All Calories are Not Created Equal

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Title: All Calories are Not Created Equal

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Author: Mark Hyman MD

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All Calories are Not Created Equal

Copyright 2006 Mark Hyman MD

Eat less fat. Eat more fat. Carbs are bad. Carbs are

good-Nutrition advice changes so often, no wonder so many

people are confused.

But when it comes it calories, the advice to consume fewer

of them seems set in stone. After all, " a calorie is a

calorie " , right?

Wrong.

For years, we've been told that if we " eat less and

exercise more, " we'll lose weight. That recommendation is

based on the belief that we need burn more calories than we

take in. But this doesn't tell the whole story.

As it turns out, it isn't the amount of calories you

consume that really affects your weight and your health.

It's the type of calorie.

It's true-the calories you eat are actually absorbed at

different rates. And the different amounts of fiber,

carbohydrates, protein, fat, and nutrients in these

calories can have very different effects on your

metabolism. There's no difference between a thousand

calories of kidney beans and a thousand calories of a

low-fat muffin-until they're metabolized.

As you can see, food isn't just a source of energy-it's a

source of operating instructions for your body. Calories

101

So what is a calorie anyway? Simply put, a calorie is just

a unit of energy. When we eat food, chemical processes that

make up our metabolism break this food down and turn it

into energy. Burning this energy lets us do what we need

and want to do-from breathing to running a marathon. It's

like your car: You have to put fuel in it to make it run.

For people, food is our fuel. Calories are what help us

" run. "

The Dieting Myth

Just like high quality fuel is better for your car than the

cheap stuff, some calories are better for our metabolism

than others. That idea flies in the face of conventional

diet wisdom, but it's true-and science backs it up.

For example, recent studies show that high-carb diets can

boost insulin and blood sugar levels. The result? Weight

gain (not to mention high cholesterol and triglycerides).

On the other hand, people who eat a healthy low-carb diet

that's rich in vegetables, whole grains, beans, and lean

animal protein-but consume more calories than low-fat

dieters-actually lose more weight!

As you can see, the kinds of calories you consume can have

a big impact on weight gain, because different foods are

metabolized in different ways. Food " talks " to your genes,

giving your metabolism specific instructions-whether to

lose weight or gain weight, speed up or slow down the aging

process, increase or decrease your cholesterol level, and

produce molecules that increase or decrease your appetite.

No wonder you can feel like you're doing everything right

and still not lose weight!

The Whole Truth

If you want to lose weight and be healthy, you have to send

your body the right messages. That means living in harmony

with your genes.

This means different things for different people. Depending

on our genes, some of us may need more carbs, protein, or

fat than others.

But there's one basic principle that works of everyone:

Base your diet on whole, unprocessed foods. Foods that are

in their natural state talk to your genes the most

effectively-and were designed by nature to keep you at a

healthy weight.

You'll find more details on whole foods and the Calorie

Myth in my book, UltraMetabolism or on my website at

http://www.ultrametabolism.com.

About the Author:

Mark Hyman, M.D. is a NY Times bestselling author,

lecturer, and practicing physician. Discover how you can

program your body to automatically lose weight and find out

what special super fiber can help by grabbing an exclusive

sneak preview of UltraMetabolism at

http://www.ultrametabolism.com