What is a calorie? The way to measure calories in food was established in the 1800s. Chemist Wilbur Atwater placed foods in sealed containers surrounded by water and set fire to them. He then defined a calorie as the amount of heat required to increase the temperature of a kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. And he found a standard: proteins and carbohydrates each have 4 calories/g, and fats have 9 calories/g. This method gave great data. But over 100 years later, most nutritionists (me included) agree that Atwater method was right to measure the impact on water temperature, but not on energy absorption by humans. Nevertheless, this is still how we measure calories. Let me give examples why, for our bodies, A CALORIE IS NOT A CALORIE.
1) Fiber - Veggies, beans, whole grains, are all high in fibre. This fibre, when burnt by Atwater, created heat, but our body doesn't absorb some of the fibre, it bypasses digestion without getting metabolised. So should these calories count as if they had created energy for us, when they have not? More fiber please!🙏
2) Protein - It takes a lot of energy from our bodies to metabolize protein. For every 100 calories of protein you eat, around 25 calories are spent just to digest it. So you only actually absorb 75. That's 25% off! 😉
3) Sugar - our body does NOT need sugar. Calories that come from sugar are distinct from other calories, and are jeopardizing health. Sugar spikes our blood glucose, which spikes our insulin and causes inflammation. This leads to diabetes, heart desease, etc. And that's not even mentioning added fructose: a type of sugar that goes straight to be stored in the liver, which is the largest cause of fatty liver disease in children nowadays. Avoid sugar!⛔️
4) Food structure - almonds are a great example here. Due to the way almond particles are organized, if you eat a whole almond, and chew it normally, your body is not able to absorb 30% of the calories in them. Now if instead they are grounded almonds, that structure is gone, so you will absorb all of it. So avoid artificial ingredients, which are ofter restructured.💚
Now, that you know what is a calorie, do you still think that "A CALORIE IS A CALORIE"?
I wanted to give this long nerdy explanation to clarify WHY here at Fitbaes ALL our products are Low Sugar, High Protein, High Fibre and with no artificial flavourings, colourings or sweeteners. And we don't compromise on indulgence and taste! Otherwise, if health was the only factor, we would all live off kombucha and sauerkraut 😂😂
Researches referenced:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26499447/
https://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(17)35685-8/fulltext
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0057873
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0057873