Men's Health mentions a research study claiming that counting calories is a waste of time.
Researchers in the USA have discovered that counting calories can be a waste of time, because foods with the same calorific value can be absorbed at different rates.That's likely to be true, but the experiment was under very controlled conditions with very limited sets of food (shakes, almonds, and pasta). I really like the format of the website, because on the same page as the article Dr. Toni Steer, from the magazine, comments in a distinct space:
While this is interesting research from the City of Hope Medical Center, the bottom line is that the total number of calories eaten do count. ...That tends to be my perspective as well. I count calories every day -- taken in and burned through exercise -- and in my experience it's the most effective way to gather information on your metabolism.You need to look at the big picture. If you are eating 500 calories more than you need each day it doesn't matter how much spicy food, coffee, meat and almonds you eat, you'll see the pounds pile on.
Also in my experience, most people who count calories lie. I know fat people who claim to eat very little -- it's not my fault I'm fat! -- but when I watch them it's clear that they're not really adding the numbers up right. I know it's easy to forget to count a cookie here or there, or an extra helping of potatoes, but those forgotten bites are exactly what's preventing them from losing weight.
