Q&A 1:
What is the Role of Calorie Intake in Weight
Management?
The relationship between calorie intake and weight management has
always been a controversial one. Within the general U.S. public, the
number of people who have tried calorie counting as a means of
weight loss—and failed—is surely a very high number. In some
ways it is similar to trying to decrease your cholesterol levels—
eatingless cholesterol-containing foods does not guarantee your
blood cholesterol levels will decrease.
It should not be surprising that calorie counting has always been a
topic of controversy in the field of nutrition. The concept of a “calo-
rie”is a one that is difficult to understand. When organizations like
the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, and
American Dietetic Association all endorse approaches to weight loss
that focus, in part, on calorie counting and calorie intake, it is not sur-
prising that these public health recommendations are frequently mis-
understood or misinterpreted.
What Is a Calorie?
In simplest terms, a calorie isn’t any kind of “thing” whatsoever.
Calories are not like proteins, or carbohydrates, or vitamins, or any
kind of nutrient. You can find protein in food. You can find vitamins
in food. Yet, you cannot find a calorie in any food at all. Calories do
not exist in that way.
Calories are units of measurement. They are like inches, miles,
ounces, degrees of temperature, pounds, tons, gallons, and acres.
They are just a way of understanding how much of something is
present. In the case of calories, this something is energy. The amount
of energy associated with any set of events can be measured in terms
of calories. Calories don’t have to involve food. For example, there
are a specific number of calories that any electrical wire can carry
Healthy Weight Loss Q & As