If you have found yourself standing in the grocery store, wipe the feeding poster and wonder whether calories or ingredients are more important - you are not alone. You may choose a low -calorie granola bar on the tape that contains more fiber and nuts, assuming that it will better support your goals. Or you may have heard that "calories are calories" and I wondering whether this means that you should eat the candy bar with the same number of calories you were thinking about.

The truth is that the amount of calories and food quality play an important role in your health-and they are how they work together can help you make more intelligent and more satisfactory options that support your weight and welfare.

Calories are calculated - but it is not the entire story

Let's start with the basics: if you eat more thermal price than using the price of the body, you are likely to gain weight. If you eat less, you are likely to lose weight (1). This is the basis of weight management, which is why you follow your intake with tools like MyfitnessPal can be very effective.

But focusing on calories alone lacks an important thing: How does your food make you feel and how it affects your general health.

"If you focus only on calories, you may eat foods that suit your calories goals but still feel hungry because what you eat or does not provide adequate satisfaction," says Daisy Mercer, a myfitnessPal dietitian (if you focus only on calories, you may eat foods that suit your calories goals but still feel hungry because what you eat or does not provide adequate satisfaction, "says Daisy Mercer, MyFitnessPal.2). "This can lead to more intense desire that may make us excessive food."

Search supports this. Studies indicate that people who have eaten more processed foods - such as chips, sugary drinks, and refined grains - receive weight gain over time, even when they do not eat more calories. On the other hand, those who have eaten more whole foods such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, milk and whole grains were more likely to lose weight and keep them 3.

This is because food quality can affect your appetite, metabolism, and even hormones - which each affect the number of calories that your body naturally overcomes and uses.

"High -quality foods can help us feel satisfied and satisfied with slowing digestion and saving energy for a longer period," explains Mercer. "This can prevent us from excessive eating or helps reduce the desire for desire 4"

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About the expert

Daisy Mercer, StreetMyfitnessPal. She graduated with her Bachelor of Food Science and Nutrition Science from Colorado State University and completed her health care training in VA San Diego.

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What makes food "high quality"?

There is no official definition of food quality, but researchers generally agree on some guidelines. High -quality foods tend to be:

• Treating minimum, with a few added sugars or synthetic components
• Rich in nutrients, such as fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals
• Less on the blood sugar indicator, which means that it causes the smallest blood sugar mutations
• Saturation, helps you stay full for a longer period

"High -quality food provides valuable for us other than our fullness," says Mercer. "This may mean that it provides fibers that help slow digestion 5Or it is meager, providing contentment 6"

Examples include leafy vegetables, berries, beans, eggs, fish, nuts, olive oil and whole grains such as oats or quinoa.

Low-quality foods are often stripped of thinking, sweets, fried foods, white bread-fiber and food. They calm down quickly, high blood sugar, and leave you feel hungry again after a short period of time 7.

This does not mean that you can never enjoy it. But if they form the bulk of calories, it is difficult to stay in controlling your appetite and energy.

Why can focus on quality make calories track easier

Interestingly, when they turn towards high-quality foods, calorie control becomes simpler-without require perfection or restriction.

"When people focus on food quality, they tend to be able to listen to the sermon of hunger and fullness better," says Mercer. "This reduces the need to give priority to calories because you are naturally compatible with your body."

Foods fully tend to be more full, so you eat less naturally. It is also difficult to be excessive eating. It is much easier to eat how many cookies of ten boiled eggs or three cups of lentil soup.

"The balance is always important," Mercer added. "It may be useful to associate something that you yearn for with something with fibers to help increase the feeling of fullness. In this way, honoring the passion without exaggerating it."

This helps to clarify the reason for making some weight loss plans for some people. For example, high-protein or high-fiber-control patterns may support appetite and weight loss-but only if they also focus on whole foods with nutrient density 8and 9.

So ... what should give priority?

Here are the fine difference: If losing weight is your goal, you still have to be in calories deficit. But it may be the best way to get there to focus more on food quality - because it can help you feel better while eating less.

"Focus on food quality and calories will help in managing health and weight in the long run," Mercer says. "The presence of high -quality food often makes us feel more complete and satisfied and can help us stay within our calories."

At the same time, even the healthiest diet will not support weight loss if you empty regularly. The size of the part and the tracking is still important, even if you choose all the right foods.

"It is not calories or quality - it is both." "You can manage parts of parts and balance with high -quality foods so that you can enjoy all the same things."

How do you find your balance

If you are not sure where to start, here are some practical ways to determine the priorities of quality and quantity:

• Follow what you eat for a week. Use myfitnessPal to record meals and snacks - not only calories, but the types of foods you eat. Look for patterns.
• Add before you are presented. Try adding more whole foods - such as vegetables, beans, or whole grains - before preventing the foods you love.
• Be realistic and firm. Leave a space for accidental leniency. The approach of everything or nothing can lead to reverse results.
• Focus on progress, not perfection. Even small transformations towards better food can lead to major changes in what you feel over time.
• Master one thing at one time. "If the calorie tracking is difficult, focus your energy on it, then slowly combine quality foods into your routine," Mercer suggests.

The bottom line

When it comes to eating for health and sustainable weight management, there is no need to choose between calories and food quality - it works better together.

By tracking your input, emphasizing foods rich in nutrients, and setting how you feel your meals, you can create a dining method that supports your goals without leaving you hungry, immersed or stuck in tired diet.

Mercer says: "Follow calories and determining the priorities of food does not mean that you should cut everything," says Mercer. "Understanding weight management revolves around balance."

Do you want to help achieve a balance between your nutrition goals? Download MyFitnessPal to track both calories and food quality in an easy -to -use tool.

Pamphlet What is the most important: food quality or calories? First appear on MyfitnessPal Blog.

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