For many years, nutritionists have confirmed the effectiveness of counting calories to achieve an ideal weight, but a new group of experts rejects this belief and considers counting calories to be a “useless and sometimes harmful practice,” especially if it becomes an obsession. It increases the mental burden on the person.
Calorie counting is an overrated endeavor by nutritionists, prompting them to consider it an “old and outdated method” and it can sometimes be dangerous.
From their point of view, although different foods have the same energy value, they do not have the same nutritional benefits because it depends on the quality of the food.
According to metabolic processes, a person does not eat calories directly, but consumes food so that the body extracts calories from it.
They cite that the body’s absorption of 100 calories from fried potatoes exceeds the absorption of 100 calories from carrots.
Anti-calorie experts add that food labels contain the number of calories, but they do not specify the amount the body can absorb, because the body’s absorption of these calories is limited by other factors, including human age and gender.
They also warn that counting calories “can easily become an unstoppable obsession and expose a person to eating disorders such as anorexia or overeating.”
In this regard, nutritionist explains, “The problem is not related to the calories that enter or leave our body, because there are other factors that affect the metabolism in the body, such as genes, psychological factors and the nature of the person. Life
And she continued, “It’s not just about the amount of calories, but the effect they have on our bodies. For example, calories from sugars lead to more health problems than calories from other foods.”
And she continued in her interview: “Dietitians count calories, but take into account other factors such as the person’s age, the weight he wants to reach and his health condition. Amounts of nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, fats and others are determined for him. .
at the same time added that “for ordinary people who don’t like to count calories, it’s important to achieve a balance from different nutrients in relation to what they eat.
