Before I give you my schpiel about why I think calorie counting is pretty close to time wasting, we need to define a couple of things.

First of all, a calorie is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of a liter of water 1 degree.

A calorimeter is kind of a scale that’s used to measure the calorie content of a food.

All foods are a combination of calorie-containing carbohydrates, proteins and fats and calorie-free vitamins, minerals, flavors, water and others.

If you multiply the calorie total of a food by 85%, then you get the metabolizable energy intake (MEI) of that food, which is the amount of energy you (should) get after the digestive processes have been completed.

OK, now let me tell you my reasons.

1. Calorie counting is inexact.
It would be impossible to contemplate all the variables that can skew nutritional content data because these measurements are not taken inside a human body, but on the outside. In a lab, using a scale. Isn’t the whole idea to learn how calories affect us once we’ve eaten them?

What if the person has, say, Chrohn’s disease (in which the intestines gradually lose ability to assimilate nutrients). No matter what he eats, he will assimilate just a small fraction of the food energy.

Or what if the person is a 6-month Inuit baby? Her caloric requirement would be much higher than that of a baby that’s not exposed to the extreme cold temperatures of an Artic igloo home.

I know that these two are extreme examples, but my point is that everyone’s metabolism has nuances that are not taken into consideration by the standard rules.

2. Calorie counting doesn’t consider the importance  of the quality of the food.
For example: even though the caloric content of organic and non-organic produce is — for the most part — the same, the nutritional profile is not. Organic produce has more nutrients and your body is hungry for those nutrients. If you get more nutrients from less food, your hunger will be satisfied and you’ll naturally eat less. Caloric content is almost irrelevant when you’re eating nutrient-dense foods.

3. Calorie counting is an excuse.
Obsessing about calories can be the perfect excuse to eat junk food. Take 100-calorie snack packs for example. You think, how bad can it be? It’s just a snack, and it’s only 100 calories! Now, read the label more closely and you’ll notice that this “healthy 100-calorie snack” is made with very low quality ingredients. The 100-calorie label fuels the illusion that you are doing something good for you. But you’re not.

4. Calorie counting doesn’t count on the stress response.
Let’s say you love ice-cream. One day you have a fight with your boyfriend and you eat some ice cream, crying in front of the TV. The next day you make amends and go for ice cream with your boyfriend. Even if you ate the same kind and amount of ice cream both times, heck, even if you ate it at the same time both days, your body will respond differently because of your stress response.

Your metabolism is much faster when you are relaxed,  so even the same amount of the same food will have a very different impact in your body.

So, is the caloric content really that relevant?

The truth is that you will never know exactly how quickly you burn calories at any given time, so there’s no need to worry much about them. Instead, eat as many nutrient dense, high quality foods as possible, try to relax and eat slowly until you are satisfied.

You will see a huge difference in the way food affects you, including your ability to lose weight, if that’s what you want.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

Most of us don’t really know how much sugar affects us because we never go too long without it. We are so used to it that we don’t really notice how sick it makes us. It’s much worse for children: proportionally to their size, they eat much more of the stuff. And it shows: behavioral problems, moodiness, lack of energy, acne, digestive issues, inability to concentrate… the list of negative effects is endless.

So what’s this simple secret I’m talking about? Make sure your children eat well and drink enough water during Halloween season, especially when they’re going trick-or-treating. Too simple to be true? Well, just try it.

What does “eat well” mean? Plan for a hearty, abundant breakfast they like: maybe eggs or oatmeal w/ milk or cream — made from scratch, not packaged. No boxed cereal as it has a lot of sugar already. Send them to school with something irresistible like baked chicken w/ peas and carrots or a nice sandwich made on wheat bread, and focus on hearty snacks they like — cheese, whole milk yogurt, nuts. Halloween is not the day for light eating: fat brings satiety — the feeling that you ate enough.

Make an effort to have a family dinner and prepare a wholesome one you know they’ll enjoy. A dish with winter squash or sweet potato would be perfect: sweet veggies satisfy sugar cravings — check out this recipe for Roasted Winter Squash and Apple Soup. Steak or chicken and other veggies they like. Or maybe a nice thick stew with beans and/or meat and veggies. Encourage them to eat until they’re full.

There’s another important element here: your mindset. Don’t push them to eat candy just because it’s Halloween. Have a beginners mind approach, as if you were completely unfamiliar with the tradition. Don’t be nagging, but don’t encourage it. Halloween fun doesn’t come from eating candy. It comes from the novelty of dressing up and hanging out with friends. And your good example is crucial: stay away from candy if just for today, for your children.

This is not rocket science: there’s just so much candy they can fit in their bellies when properly nourished. They’ll naturally crave sugar less because their blood sugar level will be more stable. They might have some candy, but it will be substantially less if you are on board, supporting a healthier way.

You would do anything for your children right? Well, this is just a little effort in exchange for all the benefit they — and you — will get. Just try it!

This is one of the best winter squash soups I’ve had. It’s super easy to make and it also uses apples, everyone’s favorite fall staple. I guarantee you’ll love it!

Prep Time: 20 min
Cooking Time: 40 min
Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 Large winter squash (about 2 /12 lbs), such as butternut, buttercup, or kabocha, peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch pieces.
2 medium onions, peeled, and quartered
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tart, firm apples, peeled, cored and quartered
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and red chili powder to taste
4-5 cups chicken or vegetable stock, or water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large roasting pan, toss the squash, onions, garlic, and apples with the oil to coat. Season with salt and chili powder
3. Roast for about 40 min — or until veggies are fork-tender and lightly brown — stirring every now and then.
4. Transfer to stove-top pot and blend veggies w/ vegetable stock using an immersion blender, or in regular blender, blend in two batches
5. Correct seasoning and bring to a simmer
6. Serve with a dollop of pesto or creme fraiche.

Adapted from The Healthy Kitchen by Andrew Weil and Rosie Daley

Tue Nov 10, 8 pm
At the comfort of your own place

*This is an exclusive teleseminar for members of the True Nourishment Inner Circle. Become a member here.

This month I’m talking to Jared Koch for the expert series. Jared is an entrepreneur who decided to take matters in his own hands and healed himself from a long list of health unbalances. And he liked the process so much that he kind of dropped out of “serious” business and has spent the last seven years practicing and studying yoga, meditation, nutrition and wellness, becoming a certified yoga instructor, nutrition consultant and wellness counselor. He knows a thing or two about healing.

Oh, and he’s the creator and coauthor of Clean Plates NYC, which is the only makes-sense, hybrid guide to healthy *and* tasty eating out in New York. So he probably knows a thing or two about good-for-you food away from home.

Don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to hear how he gets away with eating out so much and keep his healthy, vital, good-looking self.

*This is an exclusive teleseminar for members of the True Nourishment Inner Circle. Become a member here.

Tue Nov 3, 8 pm
Includes call recording, written outline and follow-up exercises

*This is an exclusive teleseminar for members of the True Nourishment Inner Circle. Become a member here.

If there’s one thing all nutrition experts agree one is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and that’s because, well, breakfast IS the most important meal of the day. So if you’re not having breakfast on a regular basis or you are not having the breakfast that works for you, then you are making it much more difficult for your body to get — or stay — well.

In this call you’ll learn:
* Why breakfast is so important
* How to “become” a breakfast person
* How to find different breakfasts that work for you

After this call you will:
a. Establish a healthy breakfast routine
b. Pick different breakfasts that work for you
c. Look forward to breakfast every morning

*This is an exclusive teleseminar for members of the True Nourishment Inner Circle. Become a member here.

Did you see the Oct. 11 New York Times Magazine? “The Food Issue”? I, of course, was all over it.

There is an article called “The Calorie Restriction Experiment.” It’s about a study with the premise that restricting calorie intake by 25% may have a pretty substantial effect on preventing “secondary aging” diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

According to the article, it doesn’t matter what the volunteers in the study eat, as long as they stay within their daily caloric target. This would be difficult to accomplish if they ate at Starbucks for breakfast, Mickey D’s for lunch and Olive Garden for dinner, so they get intense diet counseling and, for the first 28 days, someone else makes all their meals. They learn what kinds of foods and in which portions will keep them on their ambitious target.

They must record every single bite of food they eat and count calories all day long. Um… fun!?

So far, the study looks promising. Those volunteers who have been able to stick to the rigorous discipline have lost weight and are indeed showing signs of improved health, like lower blood pressure and cholesterol. However, others have left the study because of increased risk of anemia and bone mass loss.

The researchers know that the premise of the study is unrealistic for the general population — how many people can severely reduce their calorie intake for the long term? The hope is that they will be able to use the data they’re collecting to develop a drug that would mimic the effects of calorie restriction.

Now, that sounds very nice, but here’s the thing: These “secondary aging” diseases where virtually nonexistent 200 years back — when people ate Real Food.

Real Food is what you would eat if you used your common sense. For example: Eating animal products that come from healthy animals makes absolute sense, because you can be only as healthy as the food you eat (and the food your food ate!). But when was the last time you asked about the provenance of that big, fat steak in your cart? Did the cow eat food healthy for her? Was she treated with respect? Was she killed humanely?

Another example: Eating whole eggs, yolks and all, instead of only the whites makes sense because — well — that’s the way they come! Eating only the whites won’t provide you the goodness you should get from eggs (the fat in the yolk helps assimilate the protein in the white and most of the minerals are in the yolk). Yet, we need studies validating this simple fact before we can trust nature.

The medical establishment won’t go there. The idea of applying common sense to the way we eat is too “simplistic.” And it seems like learning from our ancestors is somehow against evolution.

Most people today eat highly processed foods and then supplements and assume that we know better than nature. If we accepted the fact that our highly processed diets ushered in the diseases we now fight with drugs, maybe we would focus less on the drugs and more on the food?

We will count calories and pop pills, we’ll even do crazy things like voluntarily and severely reduce our caloric intake. Eating simple, clean, unprocessed food and respecting our natural appetite is so common sense that it doesn’t fit our complicated brains any more.

And yet, we can’t upgrade our “obsolete” bodies…

This post is a part of Real Food Wednesday hosted by Cheeseslave

* Doesn’t usually have labels and if it does, it doesn’t list lots of ingredients on it
* Is naturally delicious, so it requires very simple preparation
* Has beautiful colors. All different colors
* Has been part of the human diet for thousands of years
* Spoils easily because it’s full of life
* Grows because of the energy of the sun
* Makes you feel healthy and happy when you eat it
* Is usually home-cooked

What percentage of the 
food you eat is real?