Day 28 - The True Meaning of the Calorie

The numbers float in our head like a scene out of A Beautiful Mind. We have seen them on the back of every box, can and bag; featured in magazines, newspapers and periodicals; devoted to by our society in news headlines; entire books dishing the details of their imprint on every consumable. They may have shadowed the previous pleasure and satisfaction that we got from our meals just because we think that they do, in fact, exist. The calorie. A once elusive concept that had no precedence over our food decisions has now become our religion. Our commandments with the God of calorie is to monitor, identify, label and judge.

Can you imagine how it must look to in-tune-with-their-body indigenous people if they were catapulted into our society without knowing about our divine calorie God? How would it seem to them as we went through the grocery store aisles evaluating the food based on the number that a lab coat gave it? Would it make sense to them, after using their internal senses of sensation, hunger and fullness since the dawn of their inception to suddenly believe a written number on a label instead of their internal instincts? I am sure they would wonder why people read and conjecture through the choices, when they have been taught to simply listen to the body.

What really are calories and why do they get so much press?

Calories are really just a unit of energy labeled by science. They apply to anything that contains energy potential like gasoline (a gallon of which contains 31 million calories). We know them mostly as when applied to food.

A calorie is the amount of energy that is required to raise the temperature of one gram of water to one degree Celsius. I know. How bland. Wait for my definition below. What you see on the food labels are not actually calories at all but are actually kilocalories. If a can of soda contains 200 calories it is actually 200,000 regular calories or 200 kilocalories. No matter; they are just a form of energy-potential measurement.

Our bodies burn the calories from food through metabolic actions where enzymes break each food component (protein, fat or carbohydrate) down into smaller molecules that can travel into the bloodstream and be stored or reacted to with oxygen to be used for immediate energy. 

The number of kilocalories in a food represents the potential energy that it possesses. Potential energy is key to understand here because the power of the calorie can only be implemented properly when traveling alongside other constituents. For example, 200 kilocalories of licorice and 200 calories of almond butter are very different forms of food that create vastly different energy consequences. Here are some of the elements in food and the body that change the impact of potential energy:

• Additives, chemicals, pesticides, etc
• Enzymes
• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Fiber
• Water
• Antioxidants
• Metabolism
• Organ reserves
• Emotional state
• Physical activity
• Brain function
• Intact digestive system
• The list goes on and on!

There are innumerable aspects that change the equation of the calorie. It is an incredibly flawed and limited system. When essential pairings that are formulated by nature to assist in the food's utilization and breakdown are not present the dynamic changes and potential energy can create a deficit, or energy withdrawal.

In addition, the number of calories that we need to function and thrive is different for each person. Throw away the 2000 calorie standard. To give out a number would be like estimating exactly how much fuel a car needs in America today. Each car has a different weight, energy requirement and internal demand; in addition to that each car's fuel needs depend on how far it is going and how its driver will function. These demands change every day are in a constant state of flux.

The truth of a calorie is this: a calorie is a unit of measurement that was derived to attempt to understand the complex and mysterious synergy of energy changing form. This scientific standpoint, although useful in many other realms beyond health and weight management, has actually become counter-productive in diet. A calorie is a limited marker that does not take into account the equation of so many vast variables, known and unknown. The truth is that a calorie is a false gauge that we now trust more than the ultimate guide; our body's natural, intuitive voice. No one can tell you how much energy potential you can create and utilize; and yet we do this everyday.

Imagine how indigenous people feel when they see how we approach eating food. Truly, our relationship with food shouldn't be based upon what science is clumsily trying to convince us is fact. Rather, when we are attuned to what we require from our bodies, the amount of food we need to accomplish our goals is an enjoyable eating experience. Food; real food; whole food is meant to fully be enjoyed and appreciated so we can tackle our daily tasks at hand with passionate vigor.

Part of the Awake Eating Method is about truly savoring your food for the pleasurable experience it is supposed to be, instead of a stressful event of caloric understanding. To discover your highest physical potential all you need to understand are the sensations inside your body. No other measurement is needed.

Nat