"A calorie is a calorie" is just a myth?

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Vance

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Before I say anything, my topic is just pure speculation. Not scientific topic. Even though, more and more studies revealed that "a calorie is a calorie" is just a myth (example: "A calorie is a calorie" violates the second law of thermodynamics by high-level scientists). I created this topic to share about our (Nas and me) weird experiences in Sweden.

You see, before we left for our vacation in Sweden, our heights & weights:
Me: (H) 6'0'' (W) 225 lbs
Nas: (H) 5'6'' (W) 138 lbs
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I must admit that I was a bit overweight. Especially my stomach area. I've consumed an average of 4,200 calories per day while Nas has consumed an average of 2,800 calories per day. Yeah, we've counted the calories for several months for our curiosity's sake. We normally didn't do that. Our source of foods mostly comes from health stores and local farms (no processed foods. just organic and fresh). We sometimes ate at middle-class/high-class restaurants. So you guys know what kind of foods we are eating in America. I've been lifting weights, playing the street basketball games, 100 meters and boxing. Nas has been jogging, swimming, and playing some sports games with me. We've been walking (brisk walking) for an hour three times per week.

Now about our vacation in Sweden, as some of you AD'ers may be aware that we stayed in Sweden for almost three months. Since there was no kitchen at one of universities in Stockholm for us to cook and eat so we went to different restaurants to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner for approx a month. One good Swede friend of mine went out for his vacation in France and he asked me if I'd like to be a housesitter to take care of his house (again, in Stockholm). I took it because of free rent. We finally had the kitchen to ourselves but we barely had the time for shopping and cooking because of our schedules. We both worked (still do) at high-class ristorante ($85 and up per a meal) and we both ate there during lunchtime and dinnertime almost everyday for FREE. Nice gesture of our boss & chefs eh?

We also ate at our another favorite restaurant for breakfast. Believe it or not, chefs or cooks weren't there during mornings. Sometimes all staffs weren't there at all and the restaurant were opened to us to get in and cooked and then put the foods away & washed the dishes before paid the meal fees. I know it may sound unbelievable to some of you but I had that same experience in Cape Cod, Massachusetts with my ex-girlfriend who lives in Cape Cod.

About ristorante where we worked (still do) at, I'm sure that many of you already aware that italian foods are high in both fat and calories. Our chefs never use vegetable oils in their cookings (they called vegetable oils, "Death's Oils"). They used the raw butter, coconut oil, tallow, lard, extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Note: usage of coconut oil and tallow is largely depends on what kind of meals. Let's not forget the cheeses and meats such as beretta meats, meat balls, lamb's brain or calf's brain and calf's liver. In other words, true italian foods are generally fatty foods. Average of calories per day:
Me: 10,600 calories (no, it is not typo. I've counted them three times. Actually, I ate much more than before)
Nas: 4,750 calories (she ate a bit more than before)
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We should've gained some weight or high cholesterol but to our surprise, we've lost weight, got more energy and our cholesterol levels are in perfect range. We felt so much better. Get this: we didn't do any heavy duty exercises or play any games at all for almost three months, just short walks four times during nights per week (20 minutes). That's it. Here's our heights & weights:
Me: (H) 6'0'' (W) 203 lbs (-22 lbs)
Nas: (H) 5'6'' (W) 128 lbs (-10 lbs)
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Nas told me that she has noticed that I've gained muscle tone and lost more fat. My stomach has gotten flatter. I also commented that I've noticed that her body have more curves than before. Especially hips, breast and waist area. She has gotten fitter as well.


So what do you think?
 
I have to concur with you. When I was living in Germany, prior to coming to Germany, I was about 210 pounds. At the end of 5 months, I was 180 pounds.

I think there are several factors to this:
- you don't use cars as much as you do in the US. You walk more.
(easier to do when the weather is not too hot or too cold!)
- the food seems to be cooked much different, less sugar, less grease and more flavourful
- the Europeans tend to have the biggest meal in the middle of day, as opposed to dinnertime at evening. Some stores close and schools send their students home to eat lunch. Not all cities do this though. I would prefer to have bigger meals during the most active part of the day, rather than at dinnertime before retiring to bed.
- Europeans tend to have smaller refrigerators, and because they often walk to city centre everyday, they tend to stop at the markets to buy fresh food and bring home for meals. Canned food are not very popular in Germany as far as I remember.
- Europeans seem to encourage you to drink a lot of water. I have had friends beseeching me to drink loads of water everyday and it really helped me to feel better and filter all the junk out of my system.

I am sure there are more factors, but these are what I can guess offhand right now.
 
kuifje75 said:
I have to concur with you. When I was living in Germany, prior to coming to Germany, I was about 210 pounds. At the end of 5 months, I was 180 pounds.

I think there are several factors to this:
- you don't use cars as much as you do in the US. You walk more.
(easier to do when the weather is not too hot or too cold!)
- the food seems to be cooked much different, less sugar, less grease and more flavourful
- the Europeans tend to have the biggest meal in the middle of day, as opposed to dinnertime at evening. Some stores close and schools send their students home to eat lunch. Not all cities do this though. I would prefer to have bigger meals during the most active part of the day, rather than at dinnertime before retiring to bed.
- Europeans tend to have smaller refrigerators, and because they often walk to city centre everyday, they tend to stop at the markets to buy fresh food and bring home for meals. Canned food are not very popular in Germany as far as I remember.
- Europeans seem to encourage you to drink a lot of water. I have had friends beseeching me to drink loads of water everyday and it really helped me to feel better and filter all the junk out of my system.

I am sure there are more factors, but these are what I can guess offhand right now.
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You have good points. I should've taken them into account. In Sweden, canned foods are not popular as well. Chefs at ristorante mentioned that they didn't understand why America corporations & restaurants tended to add the sugars to canned/processed foods. My opinion was that they've added the sugar to them because theirs tasted awful. Mind you, I'm just speculating.

About lunch and dinner, yeah. Our Swede friends kept telling us to not eat too much during dinner time. I gathered that it was our American habit which made them winced to see us eating a larger portion of meal. In the end of our vacation, we finally got used to not eat a larger portion of meal during our dinner time :lol:
 
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It is interesting that the world over that "Western Style" diseases (i.e., heart disease, certain cancers and other maladys) are on the rise not just in places normally associated to the US and other places but also now showing up in China and India of all places.

I believe the main culprits for this is a lifestyle that include less exercise, processed foods, and too much stress. I agree with Magatsu that there is something to how you eat can make a tremendous difference in how your body functions. Feed it junk (my main point about processed food) and it will respond not too well.

My wife had some health issues about 2+ years ago and one of the things we did was to change our diet toward much healthier eating habits. It really helped her and our family and well worth the effort. Yes, it costs a little more but what price do you put on health.
 
This is very interesting...

I would like to know how did you calculated the amount of calories you consumed? That is a very high number..

I believe in calories. I believe if you burn more than you consume you lose weight.

Fuzzy
 
That is correct - A calorie, biologically, is defined as how much energy is required to increase 1 gram of water 1 degree celsius. It doesnt defy any thermodynamics at all - remember, the majority of your body consists of water.. so 10,000 calories would be enough to heat 10,000 grams of water. HOWEVER, note that you dont go through 10 Cal at once - this is through a 24 hour period. so its actually quite small. 1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds. so 10 Cal would heat about 22 pounds of water over a 24 hour period. Out of probably about 190-200 pounds of water in your body!

Anyhow.. it doesnt really matter how many calories you intake - as long as they arent high-energy (ie: sugars) you would more likely burn it off than have it stored as body fats. Sugars require less time for the body to convert into energy, since they are, essentially, pure energy, and thus are absorbed into the body at a much higher rate and is more likely to be stored as fat. You may be familar with the FDA's daily calry intake recommendations - Note though, that this is over a 24 hour period. So eating regular food is like time-releasing energy, whereas direct sugars are like bursts of energy, because sugars are concentrated sources of energy, meaning a small amount of sugar would equal a large amount of other food. Your body wont need all that energy at once, and would start converting it to fat, unless you're active. Anyway.. as long as it's not sugar, the body actually uses most of the energy it converts your food to, especially if you're active. I'm guessing you were alot more active during your travels than you are at home here in the USA.

Lastly, the USA has the noturous habit of stuffing sugar into *EVERYTHING* - from salad dressings, to ketchup, to -- you name it. It seems that only natural foods (items of organic produce) don't contain artificially added sugars. So while in your travels, although you ate alot more, you actually took in LESS sugars, allowing your body to tap into your reserves.


Audiofuzzy said:
This is very interesting...

I would like to know how did you calculated the amount of calories you consumed? That is a very high number..

I believe in calories. I believe if you burn more than you consume you lose weight.

Fuzzy
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I am really not familar with this whole "sugars/fats/carbs issues so I am not going to argue.

But I believe in one thing- as I said, if you eat more than you burn,
from whatever source the calories came, you'll gain weight.

I saw a lot of diet fads and trends in my life.
Sugar, because of it's high calorie content, is always recommended to be avoid.
(Makes sens- if you eat doughnut and coffee for breakfast you consume a lot of calories but little nutrients, and you are quickly tired an hungry. You eat again pretty soon.
if you eat a wholesome breakfast like a piece of bread prefferably light rye and a bit of butter, ham and say sliced tomato and lettuce - you may suprisingly eat less calories yet have more energetic food that will sustain you for more hrs than doughnut did)

If you'll eat lots of sugary foods but still eat less than you burn you still shouldn't gain weight.


Fuzzy
 
Exactly, Audiofuzzy but you will tell how difference between Europe and America on foods when you visit Europe.

See my previous post.

I had been tasted on American and German/British white bread, also rye or wholebread, too. I can tell that too much sugar in American breads than German/British breads. I really don't know why the sugars are important to USA to produce any foods. :dunno:



I used to make my own Scottish eggs or sausage rolls with sausagemeats alot when I was in England. Sugars are not noticeable until I got my first job in Germany. I had my American friends to get sausagemeats for me because there're no sausagemeat at store in Germany. I was shock that there're too much sugar in US sausagemeat. I took my friend's advice to buy meats in German store to make into sausagemeat myself. It's much better because there're no sugar add in...
 
Liebling:-))) said:
...I really don't know why the sugars are important to USA to produce any foods. :dunno:...
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One good explanation for amount of sugar in the American diet is the desire of the food industries to get folks to buy more of their products. The tastier the food, the more popular it is and profits go up. The average American shopper is not aware of the amount of "junk" in foods particularily processed foods. We have made it a point to be educated about our food choices. Unfortunately, this is somewhat more costly of an option but worth doing if you value your health. On a good note, more and more people are becoming aware of this situation and healthier foods are becoming more available thus becoming more price compariable.
 
There is good food and bad food everywhere.
Most people I know eat mostly healthy and home made foods, not commercial or take out.


One has to take under consideration different way of living in America and Europe. We travel farther, we work longer hrs. It's not easy to juggle everyday family demands with work demands and all..

Fuzzy
 
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