Should You Stop Counting Calories?

by Rachael Rettner, Senior Writer, Live Science August 27, 2015 17

Similar to quitting smoking, people who change their diet can see rapid improvements in their heart disease risk, the researchers wrote. For example, in a study of 2,000 heart attack survivors, those who were advised to eat fish were less likely to die during the study period than those who were not advised to eat fish, with improvements starting within a few months of the diet change, the editorial says. In contrast, eating trans-fat, an unhealthy ingredient that used to be common in fast food, can increase the levels of inflammatory markers in a person's blood within weeks, according to the editorial, by Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist at Frimley Park Hospital in the United Kingdom, and colleagues. What's more, research suggests that not all calories are created equal. The editorial notes that drinking one can of fizzy drinks, which has 150 calories, every day, is linked with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, eating a handful of nuts daily or consuming four tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, each with 500 calories, is linked with a decreased risk of heart disease and stroke. "Shifting focus away from calorie counting and emphasizing a dietary pattern that focuses on food quality rather than quantity will help to rapidly reduce obesity, related diseases and cardiovascular risk," the editorial says. The researchers pointed to a 2013 study that suggested that dietary changes are linked with reductions in heart disease risk, regardless of changes in a person's weight. "Simply focusing on weight loss" in obese people misses this point, they said. However, some experts disagreed with the advice to stop counting calories altogether. "It’s a bit of an exaggeration," said Katherine Tallmadge, a registered dietitian and op-ed contributor to Live Science. "I think you need to do both — concentrate on the quality of what you're eating, and make sure you're not eating too many calories," Tallmadge said. Tallmadge said that weight loss is often important to improving people's health, because obesity itself is a risk factor for several diseases. "It is critical that people get to their acceptable weight," Tallmadge said. "Body fat alone is toxic," and having an excess of it is linked with heart disease, cancer, diabetes, poor immune response and other conditions, she said. The editorial says that making the choice to eat healthy food should be made easier, with policies such as taxes on sugary drinks and subsidies that increase the affordability of healthier foods, including fruits, vegetables and nuts. "Applying these population wide policies might achieve rapid reductions in disease and hospital admissions, visible even within the electoral term of most politicians," the editorial says. The editorial was published online Thursday (Aug. 26) in the journal Open Heart. Original article on Live Science. Activ8rlives says: We agree. It is what you eat and how much of it that is important. Calories are determined on the basis of how much heat is released when the food is burned, not how our bodies metabolise the food. 1,000 calories of celery does not equal 1,000 calories of chocolate. This is why we do not recommend calorie balancing or “calories in = calories out.” The diet industry loves this, because they can sell us “low calorie meals.” True, it has few calories in it because it is small. But take a look at the ingredients in Low Calorie Ready Meals or Meal Replacements for example, and you can see that many are high in fat, sugar and salt and low in fibre. At Activ8rlives we think that it is better to work out what is a Good Choice or Bad Choice (high in fat and sugar) and cut down on the Bad Choices by using the free Activ8rlives Health Monitoring and Food Diary App, a picture-based food diary so that you can see WHAT you have eaten and how MUCH of it. Seeing the whole food and drink intake for a week on the web view of the Activ8rlives site can be a bit of a surprise and for many of us, and it is a constant process of continuing to practise this in daily life. You might also like to count your activity and weight alongside your Food Diary with the Activ8rlives new BuddyBand2 activity and sleep tracker and the Activ8rlives Body Analyser smart scales - they help you understand how your body is changing in response to the lifestyle choices you are now making. The free Activ8rlives Health Monitoring and Food Diary App track your activity, body composition and food intake all viewed on a single page. Talk about cause and effect—very powerful.