How To Make Sure You Get The Right Type of Calorie

By , in Health on . Tagged width: ,

In a new initiative of the British Nutrition Foundation, the health officials launched a new concept, dubbed as “Quality Calorie,” to make people think twice before what kind of foods they eat. The new guidelines try to help people make sure they get the right type of calorie.

According to the new report, while some of us eat more calories than needed, others count calories and cut them down, but that’s not enough. People must learn to read the nutritional values of food products to see which are quality calories.

Quality calorie food vs. empty calorie products

As nutritionists of the Public Health England reported, a woman needs 2,000 calories a day, and a man requires 2,500. Also, according to the experts, we should follow the next guidelines:

  • 400 at breakfast;
  • 600 at lunch;
  • 600 at dinner;

As mentioned, counting calories is not enough. For example, a couple of chocolate digestives account for 174kcal, similarly to 30 grams of nuts. However, according to the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), nuts represent a quality calorie food, while chocolate digestives are not.

On the other hand, there are a whole bunch of foods that are rich in calories but lack of nutrients. For example, a lollipop contains 45 kcal, as much as an apple, only that the latter is full of nutrients while the former is just abundant in sugars. Alcohol is also considered an empty calorie drink.

How to make sure you get the right type of calorie

According to the new initiative of the British Nutrition Foundation, we can figure out which is a quality calorie food and which is not. As reported by Public Health England, a healthy diet must include:

  • lots of fruit and vegetables;
  • some starchy foods such as wholegrain bread, pasta, and rice;
  • some protein from meat, fish, dairy or pulses;
  • a few healthy fats (avocado, olive oil);

Additionally, the nutritionists warn that cutting out calories is not always the smartest thing to do as we may also cut some essential nutrients, as well, unintentionally.

Tommy’s hobby has always been playing video games. He enjoys competing in video games tournaments and writing about his experience. It’s not a big surprise that he mostly covers the latest trends from the gaming industry.