Food Has No Calories: Nutritional Biochemistry Revealed

Food. Has. No. Calories.

What 😱?! Yes, friend, you read that correctly.

Today, I’m going to break down some major misconceptions that the diet industry is dying to convince you of. This simple explanation of how your body actually works might be the key you need to stop obsessing over that infamous number on the nutrition facts label. So, if you pour loads of mental and physical energy into counting or burning calories, it’s time to take back that precious time and finally learn the truth. 

Lessons From Greg

I had a client (we’re calling him Greg), who struggled with food obsession and overeating since his pre-teen years. As we went through his food-related thoughts and behaviors in session, he told me that he had hung up a chart in his home that contained lots of “healthy” things that he thought he should be doing.

One, specifically, had to do with calories.

He decided that having a low-calorie diet was “healthy”, but it only caused constant fatigue and made him feel even more out of control around food. Greg isn’t the only one— SO MANY of my clients come to me and say something like, “Calorie counting feels like the only way I can stay in control because there are concrete numbers.” 

Maybe I just described you, or maybe the numbers you obsess over appear on your digital scale or jeans tag. Whatever it is, the more we focus on the numbers, the more we silence what our bodies are actually telling us.  We’re actually sabotaging our feeling well in our bodies!

In the realm of calories, I want you to know what calories actually are, because if you know what they come from and what they do, you can have the knowledge and confidence that you need to break free from the fear of them (and maybe from that app on your phone that keeps you anxious all day! 😲). 

🔬 Why I Love Nutritional Biochemistry (and Why You Should Too!) 🤓

When I was an undergraduate student, my nutritional biochemistry professor would draw super complicated metabolic cycle drawings on his whiteboard. He would explain those intense drawings so that we could understand the processes happening in our body.

I love nutritional biochemistry because it causes me to stand in awe of God; it allows me to see deeper into his super intensely complicated creation! 

I want you to experience this awe too! That’s one of the reasons I love what I do. So, I’m gonna explain some things about calories that you’ve probably never heard before. 

What Calories are NOT 🚫

There are zero—ZERO—instances when calories enter your body and cause energy production.

 (Read that again if you missed it.)

Calories do not produce energy for your body! In reality, energy comes from adenosine triphosphate (otherwise known as ATP). ATP is produced through a series of processes in your body that typically occur when you eat. Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, water, vitamins, minerals, etc. all come together to activate these biochemical reactions in your body. As a result of those reactions, your body is able to build structures like skin, muscle, and bones. Calories have nothing to do with these processes! ATP is NOT the same thing as calories, and the food you eat is not transformed into calories. 

So… What in the World are Calories? 

A calorie is a unit of measurement that quantifies how much heat is given off as a result of these metabolic processes. So, I could technically measure how much heat I give off as a result of eating a slice of toast. But…what does that profit me? My body isn’t made up of heat! Knowing how much heat you give off as a result of eating is completely irrelevant to your body’s functionality. 

So if calories have nothing to do with building anything in our bodies such as muscle, fat tissue, hormones, etc., why are we so obsessed with them? 

Let’s say you spend 30 minutes a day tracking your calorie intake (counting, logging, inputting them into an app, etc.). If you do this every day for a year, you’ve lost 182.5 hours—that's more than 7 ½ days!!—counting calories.

After 5 years, you’ve spent 912.5 hours—5 weeks and 3 days—counting calories. 5 weeks is a lot of time 😳 —time you could have spent with friends and family, going on vacation, or just enjoying your life.

So, instead of letting calories suck your time, focus on this instead: There is no chemical process or metabolic reaction that has ever or will ever occur in your body that has taken in a calorie and given something in exchange for it. But, what your body does need is nutrients! 

The Real Science of Nourishing Your Body

When you feed your body adequate amounts of vitamins, minerals, water, proteins, fats, and even carbohydrates (especially carbohydrates!) your body’s metabolic processes start to happen like clockwork SO that your body can use them to create new blood cells, produce digestive enzymes and hormones, make ATP, grow babies, and keep you doing the things that you love! 

Let’s get back to my client, Greg. He's no longer counting calories.  That’s been taken off his chart! Instead, he's now honoring his body signals such as hunger and fullness (side note: hunger and fullness are not only perceived in your stomach! Check out episodes 20 and 21 of The Joy-Filled Eater Podcast for more info on honoring your hunger cues).

Greg also has much more energy and no longer needs to nap during his break at work. He eats a much wider variety of nutrient-dense foods and play foods (foods that are less nutrient dense but fun, enjoyable, and satisfactory). Friend, all of this is 100% possible for you too!

🥾 Stepping Forward in Freedom

If I were to ask you to send me one emoji to represent your reaction to this blog, what would it be? I hope it would be this one: 🤯.

If you take nothing else away from this discussion, let it be this: Calories are never used for ANYTHING in your body, so you have permission to stop obsessing over them. 

If you want access to more myth-busting info, I got you covered! Be sure to sign up for our VIP Podcast Insider list where you can get exclusive weekly food freedom, body image, and nutrition tips delivered to your inbox!

And be sure to check out these resources: 

• The Joy-Filled Eater Course—This is my self-paced course where you can get training from me, therapists, more dietitians, strength-trainers, and even professional chefs so that you can break down disordered thought patterns and behaviors and finally make peace with food!

• The Nourishing Menus Workshop—If you’re tired of decision-fatigue with menu-planning and want to step into gentle nutrition, this workshop is for you!