All Calories Are Not Created Equal

There is a dangerous myth which pervades modern health, which is based on a mechanistic view of life, and which assumes all calories to be the same. One consequence of this way of thinking is the myth of “eat less, move more”, which is based on the idea that one simply needs to burn all of the calories which they consume to maintain weight, or to burn more calories than they take in to lose weight. One of the absurd consequences you see from this faulty thinking is people leaving the gym after their workout, and heading straight to a fast food restaurant for a meal, based on the thinking that they have pre-burned all the calories they are about to consume, or at an emotional level, that they “deserve it”.

This assumption that all calories are created equal is not taking several things into account:

• All aspects of health, and life more generally, are based on the qualitative aspects of life energy, and cannot be reduced to a mere quantitative measurement (such as a calorie).
• Based on different body types, and nutritional needs, individuals will process the same foods differently. (“One man’s meat is another man’s poison”).
• The quality of a food (how it is grown, produced, harvested, etc.) is even more important than its qualitative aspects (such as the number of calories). “Living” foods have a completely different effect on us than “dead” foods.
• The source of a calorie will have a different effect on us based on its source — fats, carbohydrates, and proteins are perceived very differently by the body.
• Our degree of fitness at any give point in time will determine how efficiently we process our food — therefore, taking in a calorie at one level of fitness will have a different effect than taking that same calorie in at a different level of fitness.
• There is a huge difference between nutrient-dense foods, and “empty calories”. Consuming the former leads to true physiological “satisfaction”, while the latter leads to endless cycles of cravings and always needing more.

So, please stop counting your calories, and start focusing your energy on increasing the quality of your food intake, within an overall look at your lifestyle and fitness level. Likewise, the further you go with addressing your medical issues within the overall scope of medical Heilkunst, the more fine tuned your metabolism will be.

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