Read time:
~5 minutes
Why I wrote this:
1. To mitigate sensationalism and explain why the “results” of a study interpreted by the media don’t refute a basic principle of weight loss
2. To allay the emotional response people have when discussing diets and calories in general
__________
In 2018, The New York Times released an article describing a seemingly groundbreaking long term diet study. In this study, the participants were split up into a low-fat group and a low-carb group. They weren’t given any calorie goals or requirements. Instead, they cut out several things from their diets, including many processed and/or sugary foods. They replaced them with higher fiber, nutritionally dense foods. Both groups were successful in losing weight. The NY Times article then suggests that since they didn’t count calories in this study, that means that diet quantity (i.e. number of calories) doesn’t matter!
NOPE.
Calories are still underpinning the results of this study. Every successful case of weight loss (barring physiological anomalies) involves shifting energy balance – i.e. calories out exceeding calories in. And if you’re currently thinking “But they didn’t count calories at all and they still lost weight!” I hear you, but here’s the thing: all I’m saying is that a calorie deficit is the mechanism behind weight loss. No one ever said that you absolutely have to count them. Just because you didn’t count them doesn’t mean they didn’t matter.
Basically, here are the actual important takeaways from the study that the article gets right:
1. Diet quality is important for general health.
Eating plenty of real, whole foods has always been – and will always be – a good strategy for overall health, whether your goal is to lose fat, build muscle, or both. Whole unprocessed foods contain more micronutrients and fiber, both of which are important for general physiological function in addition to body composition.
2. Low-carb vs. low-fat doesn’t really matter all that much.
On average, people from both groups lost weight. Some individuals from each group lost more than others, but it’s important to see that both groups lost a similar amount of weight. This goes to show that all the low-carb vs. low-fat debates are not worth your time. Instead of mindlessly pledging your allegiance to a diet because you’ve been told it’s the only/best way to lose weight, pick the one that works for you. It’s as simple as that.
Here’s what the article completely misses:
Calories still matter.
If you read the headline of the NY Times article and skim through, it does seem as though calories have become completely irrelevant. You might think that there’s no point in thinking about them at all as long as you’re eating “healthily”. After all, the participants were able to lose weight without counting calories, so how can I sit here and still proclaim that calories matter? Well, here’s what really happened in this study.
The participants cut out sugar and processed foods, and replaced them with whole foods higher in fiber, protein, and micronutrients. Now, sugary, processed foods on average are more calorie-dense and less satiating. On the other hand, whole foods with fiber, protein, and micronutrients are inherently more satiating. What does this mean? Well, it means that by virtue these foods are more satisfying than their processed equivalents.
Basically:
Mainly eating foods with more fiber, protein, and micronutrients
>>
higher satiety
>>
less hunger
>>
decreased cravings
>>
automatic reduction in the overall quantity of food (i.e. number of calories) consumed without having to count them
In the study, the participants didn’t count calories, but they ate in a way that automatically reduced the calories they were eating without having to count them. This is undoubtedly an extremely effective way to lose weight – if you eat in such a way that your calories are automatically reduced, then it’s a load off of your mind. However, it’s a massive oversight to say that calories don’t matter at all. Such an oversight is dangerous because it leads people to believe they can eat as much as they like as long as the food is “healthy”, and they’ll lose weight.
This is simply not the case. In fact, one of the most common complaints from people trying to lose weight is “I’m eating healthy, but I just can’t lose weight!” If “healthy” eating were really the sole mechanism of weight loss, then that statement wouldn’t exist. After all – although I don’t recommend it in any way – you can also lose a tremendous amount of weight by eating junk food.
Remember this guy?
Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting you go on a Twinkie diet, just providing a counterexample for discussion purposes. Cases like this can demonstrate that weight loss (not necessarily overall health or body composition) is still governed by caloric intake.
If you want to approach weight loss by eating plenty of whole foods and cutting out sugary/processed foods, that’s absolutely fine. Just don’t be under any illusions. Remember that – even when eating healthy – in order to lose weight, you must maintain a calorie deficit, regardless of whether you track it or not.
What I’m NOT saying:
You can and should eat whatever you want.
I fully anticipate accusations that I’m attacking “healthy” food and suggesting that everyone just eats junk food and counts their calories, just like the Twinkie professor. I’m not.
Nothing else matters for weight loss, body composition, and overall health.
I’m also not suggesting that calories are the only thing that matter for body composition and overall health. There are many other components that determine energy balance on both sides of the equation (e.g. macros and TEF, NEAT, lifestyle factors, etc), Discussing all of these components is outside the scope of this article, but if you’re interested Aadam over at Physiqonomics has an amazing, in depth article on calories that provides some more information.
We should obsess over calories.
There is a difference between actually obsessing over every calorie you eat and simply being aware that the amount of calories you ingest can have an effect on your body and acting accordingly. Here’s a quick analogy – when someone wants to start budgeting their money more intelligently for the sake of their financial wellbeing, no one says, “You need to take it easy! You’re getting too obsessed and restrictive with your dollars!!” No one thinks that way about money, and we don’t need to think this way about calories either. Knowing that too much financial spending can have detrimental effects is similar to knowing that too much caloric spending can have detrimental effects.
What I AM saying:
I think approaching weight loss by focusing on whole foods is an excellent idea because you’re usually automatically reducing your caloric intake without having to count calories while simultaneously consuming higher amounts of fiber and micronutrients. However, if you try this out and find out that you’re still not losing weight (as some people do), then your caloric intake is one of the first things you should give an honest evaluation.
One more time – just because you successfully lost weight without explicitly counting calories doesn’t mean that calories don’t matter, it means you found a way to reduce calories without having to count them. Remember this the next time you see a sensationalist article that claims to have found the latest and greatest weight loss strategy and that calories don’t matter. Counting calories is not always necessary, and they are not the only thing that matters, but in the end, your energy balance is still ultimately responsible for whether or not you lose weight.