If we are to strip back nutrition to it’s relevant stands concerning our goals, we know that calories consumed vs used ultimately defines our composition, whilst nutrients consumed defines parts of our function.
It is this simple understanding of each component that will ultimately allow us to optimize both our composition and function with the food we eat. But given the plethora of black and white nutritional rhetoric inflicted upon us over the last decade, we seem to have forgotten what both represent. ‘Healthy this’. ‘Good for you that’ etc etc.
For all those who advocate that food quality is all you require for weight loss/gain, the question begs: how would you advise an individual who consumes a diet entirely based on whole, nutrient dense foods who cannot lose weight? Hopefully common sense would prevail and energy balance would be discussed.
Caloric value per volume of food can fluctuate dramatically, even amongst whole foods. As this graphic shows, 1000 calories can include a small or extensively large volume of food. This must be appreciated just as much as the processed, nutritionally bereft calorie dense foods that we believe to ruin our compositional goals.
In most cases, adherence to the calorie targets needed to succeed at our goal will have a greater chance of success if we are satiated more often. Therefore, consideration of lower calorie foods in greater volumes is a good idea if fat loss is the goal.
Food quality is important. It increases likelihood of satiety, improved function, supportive food behaviours and gut health. But calorie intake (regardless of quality) is also a very important determinant of our overall health. Thus, nutrient dense foods can still be detrimental if excessive consumption leads to us being overweight.
Understanding the separate importance of calories and nutrients can help us select correct quantities and enough quality to satisfy both strands.
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