If you have ever been noticed in the supermarket, scanning a food label and wondering if the calories or ingredients matter – you are not alone. Perhaps you have chosen the lower low-calorie granola bar above the one with more fiber and nuts, assuming it would better support your goals. Or maybe you have heard that “a calorie is a calorie” and you wondered if that means that you have to eat a candy bar with the same number of calories as the omelet that you considered.
The truth is that both caloric quantity and food quality play an important role in your health and understand how they work together, can help you make smarter, more satisfying choices that support your weight and well-being.
Calories do count – but they are not the whole story
Let’s start with the basics: If you consistently eat more calories than your body uses, you will probably get it. If you eat less, you will probably lose weight (1). That is the basis of weight management, and that is why following your intake with tools such as MyfitnessPal can be so effective.
But only focusing on calories lacks something important: how you feel food and how this influences your overall health.
“If you only concentrate on calories, you can eat food that fits your calorie goals, but still feel hungry because what you eat is easy to digest or do not provide sufficient satisfaction,” says Daisy Mercer, a dietician at MyfitnessPal (2). “That can lead to more desires that can do us too much to eat.”
Research supports that. Studies show that people who ate more processed foods – such as chips, sugary drinks and refined cereals – arrive more over time, even when they no longer ate total calories. On the other hand, those who ate more whole foods, such as vegetables, fruit, nuts, yogurt and full grains, were more likely to lose weight and keep it off 3.
That is because food quality can influence your appetite, metabolism and even hormones – all of which influence how many calories your body naturally yearns and uses.
“High quality food can help us feel fuller and more satisfied by slowing down our digestion and providing longer energy,” Mercer explains. “This can prevent us from eating too much or helping to reduce desire 4. “
About the expert
Daisy Mercer, RDis a food data curator at MyfitnessPal. She graduated with her Bachelors of Food Science and Dietetics of the Colorado State University and completed her internship at the VA San Diego Healthcare System.
What makes a food “high quality”?
There is no official definition of food quality, but researchers generally agree on a few guidelines. High -quality foods are usually:
- Processed minimally, with few added sugars or artificial ingredients
- Rich in nutrients such as fiber, proteins, vitamins and minerals
- Lower on the glycemic index, which means that they cause smaller blood sugar peaks
- Saturate, help you stay fuller longer
“High quality foods offer us, except that they only fill us,” says Mercer. “This can mean that it offers fiber that helps to delay digestion 5Or that it is a lean meat that gives satisfaction 6. “
Examples are leafy vegetables, berries, beans, eggs, fish, nuts, olive oil and full grains such as oats or quinoa.
Food of lower quality thinking, candy, fried food and white bread are often stripped of fibers and nutrients. They digest quickly, spike blood sugar, and make you feel hungry quickly 7.
That does not mean that you can never enjoy it. But if they make up most of your calories, it is more difficult to keep control over your appetite and energy.
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Interesting is that when you switch to higher quality food, calorie control is often easier without that you require perfection or limitation.
“When people concentrate on food quality, they can tend to listen better to hunger and fullness instructions,” says Mercer. “This reduces the need to give priority to calorie statement because you are naturally more in harmony with your body.”
Whole foods are usually more filling, so you naturally eat less. They are also more difficult to eat. It is much easier to eat a sleeve cookies than a dozen boiled eggs or three cups of lentil soup.
“Balance is always important,” Mercer adds. “It can be useful to combine something that you long for something with fiber to increase the feeling of fullness. In this way you before you want the desire without overdoing it.”
This helps explain why some plans for weight loss work better for certain people. For example, higher protein or fiber eating patterns can only support the appetite control and weight loss if they also focus on whole, nutrient-tight food 8” 9.
So … which should you give priority?
Here is the nuance: if weight loss is your goal, you still have to be in a calorie deficiency. But the best way to get there is perhaps to concentrate more on food quality – because it can help you feel better while you eat less.
“The focus on food quality and calorie quantity will help with both long-term health and weight management,” says Mercer. “Having high -quality food often gives us more full and satisfied and can help us stay within our calorie goals.”
At the same time, even the healthiest diet does not support weight loss if you regularly eat too much. Portage size and tracking still matter, even if you choose all the right foods.
“It’s not calories or quality – it’s both,” she adds. “You can manage portion sizes and balance with quality food, so that you can enjoy the same things in moderation.”
How to find your balance
If you are not sure where to start, here are a few practical ways to give priority to both quality and quantity:
- Follow what you eat for a week. Use MyfitnessPal to log in meals and snacks – not only calories, but the types of foods you eat. Search for patterns.
- Add before you subtract. Try to add more whole foods – such as vegetables, beans or full grains – before you cut food that you love.
- Be realistic and flexible. Leave room for occasional indulgence. An all-or-nothing approach can be counterproductive.
- Focus on progress, not on perfection. Even small shifts to better food quality can lead to major changes in how you feel over time.
- Manage one thing at the same time. “If following calories is difficult, concentrate your energy on it and then slowly integrate quality food into your routine,” Mercer suggests.
The Bottom Line
When it comes to eating for health and sustainable weight management, it is not necessary to choose between caloric quantity and food quality – they work best together.
By following your intake, emphasizing nutrient-rich food and aligning how your meals feel you, you can create a way to eat your goals without hungry, overwhelmed or holding in the burnout of the food.
“Following calories and prioritizing food quality does not mean that you have to cut everything,” says Mercer. “Understand that weight control is all about balance.”
Do you want help with balancing your nutrition goals? Download the MyfitnessPal app to keep track of both calorie intake and food quality in one easy-to-use tool.
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