What is more important: food quality or amount of calories?

If you ever found yourself standing in food store, scan the nutrition label and wonder whether calories or ingredients are important – you are not alone. You may have chosen a bar of lower calorie granola over those with more fiber and nuts, assuming that it will better support your goals. Or maybe you heard that “calorie calories” and wondered if it meant that you should eat the candy bar with the same calorie number as you thought about the omelet.

It is true that the amount of calories and food quality play an important role in your health – and understanding how they work together can help you smarter, satisfactory elections that support your weight and prosperity.

Calories count – but not the whole story

Let’s start with the basics: If you consistently eat more calories than you use your body, you will probably get weight. If you eat less, you will probably lose weight (1). It is the foundation of weight management, and that is why the tracking of tools with tools such as MyFitnessPal can be so efficient.

But focusing on calories is missing something important: How your food feels and how it affects your overall health.

“If you only focus on calories, you can eat food that suits your caloric goals, but still feel hungry because what you eat easily digested or not giving proper pleasure,” says Daisy Mercer, a child on myfitnesspal (2). “It can lead to more craving that could do to overjore.”

Research supports it. Studies show that people who have eaten the chips like food, sweet drinks and refined cereals-tendency to get a higher weight with time, even when they didn’t eat more calories. On the other hand, those who ate more entire food like vegetables, fruit, nuts, yogurt and whole grains more likely to lose weight and keep it 3.

This is because food quality can affect your appetite, metabolism, and even hormones – all that affect how many calories of your body naturally craves and benefits.

“High quality food can help us feel fuller and more satisfied with slowing our digestion and energy delivery longer,” Mercer explains. “This can prevent us overland or help reduce cravings 4. “

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About an expert

Daisy Mercer, Rdis a custody of the nutritional data on MyFitnessPal. She graduated with her bachelors of food science and dietetics from the State University in Colorado and ended their premises with VA San Diego Healthcare system.

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What makes food “high quality”?

There is no official definition of food quality, but researchers generally agree on several guidelines. High-quality foods are usually:

• Minimally processed, with little added sugar or artificial ingredients
• Rich in nutrients, such as fibers, proteins, vitamins and minerals
• Lower on the glycemic index, which means they cause lower blood sugar
• Gleaning, helping you stay longer

“High quality foods provide us with a value other than just filling us up,” Mercer says. “It might mean that provides fiber that helps in slow digestion 5or that this is a stained meat that provides pleasure 6. “

Examples include leafy greenery, berries, beans, eggs, fish, nuts, olive oil and whole cereals like oats or quinia.

Lower quality foods-think soda, sweets, fried food and white bread – often take away fibers and nutrients. They tried quickly, speaching blood sugar and leave you to feel hungry again 7.

That doesn’t mean you can never enjoy them. But if they make up most calories, it is harder to stay to control your appetite and energy.

Why focus on quality can make it easier to track calories

It is interesting that when you move to higher quality food, calorie control often becomes simpler – without the need for perfection or restriction.

“When people focus on food quality, they are able to listen to hunger and full signs,” Mercer says. “This reduces the need to priorize calorie counting because you are naturally in line with your body.”

Full food is usually more charging, so you eat naturally less. They are harder to overeat. It is much easier to eat sleeve cookies than a dozen cooked eggs or three cups of lenses soups.

“The balance is always important,” the Mercer adds. “It may be helpful to pair something you long with something with your fiber to increase the feeling of fullness. That way you honor the craving without exaggeration.”

This helps explain why some weight loss plans work better for certain people. For example, senior protein or high fiber diets can support appetite control and weight loss – but only if they also focus on the entire, nutritious food 8, 9.

So … which should you give priority?

Here is a nuance: If a weight loss is your goal, you will still need to be in a caloric deficit. But the best way to get you might focus on food quality – because it can help you feel better while eating less.

“Focusing on food quality and the amount of calories will help with long-term health and weight management,” Mercer says. “Having high quality food often makes us feel fuller and more satisfied and we can help us stay within our calories.”

At the same time, even the healthiest nutrition will not support weight loss if you regularly redeem. The size of the parts and tracking is still important, even if you select all the right food.

“It’s not a calorie or quality – both is,” she adds. “You can manage the sizes of parts and equilibrium with quality food so you can enjoy all the same things in moderation.”

How to find your balance

If you are not sure where to run, here are a few practical ways to priority determine the quality and quantity:

• Follow what you eat in a week. Use MyFitnessPal to log in meals and snacks – not just calories, but the types of food you eat. Look for forms.
• Add before to take off. Try adding more vegetables such as vegetables, beans, beans or whole cereals – before the grocery you love.
• Be realistic and flexible. Leave space for occasional indulgence. Access everything or nothing can be retreated.
• Focus on progress rather than perfection. Even small shifts according to better food quality can lead to great changes how you feel over time.
• The teacher one thing one thing. “If calorie tracking is difficult, focus your energy on it and then slowly integrate quality food in your routine,” Suggested Mercer.

Bottom line

When it comes to food for health and sustainable weight management, there is no need to choose between the amount of calories and quality of food – they work best together.

Monitoring entries, emphasizing the food-rich ingredient and adjustment in which your meal you feel, you can create a way of eating your goals without leaving hungry, flooded or jamed in hazing diet.

“Calorie tracking and food quality priorities don’t mean you have to cut everything out,” says Mercer. “Understand that the management of weight is all about balance.”

Want help in balancing your diet goals? Download MyFitnessPal app to track and enter calories and food quality in one tool for easy to use.

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