, which are integrated as triglycerides and finally deposited as fat in our adipose tissue.

The key, as we see, is not in how much we eat based on the calories contained in the food, but in what we eat. And although the fruit also contains sugars naturally, it is clearly compensated by its contribution in fiber, which helps it absorb more slowly.

Therefore: it is advisable to avoid soft drinks, sweets, industrial bakery, precooked foods, sugary juices and even certain sauces and cereals with sugar, and opt almost exclusively for fresh, natural and healthy food. This article is published for informational purposes only. You can not and should not replace the consultation with a Nutritionist. We advise you to consult your trusted Nutritionist.

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