The Startling Truth Behind Most Foods.

Photo by 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič on Unsplash

Picture a conversation:

Clair: Hey, what did you have for breakfast?

Ben: Oh, just a coffee

Clair: Just a coffee?

Ben: yep (gleaming with pride)

Clair: damn (or some rendition of it)

There is something fundamentally wrong in the conversation.

I’ll get into that later.

Now suppose they both get together the following year.

Clair: Hey Ben, long time no talk

Ben: Hey Clair

Clair: Wow, you’ve put on some weight

Ben: I know, but I’m only having one cup of coffee for breakfast and the rest of my meals are the same

Clair: Then how are you gaining weight? I have had eggs and bread every day and I am still at the same weight.

Ben: I must have a slow metabolism

Clair: I must have a fast one

Ben: Maybe if I replace my afternoon pb&j with coffee, I’ll lose some weight

Anything that seems out of place? No? Must be a slow metabolism right?

Wrong

I asked 20 people how many calories they thought were in a venti-sized java chip frappuccino.

How many calories 20 people though were in venti sized Starbucks java chip frappuchino. Source: Author

This was their estimate of the calories that were present. Now what if I told you it had 580 calories in it?

Why would Ben think it had fewer calories?

For a start, coffee in its purest form has exactly 0 calories. Zero, zilch, nada.

This has led to a skewed impression of coffee as a breakfast item because when people say coffee, many people are influenced by the seemingly 0 calorie nature of it.

This couldn’t be further from the truth

Because of this impression that has been engraved into people’s minds, people are failing to understand that coffee isn’t as innocent as they believe it to be. They’re estimating a 560 calorie cup of coffee to have a calorie count of 350. Some people even think it might have just 100 calories.

In the above conversation, Clair ate eggs and bread for breakfast. This is a balanced and very filling meal which gives an impression of it being high in calories.

Now how many calories are actually there in eggs and bread?

200 calories in the fried eggs and 150 in the bread = 350 in total. Add a cup of milk (100 calories) and it’s still lower in calories than the coffee (100 calories lower to be exact).

Back to the conversation, both parties were under the impression that coffee had fewer calories than the eggs. What effect would this have had on their weight?

Starbucks coffees (the sugar and fast dense ones in particular) aren’t very filling. You can probably drink up to a thousand calories in it and not notice.

The coffee is made nearly completely out of monosaccharide(simple) carbohydrates and because of this, is rapidly digested. The glycemic index of Starbucks coffee is very high and this results in an energy chart that starts with a sudden spike followed by a crash.

In a study by Ludwin et al., researchers found that post consumption of a high GI meal, one would feel hungry much faster compared to one who consumes a meal with a low GI. They also found that after a high GI meal, participants were more likely to eat more for their next meal.

Because the coffee was a high GI meal, besides already consuming more during breakfast, he ends up getting hungry faster and also ends up eating a lot more than he otherwise would’ve for lunch.

All this is happening while he thinks he is in a deficit.

When he gains the weight, it’s the fault of a “slow metabolism”.

Yet, despite all of this, he adamantly stands by the low calorie great that is his coffee. This might as well be the most dangerous part because if he thinks he is saving calories through his coffee, he is much more likely to splurge on calories in his other meals.

This, coupled with the above factors, can cause a catastrophic weight gain. It is common to see people with what they believe are “slow metabolisms” make no conscious effort towards their goals. The phycological impact that this coffee can have on your goals is enormous.

This doesn’t just apply to coffee though, various other foods can all have this snowball effect that begins by an underestimation of calories. Like i’ve shown in the above survey, this is a serious issue that often puts some people’s weight loss goals in jeopardy.

What can I do to prevent this from happening to me?

The best thing one can do is to prevent this bias and misinformation from occurring is to stop relying on satiety.

This is something that can be incredibly deceiving for most because fulness is extremely variable. For example, someone consuming a 300 calorie breast of chicken will feel more full than someone consuming two 250 calorie croissants. This can be because of various reasons and this is something present in the above scenario with the cup of coffee.

A good solution is to get better at estimating the calorie count of foods. It is not vital to memorize a full database of foods but rather to understand what makes a food calorie dense.

There are three main red flags which should tell you something has more calories than you think.

1. It’s very sweet
2. There is a high amount of oil
3. It’s quite creamy/ flaky (sometimes)

This is a way to ensure you do not underestimate the calorie counts of some foods. However, it is often best to just do a quick search whenever you are in doubt or any of the above red flags are shown.

A note on satiating foods

The properties of food that is filling typically contain protein and fiber in fairly high quantities. This is not the case for all foods. Potatoes are a peculiar case because despite the high amounts of carbohydrates, it is a very satiating food because of a certain protein present.

Just like some people hide their true intentions, some foods hide their true calorie count in the guise of satiety (or a lack thereof). Keep in mind the typical red flags coming from certain foods and you can prevent these foods from negatively affecting your goals.

Citations

Ludwig, D S et al. “High glycemic index foods, overeating, and obesity.” Pediatrics vol. 103,3 (1999): E26. doi:10.1542/peds.103.3.e26