4 good reasons to stop counting calories

1. It offers false security

To keep track of how many calories you consume, you use tables, programs and apps, or you look at the nutritional values ​​​​that are stated on the packaging. But those amounts are always no more than averages. To start with, the size of the product already goes wrong: after all, no two apples are the same weight. And all those tools are based on an average nutritional value. A bunch of grapes that has been hanging in the sun for a longer period of time has developed more sugars than a bunch that has been picked earlier. So you can never say with certainty how many calories are in the apple, grape or potato that is on your plate.

Also with the nutritional value stated on the packaging of a product, it is usually calculated using tables how many calories it contains. So based on averages. If you want to know exactly how many calories are in something, it can be determined in a laboratory. But that is cumbersome and expensive. In addition, you also work with averages on the consumption side. You almost never know exactly what your body needs. The advice for how many calories you need per day are also only calculated on the basis of averages. Your calorie needs depend on your age, weight, body composition and activity level. And they are different for everyone.

2. You put the wrong focus

When counting calories, all attention is focused on that number, often without paying attention to the rest of the food. Food provides much more than just calories: proteins, fats, fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants. You should of course also pay attention to this if you want to eat healthy. If you follow a diet of 1200 kcal and you feel like a slice of whipped cream cake, it is best to take it. It does ‘cost’ you (on average) 316 calories. As delicious as it is, such a cream cake contains few nutrients other than sugars and unhealthy saturated fats. This means that you have to ensure that you get everything you need in the remaining approximately 900 kilocalories. That is actually impossible.

3. One calorie is not the other

A calorie is a calorie, you might say. But nothing is less true. It matters a lot in what form you get those calories. For example, your energy consumption increases if you eat protein-rich and fiber-rich. Your body needs energy to be able to digest, absorb and guide proteins through the metabolism. As much as 30 percent of the caloric value of proteins is needed to process the same proteins. This also applies to the processing of fats and carbohydrates, but the ‘processing percentage’ is much lower. Processing fiber through your digestive system also takes more energy than processing carbohydrates and fats.

4. The bacteria in your gut

The advancing knowledge about the bacteria in our gut makes it even clearer that we can no longer rely on calories. It matters a lot how your gut bacteria are doing. We all carry about two kilograms of gut bacteria with us. If all goes well, that is a lot of different and mainly healthy bacteria. Having a lot of beneficial bacteria in your gut is a boon for your health. They protect you from all kinds of diseases. Gut bacteria also play a role in the development of obesity. Research has shown that different and less varied bacterial strains live in the gut of overweight people than in those of thin people. In thin people it may be that the bacteria present ensure a faster flow of food through the gastrointestinal tract, so that the body can absorb all nutrients less well. Result: a slimmer body. In addition, the substances secreted by the bacteria seem to have a direct effect on the metabolism. They turn the thermostat up a notch, as it were. Do you arrive with your counted calories…

Fasting as an alternative?

Counting calories is therefore outdated. What should you do if you want to lose some pounds? In the United States it is currently very trendy to really let go of everything and to do intermittent fasting. This means fasting one or more days a week and eating whatever you want the other days. The 5:2 diet is very popular. In addition, you fast two days a week, then you eat next to nothing. You only drink some broth, juice and water. On the other days you can eat anything. A fasting cure or detox cure is also being done more and more often (see the heading ‘Fasting as a cleansing’). Although fasting does seem to have some positive effects on health, the big danger of this diet is that all the brakes on the days when you are allowed to eat. According to experts, alternating fasting only works if you consciously eat healthy on the days that you do eat and choose whole foods. After all, you need a certain amount of essential nutrients.

Fasting as cleansing

A fast or detox to cleanse the body (and lose weight right away) usually lasts a week or ten days and is often accompanied by colon cleansing and enemas. But that is not necessary at all, it can even be counterproductive. It is a myth that toxins or waste products accumulate in the intestines. You should not compare your intestines to a sewer pipe, in which dirt accumulates along the edges. They are active organs that can move and excrete all digestive remains themselves. Your intestines contain beneficial bacteria that help with your digestion. And they do more: they support your resistance and your health. When you fast, the bacteria in your gut suffer. Even if you ‘just’ follow a juice cure. Your gut bacteria then lack the fiber you get from vegetables, fruits and grains. Without that fiber, they go hungry and have a hard time. Fasting is therefore not such a good idea for a healthy intestinal flora.

How do you lose weight? Read the article: focus on saturation.

This article was written by Mary Stottelaar, dietitian and journalist. She is connected to platform PureHealthy.nl, wrote the book 7 insights for a permanently good weight and is the dietician of the Smart, Slim & Healthy program from Plus Online.