A Calorie is NOT a Calorie

By: Jose Antonio

A calorie is just a calorie; it doesn’t matter what you eat as long as you watch your calories. That is. if you eat less than you expend, you’ll lose weight; if you eat more than you expend, you’ll gain weight. And it don’t make a helluva difference what you eat. That’s because a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. Or is it?

Here’s what I suggest; if you want to gain lean body mass, eat tons of Jello and butter; sprinkle a donut here and there and top that off with a hefty serving of lard. Oh and one more thing, make sure you get these extra couple hundred calories right before going to bed.

Or try this; eat the SAME number of calories, but instead eat the following: a protein powder mixed with skim milk and a half a banana. Now you gotta be a complete moron to think the effects overeating on protein powder is the same as eating lard. Otherwise, physique athletes would be touting their lard and jello diet to gain mass!

If a calorie is just a calorie, it shouldn’t matter what you eat, correct?

First of all, this doesn’t take into account the much higher thermic effect of consuming protein which is higher than carbohydrates or fat. And carbs are higher than fat. But there’s another piece of that puzzle that scientists haven’t figured out but those in the fitness and bodybuilding world seem to have a better handle of.

So let’s look at a couple pretty cool studies.Hopefully, this might sway to think that apple pie calories are NOT the same as eating chicken breasts for chrissake….

Study #1

The first study, took 20 normal men and had them go from their habitual diet (17% protein, 47% carbohydrate, 32%) to a ketogenic diet (30% protein, 8% carbohydrate, 61% fat). They remained on this diet for 6 weeks. Now keep in mind the ketosis seen in normal people on a low-carb diet is not the same as diabetic ketoacidosis.They found that despite the large amount of fat consumed, the ketogenic diet subjects had a decrease in serum triglycerides as well as a drop in post-prandial lipemia (amount of fat in the blood after eating) and a drop in serum insulin. Mmm…so far so good. Additionally, HDL cholesterol (the good one!) increased in the ketogenic subjects. But the best news of all is that these subjects following the low-carb diet had a significant increase in lean body mass (+2.4 pounds) and a drop in fat (-7.5 pounds). This was accompanied by an increase in thyroxine (T4) hormone. So in these men eating a low-carbohydrate diet, blood markers of health, metabolism, and body composition improved.

Another investigation:

Okay, that’s a fluke you say. Well, let’s look at another study done in a group of normal young women (24yr old). The initial baseline diet of these women was an average of 1959 calories of which it was 50% carbs, 16% protein, and 34% fat. They divided the women into two groups. They both consumed the same number of calories ( about 1660 kcal); however, the protein group consumed 41% carbs, 30% protein, and 29% fat while the carbohydrate group consumed 58% carbs, 16% protein, and 26% fat. They did this for 10 weeks. You can predict that if they’re eating less calories, they should lose weight. Correct? Well, yes. But, and there’s always a ‘but,’ the nature of the weight loss was NOT the same. The carbohydrate group lost a total of 15.3 pounds compared to a 16.6 pound loss in the protein group; But let’s look at the numbers as closely as you would look at the kiss between Britney and Madonna. The carbohydrate group lost 10.4 pounds of fat versus 12.3 pounds of fat in the protein group. And, drumroll please….the carbohydrate group lost 2.7 pounds of lean body mass compared to just a 1.9 pound loss in the protein group. So the ratio of fat/lean body mass weight loss was better in the protein group.

Losing weight, for some, is as difficult as sticking your finger through a brick. So why make it worse by losing more lean body mass? Another good thing found in the protein group was a significant reduction in blood triglycerides. Both groups decreased similary in total cholesterol too. Furthermore, the carbohydrate group had higher insulin responses to meals and higher postprandial blood glucose levels. The protein group also reported greater satiety with their meals. Something to think about…

What’s fascinating is that the protein group in study 2 did not partake in a ketogenic diet even though some would call that a ‘low-carb’ diet; the ratio of that diet was actually a 40:30:30 [CHO:PRO:FAT]. The ratio of the diet in study 1 was 8:30:61 [CHO:PRO:FAT]. The commonality that you find in these two studies is that if you drop your carbs to 40% or less, it seems to improve body composition as well as improve markers of health (lipids, insulin, etc). The fact that thyroid hormone levels are likely to be better maintained on a lower carbohydrate/higher protein diet might contribute to a body composition change. Also, we know that if you go on a low-calorie diet, it’s helpful to eat more protein to help alleviate any loss of lean body mass.

Moral of the story… Clearly, not all diets work equally for everyone. My recommendation is that you eliminate processed carbs and replace them with lean sources of protein if your goal is to improve your general physique and health.

References:

Volek J et al. Body composition and hormonal responses to a carbohydrate-restricted diet. Metabolism 2002;51:864-70.

Layman DK et al. A reduced ratio of dietary carbohydrate to protein improves body composition and blood lipid profiles during weight loss in adult women. Journal of Nutrition 2003;133:411-417.