Empty calories!

We are all looking for a healthy lifestyle that includes a good diet away from unhealthy foods, and some may have heard the term "empty calories" and wonder about it.

Many do not know that most of the foods available in stores contain empty calories, meaning they have very little nutritional value but provide the body with a lot of calories that can lead to weight gain and nutrient deficiencies.

In this article, we will discuss empty calories, provide some examples, and talk about how to get our daily food needs and how to obtain them. So, stay tuned.

What are empty calories?

We mentioned earlier that some foods do not have a significant nutritional value and are abundant in stores. These are usually referred to as "empty-calorie foods" and typically contain:

• Solid fats that remain solid at room temperature, like fats and butter.
• Added sugars, such as concentrated syrups for sweetening foods.
• Processed or hydrogenated oils that have undergone manufacturing processes and changed their composition.

These foods contain high calories with little to no nutritional value, lacking in vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, and fiber. However, their delicious taste often makes people addicted to them, leading to weight gain and negative health effects.

A scientific study conducted in 2012 found that men consume approximately 923 empty calories daily, while adult women consume about 624 empty calories per day. Consuming too many empty calories may lead to insufficient intake of:

• Vitamins.
• Minerals.
• Proteins.
• Essential fatty acids.
• Fiber.

Children are particularly vulnerable to consuming these foods, and half of these empty calories come from specific foods, such as:

• Soft drinks.
• Canned fruit juices.
• Dairy-based desserts like ice cream.
• Grain-based sweets like cookies and cakes.
• Pizza.

Examples of empty calories

Many foods in our current time are considered empty-calorie foods, usually falling into two main categories:

• Foods with high sugar content or sweeteners, such as:
• Sweetened carbonated drinks.
• Iced tea.
• Sweetened fruit juices.
• Energy drinks and sports drinks.
• Pastries, cookies, muffins, donuts, and biscuits.
• Sugary syrups or alternatives like concentrated syrups, honey, molasses, or dessert toppings.
• Milkshakes.
• Candies.
• Dairy desserts like ice cream or frozen yogurt.
• Chocolate bars.
• Flavorings like corn syrup, ketchup, or barbecue sauce.
• Foods with high fat content, especially saturated or trans fats, like:
• French fries or potato chips.
• Fast-food meals like fried chicken, pizza, or burgers.
• Mayonnaise.
• Snack chips, biscuit crackers.
• Plant-based oils.
• Processed meats like sausages and hot dogs.
• Processed oils like soybean oil.

But how can we get rid of or replace foods with empty calories? Let's find out in the next paragraph.

How to get rid of empty-calorie foods

You can adopt a healthy eating pattern by ensuring that most of the foods you consume are unprocessed and complete, while avoiding empty-calorie foods.

Here are some suggestions for finding healthy alternatives to empty-calorie foods:

• Replace sugary drinks with fresh, fiber-rich fruits with moderate sugar content.
• Reduce snacking. Studies have found that snacks are responsible for one-third of daily empty-calorie intake, so reduce snacks and replace them with protein, whole grains, and fiber-rich options.
• Choose snacks that contain protein and carbohydrates to keep you full for longer. Healthy snack options include nuts like almonds, cashews, pistachios, and walnuts, which provide healthy fats, proteins, minerals, and vitamins.
• Cook all meals to control calories and maximize nutritional value.
• Make better choices when it comes to fast food. Some people may not be able to completely avoid fast food, so consider ordering grilled rather than fried items, skip the mayonnaise, choose vegetable pizzas with extra tomato sauce instead of meat or processed chicken, and try to limit fast food to once a week instead of daily.
• Replace high-fat ground meat with leaner options or grind meat at home to control fat content.
• Replace processed oils with extra virgin olive oil.
• Substitute fried chicken with grilled or oven-baked chicken without skin.
• Replace sugary beverages with water, black coffee, or herbal tea.
• Replace sweetened breakfast cereals with oatmeal topped with fruit or nuts.
• Replace chips with hummus, roasted soybeans, or baked mushroom chips.
• Carry nutritious foods everywhere and keep them in plain sight at work or in the car to avoid extreme hunger and the consumption of unhealthy foods.
• Do not confuse hunger with thirst, as their signs are similar. Sometimes the body feels thirsty, and the person thinks they need food. Therefore, ensure that you are adequately hydrated daily to avoid this feeling.

The daily food needs

The optimal daily requirements depend on general health, gender, age, and activity level. For example, the daily caloric needs for men vary based on their age and activity level as follows:

For women, the required daily calories are as follows:

In general, daily food goals are divided as follows:

• Vegetables: From 2.5 cups to 3 cups daily of various colored vegetables such as leafy greens like spinach and broccoli, or red vegetables like red peppers, tomatoes, or yellow vegetables like peas or beans.
• Fruits: From 1.5 to 2 cups daily, including fruits like grapes, peaches, cherries, kiwi, and others.
• Whole grains: About 0.5 cup daily, including items like whole grain bread, breakfast cereals, or pasta, such as brown rice, quinoa, oatmeal, or barley.
• Meats: Such as poultry, red meat, or fish, around 140 to 170 grams daily, which is approximately 1.2 kilograms per week. It is recommended to consume about 340 grams of this weekly portion from seafood.
• Dairy products: From 1 cup to 2 cups daily of milk or yogurt.
• Healthy oils: From 1 to 2 tablespoons daily, such as olive oil or canola oil.

To make it easier to consume these daily servings, it's advisable to fill half of your plate with vegetables and fruits, one-quarter with whole grains, and the remaining quarter with protein (such as fish, red meat, poultry, legumes, or nuts).

In conclusion, after our article about empty calories, their examples, how to get rid of them, and replace them, as well as mentioning our daily food needs, we always recommend reading food labels or instructions on the back of products to understand their fat and sugar contents, and trying to keep children away from them as much as possible.