People who cut out carbs lose more weight than those on a high-carb diet right?  Wrong…one more study confirms that a calorie is a calorie and it doesn’t matter if it comes from carbohydrates, protein or fat when it comes to weight loss. 

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) studied 811 overweight people for two years and put them on four different reduced-calorie diets.  They found that people lost the same amount of weight on low carb, high protein or low fat diets as long as their total calorie intake was around the same level.  The bottom line is that to lose weight, you just need to create a calorie deficit (consume less calories than you burn).

The good news with this study is that all foods can be included (with proper portion control) on a weight loss diet, and you can adjust your meal plan based on your dietary preferences.  This helps to simplify things.  However, when it comes to health, it does matter where your calories come from.  You still want to include fruits, vegetables and whole grains to meet your nutrient needs and reduce your risk of certain types of diseases (i.e. heart disease, certain types of cancers and diabetes).  The added bonus to including these foods is that it often makes it easier to stick to a calorie controlled diet because these foods are filled with fiber (which helps you to feel full) and they provide a lot of volume with out a lot of calories.

See Calorie Counters Have It Right, Diet Study Says for more information.

Currently, there is not a specific limit set on how much sugar one should eat, and you will find different guidelines depending on where you look.  The Dietary Reference Intake Reports of the National Academy of Sciences Food and Nutrition boards suggest that you limit sugars to a maximum of 25% of your total calories.  This would allow for about 500 calories from sugar (125 gm) on a 2,000 calorie diet.I personally feel that this is too much sugar.  Sugar is very calorie dense, meaning it has a lot of calories in a very small amount of volume (1 cup = 750 calories), and it is not very filling.  So, it can be hard to feel satisfied at the appropriate calorie level when you’re eating a lot of high sugar foods.  Sugar also has no nutritional value so it is often referred to as “empty calories”.  If one quarter of your calories lack any vitamins or minerals, it can be very difficult to meet your nutrient needs.

A more balanced approach could be to follow the Dietary Guidelines for Americans or the Food Guide Pyramid, both of which set limits for discretionary calories.  Discretionary calories are basically “free calories” that you can use to eat anything you want.  These discretionary calories are the ones that can be used for added sugars (or for fats, alcohol, etc). 

The amount of discretionary calories allotted depends on your overall calorie needs and your nutrient needs.  These guidelines recommend eating enough servings from the basic food groups to meet nutrient needs, and then once these needs are met the remaining calories are discretionary calories.  This is usually about 13-17% of calories for the average adult.  For young, active individuals this could go up to 20% of calories. 

The following chart provides some examples for how many discretionary calories are allotted at various calorie levels and how many grams/ teaspoons of sugars this would allow for: 

The above chart was adapted from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans‘ website.

These guidelines are only for added sugars, not ones that occur naturally in foods like fruit, 100% fruit juices or dairy products.  To identify added sugars, look for the following words on nutrition labels:

• Sugar or Brown Sugar
• Corn sweetener, corn syrup or high-fructose corn syrup
• Dextrose
• Fructose
• Glucose
• Syrup, Malt syrup, Rice syrup
• Honey
• Maltose
• Molasses

The following chart gives some examples of how many grams of sugar and calories are in some common sweet treats:

So, for those with a sweet tooth, these guidelines can provide a guilt-free way fit a sweet treat into a healthy diet because you know your meeting your nutrient needs and staying within the appropriate calorie levels.

 Clean Eating has become a buzz word in nutrition.  There are clean eating books, magazines and websites.  While this may be a newer term, it is not a new way of eating.  In fact, it’s taking a step back and eating foods closer to the way they were prepared by our ancestors.  So, what does it mean?  Is it a diet?Clean eating is not a diet; it’s just choosing foods in their more natural state.  This style of eating focuses on including more “whole” foods like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, unprocessed, lean-meats and low-fat dairy products.  It avoids processed and refined foods like white flour, sugar and trans fats.  It also limits saturated fats, fried foods and alcohol.  This is actually a very healthy way of eating because it includes foods that are rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber, and eliminates foods that have less nutrients and foods that can actually cause heart disease (i.e. saturated and trans fats).

This way of eating can improve energy levels and overall health because you are getting more nutrients.  People also feel very satisfied because the foods are generally high in fiber and quality protein.  Often this style of eating can also help people to maintain/achieve a healthy body weight because it eliminates many calorie dense foods that are easy to overeat.  However, it is important to remember that weight management is all about calories in vs. calories out.  (You can still over eat healthy foods!)  Therefore, the clean eating philosophy also focuses on portion control and eating frequently (i.e. 5-6 small meals).

While this may be an ideal way of eating, for many of us it is unrealistic to say that we are instantly going to eliminate all processed and refined foods.  Rather, I would suggest gradually replacing refined products and build up to this more natural approach over time.  Perhaps you could try switching from white bread to whole wheat bread, then try brown rice instead of white rice, and so on.  The more gradually you make these changes, the more likely they are to become part of your lifestyle and really stand the test of time.  Remember, it doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing and a more moderate approach may be more realistic.

For more information and some ideas for “clean eating recipes”, check out Clean Eating Magazine’s website.