All calories are the same. EXACTLY the same.
Calories are delightfully definable and reliable little characters who wish to remain indistinguishable from their calorie counterparts.
Fortunately for us, a calorie is a simple thing to understand…A calorie is simply a unit of measure defined as:
The amount of energy required to raise 1 gram of water by 1 degree.
Since our bodies aren’t in the business of boiling water, how is this information useful to us, the consumers of calories?
Well, for starters, the definition puts calories in perspective. Calories are a predictable unit of measure…completely neutral. They aren’t good, bad, friendly, unkind or anything in between.
Merely a simple unit of energy
Simply stated, the energy in the calories you consume is used to power a multitude of cellular functions. Unused calories are stored.
Isn’t that nice and straightforward?
It would be convenient if we could just be happy and healthy with that little bit of information. But here’s the thing…
Calories are neither discerning nor judgmental. As such, before you go putting them in your mouth, you’re going to want to know something about where those calories live and who they’re chumming around with.
And that’s what we’ll be looking at in the next exciting episode:
Everything You Need to Know About Nutrients!