Healthy foods are also very calorie-dense

Dec 2, 2009 20:31 GMT  ·  By
Gorging on healthy foods means we increase our calorie intake above the recommended normal level
   Gorging on healthy foods means we increase our calorie intake above the recommended normal level

Whether we’re careless about our diets or, on the contrary, are fanatics who wouldn’t touch a burger if our life depended on it, we should all bear in mind that there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Healthy foods, the ones the nutritionists can’t stop praising and that should never be absent from our fridge, also pack a lot of calories so overindulging on them means doing the same damage to our figure as with junk food, a Christopher Wanjek of LiveScience points out.

Nutritionists and health experts often urge us to replace snacks like chips and sweets for something healthier, and with real nutritional content and not just empty calories. These would also include dried fruit, nuts and seeds, and natural juice. The problem with them, though, Wanjek says, is that they pack a very powerful caloric punch so, when used as compliment to our diet instead of a substitute, we’re doing the same damage as when giving in to a craving for junk food.

“Dried fruit: What could be healthier than fruit? Well, not dried fruit. I was gulping down handfuls of dried figs and apricots, while deriding those feasting on cholesterol-ridden shrimp and a dip so laden with fat that it could serve as window caulking. The problem with dried fruit is that there’s no water to fill you up; you’ll quickly lose track of how many pieces of fruit you’re actually eating. Each handful – and there were surely more than a dozen – contained 50 to 100 calories, meaning I easily consumed a Big Mac’s worth of calories,” Wanjek says of how he tried to eat healthy food over Thanksgiving weekend.

The bottom line is that, just like with everything else, overdoing it on healthy foods is still overdoing it, and it too is bound to have very visible effects – on our waistline. The abovementioned snacks are ideal if they’re used to replace other, less healthy snacks that might tempt us, like, a chocolate bar or chocolate cookies. Otherwise, speaking strictly from the perspective of the intake of calories, they’re just as bad if we gorge on them.

“The lesson here is that healthy foods are supposed to be a substitute in your diet, not a complement. Folks pour on the olive oil because it contains healthy fats, but they don’t eliminate the unhealthy fats from red meats. Similarly, some people sprinkle ground flaxseed on just about everything because of the healthy omega-3 essential fatty acids. But fat has twice as many calories than protein or carbohydrates, so the carefree sprinkling can add up. We wonder why we are gaining weight even though we are eating healthy foods. The answer lies in the calories, which don’t lie. A calorie is a calorie,” Wanjek concludes.