It's time to bust the 'calories in, calories out' weight-loss myth

And it’s easy to see the appeal of breaking weight loss down into simple maths – just follow the formula, and you’ll achieve success.

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https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-bust-the-calories-in-calories-out-weight-loss-myth-199092https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-bust-the-calories-in-calories-out-weight-loss-myth-199092
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Monday, June 5, 2023
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Exercise, Food, Obesity, Diet, Nut, Body composition, Starvation, Habit, Digestion, Survival, Weight loss, Eating, Brain, Emotion, Burn, Thyroid, Energy, Hormone, Science, Metabolism, Physiology, Overweight, Carbohydrate, Hypothalamus, Pleasure, Research, Rest, Foodservice, Risk management, Fast food, Dietary supplement, Surveying, Dairy, Animal feed, Convenience food, Birth control
Summary
Key Points: 
  • And it’s easy to see the appeal of breaking weight loss down into simple maths – just follow the formula, and you’ll achieve success.
  • Indeed, the diet industry’s reliance on the “calories in, calories out” concept is why society blames people for being overweight.
  • But the only simple truth here is that it’s time to bust the “calories in, calories out” myth as the only way to lose weight.

It’s nearly impossible to calculate accurately

    • Unfortunately, no matter how accurate these calculators claim to be, they rely on averages and can’t determine the calorie intake appropriate for you with 100% accuracy.
    • Calculating the calories in food – the other part of managing “calories in” – is also far from accurate.
    • One Australian study found food contained anywhere between 13% less and 61% more energy or nutrient components than its packaging stated.

Not all calories are created, or consumed, equally

    • Another reason the simple “calories in, calories out” formula is not so simple is our bodies don’t consume every calorie the same way.
    • What’s shown in your calorie counter is not what’s actually absorbed in your body.

Our bodies disrupt the formula

    • So while the formula can support people achieving weight loss initially, the reduction in energy intake is counteracted by mechanisms that ensure lost weight is regained.
    • This stems from our hunter-gatherer ancestors, whose bodies developed this response to adapt to periods of deprivation when food was scarce to protect against starvation.
    • Research also suggests our bodies have a “set point weight”: a genetically predetermined weight our bodies try to maintain regardless of what we eat or how much we exercise.


    Our bodies also cleverly trigger responses aimed at increasing our calorie intake to regain lost weight, including:

Bottom line

    • More importantly, it fails to consider the mechanisms our bodies trigger to counteract a reduction in energy intake.
    • So while you may achieve short-term weight loss following the formula, you’ll likely regain it.
    • No, but it's complicated

      At the Boden Group, Charles Perkins Centre, we are studying the science of obesity and running clinical trials for weight loss.

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