Throw All Your Calorie Count Beliefs Out The Window – We Need To Start All Over Again

Ah, nutrition advice, the last safe haven of the dieter, the speaker of the truth, the harsh reality of the calorie count... Well, you need not worry about it anymore because apparently, it’s “wildly misleading.” Or, you know, lies...

Dr. Geoffrey Livesey, an independent nutritionist revealed the results of research while speaking at the annual meeting of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science in Boston on Monday commenting: “we have not assigned a value for fibre, so calorie counts have normally been lower.”

Manufacturers have essentially not been measuring energy levels to include fibre which would contain about five per cent of our calorie intake. Livesey continued: “So consumers have been eating more calories than they thought they were, particularly if the food was high-fibre....when people eat muesli, it is a healthy food but they are often putting on lots of weight.”

 

According to "The Telegraph", products also don’t account for whether the food is raw or cooked, processed or unprocessed. This can further alter the calorie levels as much as 30% as we can burn more energy digesting uncooked foods.

Research into nutrition advice in the 1990’s revealed that products were not including a calorie count for fibre, each gram of which is worth another two calories. This could eventually add another 250 calories to your diet weekly.

The European Commission had asked for manufacturers to include this information on products but at the present time, it is unclear who is following the guidelines.

Considering the many scandals around food products over the previous few weeks, the information has come at an interesting point. Perhaps with new EU regulations, the nutrition advice, and hopefully ingredient listings will become more accurate.

No mention of the calorie count in the horsemeat products, mind you...