Why you should avoid “empty” calories

There are “empty” calories in all sorts of products. In this article, you can read about what empty calories are, how empty calories affect your body, and what they are found in.

“Empty” calories are colloquially used to describe foods that provide a lot of energy but contain little or no valuable nutrients. The valuable nutrients include vitamins, minerals and trace elements in particular, but also phytochemicals and essential amino and fatty acids.

The relationship between energy content and nutrient density is therefore very unfavorable for products with empty calories. Conversely, foods with a high nutrient density usually have a better relationship between nutrient and energy content.

So the calories themselves are the same as in healthier foods – because they’re actually just a measure of energy. They are “empty” only in the sense that few nutrients are provided along with the energy.

Where are empty calories found?

Empty calories are found in foods and beverages that are high in sugar, fat, or alcohol but have little or no other nutritional value. This often includes sweets, white flour products, sauces and fried or oily products. More specifically, this usually includes food such as chips, fries, pasta made from white flour, croissants, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, gummy bears or mayonnaise.

Sugary drinks are particularly underestimated. Soft drinks, sodas, and alcoholic beverages can be very high in calories. In the same way, warm drinks such as coffee, chai latte or cocoa, which are prepared with a lot of milk and possibly with sugar or syrup, can quickly lead to the intake of many empty calories.

Empty calories: effects on the body

In principle, foods with empty calories have an unfavorable effect on blood sugar levels. They can cause strong blood sugar fluctuations, which in turn promotes food cravings and a disturbed hormone balance in the long term.

However, empty calories are not inherently unhealthy. It’s always a matter of quantity and combination. If you combine a cola with a salad made from lots of vegetables and high-protein components, then this meal will have a better effect on your blood sugar than if you drank the cola on an empty stomach. It also makes a difference whether you eat a bag of gummy bears spread over a week or eat a bag of gummy bears every day.

However you combine them, the calories remain the same. They are often superfluous and the foods in which they are found become calorie bombs. Over the long term, excess consumption causes body fat gain, which can have other health implications.

If you want to lose weight, then this process is easier if you eliminate or at least reduce empty calories from your diet. It is best to use whole and nutritious foods and unsweetened drinks. These include in particular:

• fruit and vegetables

• nuts and seeds

• full grain
• legumes
• eggs
• soy yoghurt

• herbs and spices

• tea

• Coffee (black or with a dash of plant milk)

• Sugar Free Drinks

Important: Although legumes, whole grain products and especially nuts and seeds contain many important nutrients and have a filling effect, they are significantly higher in calories than most vegetables. If you want to reduce your weight, it is important to pay attention to the amount of these foods as well.

If you want to lose weight effectively, you should take your time and not go on a radical diet. It is important that you feel comfortable with your project and that it is not based on the pressure of having to conform to social ideals of beauty.

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