To be clear my comment was aimed at science communicators, not scientists. I agree that nutrition is an important are of study and knowing about how the average human body absorbs nutrients and how individual vary is extremely important with current rates of metobolic disease.

Basically, calories might not be precise but they’re quite accurate.

“I think people aren’t that dumb”

I reject the premise (and title) because I did read it, and the otherwise quite good article at no point validates the premise that “the calorie is broken.” It outlines how there’s much more to diet and weight than the calorie, but those are in no way the same thing, and such sloppy conclusions don’t lead to deeper…

I think we will agree to disagree. The most vague statement; “eat less, excecise more” is still generally accurate in my mind.

Your first statement was that fruit is unhealthy. That is flat wrong.

Life is about compromise. If you wanted to lose the maximum amount of weight you would put yourself on a minimal substance diet and a comprehensive exercise program.

But the fundamental calculus was no different, you just burned more calories, ergo you could eat more and not gain weight.

Yeah— it all sounds to me like another excuse for not paying attention to what you eat, just because measurements are imprecise. I think anybody with an 8th-grade science education already KNOWS that calorie measurements are just a guide! Whether it’s the calories listed on your food, or the calories-burned readout on…

:blinks:

Yes. But that is not the answer people want to hear. It’s much easier to hear “you process foods differently”, “your metabolism is triggered at a different rate”, “your gut microbes play a key role in weight”.

All of which are true, but which are thrown up as reasons why people who have refused to eat less and…

One of these is the healthier option, but you can lose weight on bacon and pasta and you can gain it on salad and fruit.

No, it is as easy as eat less and move more. It really is. Maybe you need to eat even less and move even more, but it will work. The people who say it doesn’t work are either lazy, mistaken, liars, or victims of a SPECIFIC (not nebulous blaming of metabolism) illness.

This calorie not a calorie campaign by certain science communicators really seems to be missing the forest for the trees. It’s being used as a matra for dieters trying to game their diets. Every time someone mentions “cut you calories” some smartass pipes up with some variant on “calories are not all equal.” It’s…

1000 kcal of healthy food is going to yield better results than 1000 kcal of fried bacon or complex carbs.

There have been many that proved you can lose weight by only eating twinkies and other junk food. Portion control and satiation is key.

Meh, those really aren’t the problem. This 5'10 245lbs guy is probably eating along the lines of 4k Calories a day and wondering why he isn’t losing weight. Doesn’t matter much if it is 4K of bacon or 4K of lima beans, it is just too much. Yes, different foods will make you feel fuller than others (the carbless diets…

In the context of the article, a calorie is different than what we all learned in high school physics. The calories listed on food are actually kilocalories. So a single food calorie is the amount of energy required to heat a kilogram of water 1deg C. It’s done to make the math easier. Who wants to calculate a…

Correct. Eat healthier and smaller portions and exercise more in frequency and intensity until you start to lose the weight. Then keep that regimen up.

Eat Less, Move More?