The Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Blog: All Calories are Not Created Equal
Posted on Tuesday, July 10, 2012 at 10:36am - 0 Comments »
It used to be thought (and still is thought by many) that weight loss/weight gain is a simple numeric result of negative/positive caloric intake/burnoff. The foods you eat and fluids you ingest have a certain caloric content. Your activities that day have a certain caloric burn off. It would seem to be the case that if you burn off more calories than you ingest, then weight loss will occur. Conversely, you will gain weight if you ingest more calories than you expend. This is not necessarily the case, as not all calories are created equal. Let’s take the situation of the ingestion of an equal calorie count of protein and carbohydrate. Despite the equal caloric content (depending on the portions and the type), the carbohydrate ingestion will result in a higher amount of insulin release, and in turn, insulin leads to fat storage. This is why the SP Program emphasizes high protein/low carbohydrate and we count portions and NOT calories. The less deposition of fat induced by insulin release, the less weight gain will occur. Lean meats/poultry/fish/seafood are truly the best forms of food to help you in your weight loss efforts. Insulin is an anabolic hormone and the less insulin being secreted the better. Carbs make you secrete more insulin. So, yes, you should be cognizant of caloric content of the foods you buy, but keep in mind that all calories are not treated as “equals” by the body.
