Actually, the title of this post is a little misleading. The NUMBER of calories in fat or in protein are the same. However, our bodies metabolize fats differently than they do carbohydrates or proteins.
Some of the calories we consume are immediately used as fuel, as energy. Those that are not used right away are converted to body fat for future use. This very process of conversion does require some energy and some of the calories being converted are used in the course of action.
What is important to keep in mind is that not all foods use up the same amount of energy for calorie conversion. One study found that 23 percent of the calories in carbohydrates are burned off when converted to body fat. That means if you eat a potato, the size of which equals 100 calories, 77 of those calories are available to be stored as body fat.
Now lets say that your friend gave you a piece of candy bar that has 175 calories and 100 of those calories are dietary fat. Your body will only burn just 3 percent in the conversion process. That means you have 97 of them available to become body fat.
Depending upon the amount of dietary fat you eat, those extra calories add up quickly. Munch on an apple or a bag of baby carrots if you're really serious about losing weight. And somewhere I heard that if you chew on celery you burn up more calories eating it than there are in a stalk. That may or may not be so.
What do you do when you have those fat cravings? Any helpful tips to readers are welcome. Type them in the comment box so we can share them.
To your aging success.
Comments