Comment by Cl4rity | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Cl4rity | Hacker News Reader

I am so sick and tired of all of these misinformed blog articles and comments about clean food versus unhealthy food. Good calories versus bad calories. Do these writers even know what a calorie is? It isn't intrinsically good or bad.

If you're eating 6,500 calories per day in lean meats, fish, nuts, vegetables and fruit, I absolutely guarantee you will become fat without rigorous physical activity.

Calories in/calories out is what matters when it comes to weight. If your concern is cholesterol or blood sugar, on the other hand, your diet and genetics play a huge role in that.

Let's not forget about the teacher who ate nothing but Twinkies and cupcakes for several weeks and lost a tremendous amount of weight and lowered his cholesterol.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/...

Now, I'm not suggesting that anyone go on a Twinkie diet, but the biggest takeaway from what that professor did is that the amount of calories you consume is important when it comes to weight loss, and subsequently lowering cholesterol.

Actually you are most likely wrong. There is really good evidence that the number of calories don't matter and that the type of calories are everything. People associate the number of calories as mattering because they change other things at the same time. Please watch videos from Gary Taubes who wrote "Good Calories Bad Calories" and "Why we get fat".

Here's his google talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6vpFV6Wkl4

On a personal note, I lost 40 lbs and I eat far more calories now than I did before. Open you mind for a bit and really watch that video, you might be convinced that what you think about calories are all wrong. I certainly changed what I thought was true as fact.

15 studies showing caloric intake is the primary factor for weight loss: http://examine.com/faq/what-should-i-eat-for-weight-loss.htm...

This is nearly a 90 minute video of Gary Taubes, do you have any other sources? A pubmed study for example or similar?

If you watch for only 10 minutes you hear no less than 5 or 6 sources that he gives. If you are too lazy to watch a video, than no number of sources are going to help you.

"Actually you are most likely wrong."

I take it you're kidding, so I'll treat it as such. Taubes, and only Taubes, has blamed refined carbohydrates as the single and absolutely positive source for all our dietary-related maladies. Clearly, you chose to ignore the example of the professor who went on the Twinkie diet.

For 10 weeks, the professor had a "steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too." His body mass index dropped to healthy weight, his bad cholesterol went down 20% and good cholesterol went up 20%, and his triglycerides were cut by 39% -- these are not inconsiderable numbers.

Again, I'm not preaching that diet--I'd never do it myself. However, it is direct, physical proof that Gary Taubes is wrong.

Also, consider that the regions on the planet with the most centenarians (people who live to be 100 or more) are the same regions where bread, pasta and rice intake are high.

Calories definitely do play a role, but when you gradually shift to a diet with mostly whole foods, and less processed foods, you start to feel the need to eat less. Most processed foods aren't filling and leave you wanting more. Also, they don't give you the nutrients you need. So it definitely does matter what type of calories you consume.

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