Food packet labels or those food tracking apps aren’t always accurate! Another reason to stop just counting calories.
That’s because the calorie count measured in the lab (just by burning the food) is very different to what actually happens in our intricate digestive systems.
Take almonds, for example. Human digestion studies have shown they provide 30% fewer calories than what’s labelled on the pack!
Unlike in the lab studies, humans and our gut microbes don’t extract every last calorie from whole plant foods
HOWEVER… with ultra-processed foods most of the ‘digesting’ has already been done for us by big machines, making the calories much more accessible.
That’s not to say they’re ‘bad’ (no labels here!) but it’s another reason to cut the calorie counting.
My motto: if you’re going to count anything, count plants!
I go into much more detail on this and more in my new book Eat More, Live Well and I cannot WAIT for you guys to get your hands on it in January!!
