| EATING
YOUR WAY TO GOOD HEALTH |
 In
the United States, 64 percent of all adults are overweight, with 30 percent of
those obese. Overweight and obesity lead to increased morbidity and mortality,
with economic costs also running high at $92.6 billion per year in medical cost.
Energy Intake versus Energy Expenditure
If one has to lose weight, the energy intake (through food and drink) should be
less than energy expenditure (through rest and physical activity). So, this means
that energy expenditure should be more than energy intake; calorie consumed should
be less than calories burned. Thus, it becomes important to eat fewer calories.
Now, does that mean you have to start off starving yourself? Not necessarily.
You can cut calories by eating intelligently and eating properly.
Discretionary calories
Discretionary calories mean the difference between the total estimated daily energy
requirement (kcal) and essential calories.
Because of sedentary lifestyles and dietary habits that frequently are relatively
high in added sugars and solid fats, most people use up discretionary calories
even before meeting their nutrient requirements. This pattern of calorie intakes
exceeding energy expenditure is due to people consuming nutrient-poor and energy-dense
foods.
So, a person needs to have some discretionary calories available so that he gets
more flexibility in food choices. This can be done by carefully choosing foods
with a higher-nutrient densities and/or lower-energy densities. In this way, people
can meet their nutrient requirements while still consuming fewer calories than
their daily energy needs. This enables a person to have a certain amount of calories
leftover from his daily caloric allowance, which can be, can be used flexibly
as his nutrient requirement has already been fulfilled.
Energy Density of Food
Calories vary for the various nutrients. In one gram of food, Fat contains 9
calories, Alcohol contains 7 calories, Carbohydrate contains 4 calories and
Protein contains 4 calories. Thus, fat has the most energy per unit weight while
carbohydrate and protein have the least. This is known as the energy density
of food i.e. the number of calories in a gram of food.
A lot of the weight in food comes from the amount of water contained in the
food. Water adds to the weight, but doesn't increase calories in any way. So
higher water content in food leads to lower energy density. So the trick is
to eat low-calorie, high-volume foods. This ensures that you feel like you've
eaten your full though fewer calories have gone in.
The weight of food eaten is same though you are now consuming fewer calories.
And you don't even feel hungry.
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