Empty Calories - how do they work?

[Rouxenator]

For a long time I have wondered about empty calories. Surely a calorie (or Kilo Joules) are a measurement of energy and this implies it can be burned or used during exercise? From what I have been told it sounds like you cannot get rid of empty calories at all and this makes no sense to me. I am quite active but also drink a lot and my weight seems to be more or less stable.

 

[Sinbad]

I'd say that empty calories are energy obtained from food that adds no other nutrients eg vitamins, minerals, fibre etc. So stuff like sugar...

 

[gregmcc]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empty_calorie

Empty calories, in casual dietary terminology, are a measurement of the digestible energy present in high-energy foods with poor nutritional profiles, with most of the energy typically coming from processed carbohydrates, fats, or ethanol. Also known as a discretionary calorie, an "empty calorie" has the same energy content as any other calorie but lacks many accompanying nutrients such as vitamins, dietary minerals, antioxidants, amino acids, or dietary fiber. Although carbohydrates, fats and water are also nutrients, they are typically ignored for this analysis, with the exception of essential fatty acids.

 

[shakebake]

For athletes/gymmers, we refer to empty calories as food like Broccoli, Carrots, Tomatos etc - it's food that doesn't really have calories in them - ie, you can eat a lot and not get fat from it, but will fill you up. So in other words, if you wanted to lose weight or get extremely lean, you should eat these empty calory foods as they will fill you up just like and other food, but won't go and sit around you waistline.

 

[Tinuva]

For athletes/gymmers, we refer to empty calories as food like Broccoli, Carrots, Tomatos etc - it's food that doesn't really have calories in them - ie, you can eat a lot and not get fat from it, but will fill you up. So in other words, if you wanted to lose weight or get extremely lean, you should eat these empty calory foods as they will fill you up just like and other food, but won't go and sit around you waistline.

Seriously? I am a gymmer and I never thought of empty calories as that but instead of calories which are not as good as non-empty calories.

 

[Rouxenator]

So how do you burn them?

 

[Sinbad]

So how do you burn them?

Same way you burn all energy you take in.

 

[Rouxenator]

Same way you burn all energy you take in.

So they are not really empty, you can burn them if you exercise its just that they don't contain any vitamins and nonsense?

 

[Lycanthrope]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empty_calorie

What Wikipedia says. Empty calories are calories with little-to-no other nutritional value.

 

[Rouxenator]

I read Wikipedia prior to posting here because it makes no sense. Calorie is a measurement of energy - so you can burn them, they are not "empty".

 

[Sinbad]

I read Wikipedia prior to posing here because it makes no sense. Calorie is a measurement of energy - so you can burn them, they are not "empty".

Hence empty referring to nutritional value. They give you energy but nothing else that you need.

 

[Rouxenator]

Hence empty referring to nutritional value. They give you energy but nothing else that you need.

Great - now that makes sense to me. I guess if you drink a lot of brandy its just like taking in a lot of sugar.

 

[Sinbad]

Great - now that makes sense to me. I guess if you drink a lot of brandy its just like taking in a lot of sugar.

Yes, ethanol was one of the substances listed earlier

 

[Lycanthrope]

Great - now that makes sense to me. I guess if you drink a lot of brandy its just like taking in a lot of sugar.

Yeah, "empty calories" doesn't so much refer to the actual calories so much as to empty calorie foods.

To use what shakebake says, broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, etc aren't "empty calorie" foods since they are low-caloric foods and have a good nutritional value.

Whereas high sugar foods like candy, coke, ice-cream, etc are incredibly high in calories but have very little nutritional value, so they are, by definition, "empty calories."

At least this is how I've come to understand it.

 

[Wikkels88]

For athletes/gymmers, we refer to empty calories as food like Broccoli, Carrots, Tomatos etc - it's food that doesn't really have calories in them - ie, you can eat a lot and not get fat from it, but will fill you up. So in other words, if you wanted to lose weight or get extremely lean, you should eat these empty calory foods as they will fill you up just like and other food, but won't go and sit around you waistline.

Just FAIL!

OP empty calories would be anything that contains calories that adds no nutritional value, sugar and alcohol are 2 of the big ones that come to mind..

 

[Re83L]

No, they are not empty, they contain the exact same energy as all other calories.

The ONLY difference is that they have no value other than just being fuel.
Non-empty calories can be eaten for their nutritional value (eg eat spinach to increase iron levels), empty calories have no purpose other than energy.

So what this ends up being is that while you could eat only nutritional food and maybe get all your required energy from it as well, you will still have to eat some other food / vitamins etc if ou're just consuming empty calories.. Your body will still crave nutrients, so empty calories won't fill you up..

 

[Chevron]

For athletes/gymmers, we refer to empty calories as food like Broccoli, Carrots, Tomatos etc - it's food that doesn't really have calories in them - ie, you can eat a lot and not get fat from it, but will fill you up. So in other words, if you wanted to lose weight or get extremely lean, you should eat these empty calory foods as they will fill you up just like and other food, but won't go and sit around you waistline.

That sounds like Low GI. An empty calorie is what was stated above you.

 

[HvRooyen]

This might colour the picture in a bit more. While sugar and alcohol provide energy, they are largely converted to fat first. Therefore they provide energy but in a way that your body finds hard to utilise.