Sometimes Gospel Ain't True

from the bgfay Health desk

A calorie is a calorie. I have taken this as common sense. Three hundred calories of Snickers or broccoli are the same. The broccoli takes longer to eat, but to get thinner I have to burn more than those three hundred calories. Simple, obvious math.

But it ain’t true.

I’m reading Gary Taubes’ The Case Against Sugar and there isn’t good science behind “a calorie is a calorie.” It is accepted because it has been accepted. Several different doctors, dozens of magazine articles, and a few books have said a calorie is a calorie. I’ve believed them until now. Taubes’ gets into the science. What a radical idea.

It reminds me of running barefoot.

Common sense says running shoes are a necessity and good for correcting strides and bad evolution that made feet such delicate things. Podiatrists push inserts, padding, and expensive shoes. Running stores warn that only running shoes can save us from injury. Don’t even suggest barefoot running to either group.

Yet my running injuries disappeared and my form improved when I tossed my running shoes, going barefoot or in sandals without cushioning or technology beyond rubber and some straps. So much for common sense about running and feet.

Calories in sugar aren’t the same as calories in broccoli, pasta, bread, or rice. I’ll keep reading to learn why, but have cut my sugar consumption severely. In one week my weight is dropping, my spare tire is smaller, and I’m more energetic.

I’ll take that and Taubes’ argument over common sense any day and I don’t even need a spoonful of sugar to make it go down.