I’m done with calories - a podcast by Donna Psiaki Feldman MS RDN

You read that right.  I’m completely done with calories as a nutritional obsession.  I realize a person in my profession is expected to focus most of my attention on calories, advising everyone to worry about them and add them up everyday.  But not any more.  It’s over.

This isn’t an overnight decision.  I’ve been annoyed by our cultural fixation on calories for a very long time, but recently a straw broke the proverbial camel’s back:  Gatorade Zero.  I’ve heard the radio ad several times in the last couple of weeks, touting Gatorade Zero has “all the electrolytes, zero sugar“.  To which I respond: “well then, what’s the point?”  Gatorade and other sports drinks were developed for use by athletes who were exercising heavily and sweating.  The electrolytes are meant to replace those lost in sweat.  The sugar (a pretty minimal amount by the way) was meant to boost the athlete’s energy supply so she or he could continue exercising or competing.  It all made sense.  Now we have a product that makes zero sense.  But unfortunately it probably sounds like a really good idea to the poorly informed average person who thinks healthy eating means zero calories.  Why not have a sports drink that provides no energy?  We really should re-name it Gatorade Zero Sense.

Meanwhile more calorie stupidity obsession is here courtesy of the FDA, which has finalized the rules (it only took them 8 years) requiring chain restaurants to post calorie counts on menus.  This is supposed to solve the obesity epidemic.  Restaurants, convenience stores, movie theaters, vending machine operators and grocery stores all have to post calorie information.  Now you’ll know that your Big Gulp has 500 calories (or whatever it has) or your large fries have 300 calories or the pint of broccoli salad from the grocery deli has 250 calories.  Pizza chains apparently are obliged to post literally thousands of possible calorie counts for all the thousands of possible variations on pizza orders.  The sausage pizza with green pepper is different from the sausage pizza with mushrooms which is different from the sausage pizza with extra sausage……….. This numbers game is supposed to make you lose weight.  If only.  Many restaurant chains have been posting this information on websites and menus boards for several years already.  McDonald’s is one example.  Obesity hasn’t gone away.

Wait, isn’t calorie obsession the path to weight loss?  Well, if that were true, we’d all be thin.  So apparently it’s not true.  I’m not discounting the fact that some people count calories and try to stick to some level everyday to control weight, based on the idea that one pound of fat has 3500 calories.  We know this because if you put one pound of fat into a bomb calorimeter (a food burning contraption that measures heat), the combustion releases 3500 calories of energy.  Theoretically, if you cut 3500 calories out of your diet in a week, a pound of fat should disappear, as it’s mobilized to make up for your deficient energy intake.  But if you’ve ever dieted you know it doesn’t work this way.  You might cut back on food and lose 5 pounds in a week.  Yay!  But most of that initial loss is water.  You keep counting calories,

Further episodes of Tuned in to nutrition with Radio Nutrition

Further podcasts by Donna Psiaki Feldman MS RDN

Website of Donna Psiaki Feldman MS RDN