A calorie is a measurement of energy. A dietary calorie is defined as the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius. Fats, protein, and carbohydrates are the three major sources of dietary calories. Fats contain 9 calories per gram while protein and carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram. Alcohol, an often ignored calorie source for drinkers, contains 7 calories per gram. Show
How many calories does a person need daily?Calories are used to power all the activities of the human body including the thousands of reactions our cells are performing at any given moment, even during our sleep! Calories needed for these reactions come from our diets and daily calorie intake depends on the age, gender, height, weight, physical activities, and personal weight goals. Recommended daily calorie intake can be calculated using the GB HealthWatch Diet and Nutrition Evaluator. On average, recommended daily calorie intake for most adults ranges from 1,800 to 2,400 calories. How do you use calorie restriction to manage weight loss?When the calories you consume match the amount of energy you need to power your body, you are in “zero energy balance,” meaning your weight will stay constant. When you consume more calories than your body needs, the excess is converted into fat and stored, leading to weight gain in a situation called “positive energy balance.” When you consume fewer calories than your body needs, stored fat is broken down to make up for the energy deficit, leading to weight loss in a situation called “negative energy balance.” Limiting your calorie intake is an effective weight loss strategy because it creates a negative energy balance. Other benefits include lower risks for diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Excessive or mismanaged calorie restriction can trigger eating disorders and lead to hormonal changes, and malnutrition. You can calculate your recommended daily calorie intake using the GB HealthWatch Diet and Nutrition Evaluator. The calculator was developed based on the principle that your weight loss represents fat loss. Each pound of body fat stores roughly 3,500 calories. In order to lose one pound per week, you would need to create a negative energy balance of 3,500 calories per week, or about 500 calories per day. What are nutrient-dense foods?Nutrient-dense foods are the ones with a high number of nutrients per calorie. Nutrients include proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and fiber. These nutrients provide the body with building materials and functional molecules. Most nutrient-dense foods are energy-sparse (low-calorie) vegetables, fruits, and whole grains however some foods are both energy-dense and nutrient-dense like cheeses. Empty calorie foods are ones that contain few nutrients but are high calorie, typically as a result of added sugar and fat. How do I manage my daily calorie intake more efficiently?We recommend keeping track of how many calories you take in and the number of calories you expend using the GB HealthWatch Tools. Here you can find the Lifestyle Tracker and Diet and Nutrition Evaluator, two tools that can give you started with the information to set you on the right path to maintaining a healthy weight. In addition to this, increasing your intake of nutrient-dense foods, decreasing your intake of energy-dense foods, and avoiding empty-calorie foods are general strategies to manage calorie intake more efficiently.
Sugary drinks (also categorized as sugar-sweetened beverages or “soft” drinks) refer to any beverage with added sugar or other sweeteners (high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, fruit juice concentrates, and more). This includes soda, pop, cola, tonic, fruit punch, lemonade (and other “ades”), sweetened powdered drinks, as well as sports and energy drinks. As a category, these beverages are the single largest source of calories and added sugar in the U.S. diet. [1, 2] In other parts of the world, particularly developing countries, sugary drink consumption is rising dramatically due to widespread urbanization and beverage marketing. [3] There are 4.2 grams of sugar in a single teaspoon. Now, imagine scooping up 7 to 10 teaspoons full of sugar and dumping it into your 12-ounce glass of water. Does that sound too sweet? You may be surprised to learn that’s how much added sugar is in the typical can of soda. This can be a useful tip to visualize just how much sugar is in your drink. To get you started, we’ve prepared a handy guide to the amount of sugar and calories in popular beverages. Aside from soda, energy drinks have as much sugar as soft drinks, enough caffeine to raise your blood pressure, and additives whose long-term health effects are unknown. For these reasons, it’s best to skip energy drinks. The guide includes sports beverages as well. Although designed to give athletes carbohydrates, electrolytes, and fluid during high-intensity workouts that last one hour or more, for everyone else they’re just another source of calories and sugar. Drinks naturally high in sugar like 100% fruit juices are also featured. While juice often contains healthful nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, it should also be limited as it contains just as much sugar (though from naturally occurring fruit sugars) and calories as soft drinks. Sugary drinks and healthWhen it comes to ranking beverages best for our health, sugary drinks fall at the bottom of the list because they provide so many calories and virtually no other nutrients. People who drink sugary beverages do not feel as full as if they had eaten the same calories from solid food, and research indicates they also don’t compensate for the high caloric content of these beverages by eating less food. [4] The average can of sugar-sweetened soda or fruit punch provides about 150 calories, almost all of them from added sugar. If you were to drink just one of these sugary drinks every day, and not cut back on calories elsewhere, you could gain up to 5 pounds in a year. Beyond weight gain, routinely drinking these sugar-loaded beverages can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic diseases. Furthermore, higher consumption of sugary beverages has been linked with an increased risk of premature death. [36] Body weight and obesity The more ounces of sugary beverages a person has each day, the more calories he or she takes in later in the day. This is the opposite of what happens with solid food, as people tend to compensate for a large meal by taking in fewer calories at a later meal. This compensatory effect doesn’t seem to be present after consuming soft drinks, for several possible reasons:
Dozens of studies have explored possible links between soft drinks and weight, and they consistently show that increased consumption of soft drinks is associated with increased energy (caloric) intake.
Alternatively, drinking water in place of sugary drinks or fruit juices is associated with lower long-term weight gain. [13] Diabetes People who consume sugary drinks regularly—1 to 2 cans a day or more—have a 26% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than people who rarely have such drinks. [14] Risks are even greater in young adults and Asians. Strong evidence indicates that sugar-sweetened soft drinks contribute to the development of diabetes.
Heart disease
Gout A 22-year-long study of 80,000 women found that those who consumed a can a day of sugary drink had a 75% higher risk of gout than women who rarely had such drinks. [20] Researchers found a similarly-elevated risk in men. [21] Bone health Soda may pose a unique challenge to healthy bones:
Mortality According to a large, long-term study of 37,716 men and 80,647 women in the U.S., the more sugary beverages people drink, the greater their risk of premature death — particularly from cardiovascular disease, and to a lesser extent from cancer. [36]
Sugary drink supersizing and the obesity epidemicThere is sufficient scientific evidence that decreasing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption will reduce the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related diseases. [23] Unfortunately, sugary beverages are a regular drink of choice for millions around the world, and a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. Compounding the problem is that sugary drink portion sizes have risen dramatically over the past 40 years, leading to increased consumption among children and adults:
The role of sugary drink marketingBeverage companies spend billions of dollars marketing sugary drinks, yet generally rebuffs suggestions that its products and marketing tactics play any role in the obesity epidemic. [32]
Adding to the confusion, studies funded by the beverage industry are four to eight times more likely to show a finding favorable to industry than independently-funded studies. [33] It’s also important to note that a significant portion of sugary drink marketing is typically aimed directly at children and adolescents. [34]
Cutting back on sugary drinksWhen it comes to our health, it’s clear that sugary drinks should be avoided. There is a range of healthier beverages that can be consumed in their place, with water being the top option. Of course, if you’re a frequent soda drinker, this is easier said than done. If it’s the carbonation you like, give sparkling water a try. If the taste is too bland, try a naturally flavored sparkling water. If that’s still too much of a jump, add a splash of juice, sliced citrus, or even some fresh herbs. You can do this with home-brewed tea as well, like this sparkling iced tea with lemon, cucumber, and mint. Low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) are sweeteners that contain few to no calories but have a higher intensity of sweetness per gram than sweeteners with calories. These include artificial sweeteners, such as Aspartame and Sucralose, as well as extracts from plants like steviol glycosides and monk fruit. Beverages containing LCS sometimes carry the label “sugar-free” or “diet.” The health effects of LCS are inconclusive, with research showing mixed findings. A 2018 scientific advisory by the American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association noted that further research on the effects of LCS beverages on weight control, cardiometabolic risk factors, and risk of cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases is needed. That said, they also note that for adults who are regular high consumers of sugary drinks, LCS beverages may be a useful temporary replacement strategy to reduce intake of sugary drinks. Learn more about the research on LCS in foods and beverages.Action beyond the individual levelReducing our preference for sweet beverages will require concerted action on several levels—from creative food scientists and marketers in the beverage industry, as well as from individual consumers and families, schools and worksites, and state and federal government. We must work together toward this worthy and urgent cause: alleviating the cost and the burden of chronic diseases associated with the obesity and diabetes epidemics in the U.S. and around the world. Fortunately, sugary drinks are a growing topic in policy discussions both nationally and internationally. Learn more about how different stakeholders can take action against sugary drinks.RelatedHealthy Drinks References
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