Thursday, January 23, 2014

The Misconception about Calories

It seems the topic of weight loss is everywhere these days from the news to commercials to food labels.  I understand that obesity is a problem and many people are looking for options to lose weight, but there is one group that is ignored here, and that is the people who need to gain weight.

Gain weight you say?  How is that a problem right?  Just eat more, people will say.  But the truth is, it is in fact a serious issue for many people who have a hard time getting enough calories and gaining or maintaining a healthy weight.  I know about this first hand because it is something I have been struggling with for years.

I bring this up because there has always been one part of these health guidelines that has always bugged me, and that is when people try to make calories out to be a bad thing.  Just the other day I was watching a talk show and they had a health expert on there teaching people how to eat healthy.  The problem was he kept saying how foods were bad because they had a lot of calories and would instead recommend low calorie alternatives. This is ok if you are trying to lose weight, but don't portray calories as something that is bad for you when they are not.  Calories are energy and we need to consume them every day to survive.  Yes consuming too many is bad for you because it can lead to obesity but if you eat the right amount of calories each day, you will be fine.

I wish there was more attention given to the issue of gaining weight. How about some programs teaching people to gain weight in a healthy way by eating foods that are high in calories yet good for you at the same time?  Now there are resources for this topic and if you search, they can be easily found.  I guess it is not nearly as big an issue as the topic of losing weight so that is why it is not popular.  Never the less I just wish people would stop referring to calories as something that is bad for you.  

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