Empty calories: what they are and how to define them in our food

Calories are public enemy number one. We all ran away from them in horror. We can’t even see them in carbonated drinks. The food industry created “light” and “zero” soft drinks a few years ago to assuage precisely this fear. And not just soft drinks, our supermarkets have had a wide range of “sugar-free”, “low-fat” and other healthy products for many years that they seduce us a lot.

These claims are legally regulated in the European Union by Regulation 1924/2006 on nutritional and health claims in foods, so they should not be taken lightly. They must meet a number of requirements. For example, the mention of “light” means that the product has 30% fewer calories compared to its regular version.

However, the fact that these claims are regulated at the legislative level does not mean at all that they are synonymous with health, this is far from the case. If you look at where they are used, it is clear: pastries, chips, snacks and more. low food resources. Foods that, although contain fewer calories, are still not healthy. As we told you in previous episodes on calories, the nutritional value of the ingredients in a food is much more important than its calories.

what the hell is a calorie

The basic unit of measure for energy in food is called a calorie. Although we use it incorrectly. In fact, the calorie we all know is called kilocalorie is equal to 1000 calories. In order not to walk all day with a calculator in hand and make it easier to understand what you read, the word Calorie (in capital letters) is taken as a synonym for kilocalorie.

Each macronutrient provides a different proportion of kilocalories. Proteins and carbohydrates have common numbers, since for every gram we find 4 Kcal. On the other hand, bad fats provide 9 kcal per gram. Exactly, for this reason, supercaloric is responsible for their traditional disgust and social phobia. However, even though they all have the same calorie content, there are healthy fats and less interesting fats. Extra virgin olive oil is not the same as lard. Not even remotely.

In this sense, it is important to deeply know the function of calories, since they are the energy unit of our body. Gasoline that allows us to carry out our daily activities. Without calories we would be nothing. Only walking corpses without energy in the purest style of The Walking Dead. So we should not be afraid of calories, but show them more respect.

And an empty calorie?

Eating with this enemy

At this point, you’re probably wondering what ultra-processed foods are associated with. more empty calories. No wonder they are: hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, french fries, soft drinks, ice cream, pastries, cookies, chocolate, sauces, breakfast cereals and other edible monsters that please our taste but also harm our body.

But we forgot an old friend. He is always on the hunt. Fire has earned a place in our culture. That’s right, it’s alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are one of the most significant sources of empty calories for our health. In fact, each gram of alcohol provides 7 kcal. It’s a big amount that explains extra calories we put between chest and back every time we drink beer or have a drink. In the case of the latter, significantly more, since it is associated with a higher calorie content due to the mixture with soft drinks.