For many years, people who want to manage their weight have been advised to count calories for many years. But the majority of diets fail. Why is that? Lack of self-discipline or wrong advice?
Wilbur Atwater popularized the concept of calorie counting. According to his hypothesis, a calorie gave the body the same amount of energy regardless of the type of food or micronutrient it was made of.
According to his findings:
- 1 gram of protein provided 4 calories of energy
- 1 gram of carb provided 4 calories of energy
- 1 gram of fat provided 9 calories of energy
And even today, more than a century later, the numbers 4, 4, and 9 are still widely used to estimate how much energy comes from food. Atwater overlooked that, depending on factors like a person’s genetic makeup or the type of bacteria present in their gut, different persons burn different foods at varying rates.
In addition, cooking increases the number of calories a person can take in from food by up to 39%. The erroneous belief that fat always causes more weight gain than other foods, including sugar, was caused by Atwater’s research.
For many years, Western dietary policy has been influenced by this hypothesis. Since insulin converts extra sugar in the bloodstream directly into fatty tissue, the fastest method to gain body fat is by consuming sugar.
Cardiovascular diseases are now the leading cause of mortality worldwide, and it seems that we are using the wrong way to combat them.
Atwater is not solely to blame. Other research was misleading too. The U.S. Senate and numerous other countries consequently advocated for a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet.
Atwater’s presumptions have permeated so many aspects of society, and many people believe changing the system would be disruptive and expensive. But it will be more expensive for the healthcare systems globally if we stay the course.
Photo by Klaus Nielsen: https://www.pexels.com/photo/electronic-scales-with-heap-of-sugar-6303718/
