Empty-Calorie Foods Have Real Empty Promises

Take a look at the problem of empty-calorie foods…

Empty-calorie foods are foods which contain significantly more calories than nutrients. They're also referred to as energy-dense foods, providing unnecessary energy with few or zero nutrients. It’s fairly obvious that consuming these foods can lead to weight problems and poor health.

In fact this includes almost everything inside that vending machine at work you love so dearly. Do chips, soft drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, sweets and chocolate sound familiar during break time and lunch? Empty-calorie foods have negative effects on your health. Let’s analyse a specific case. Let’s compare empty-calories obtained from liquids (drinks) with nutrient-dense calories from a piece of fresh fruit like an orange.

	Soft drinks	Energy drinks	Fruit juice	Raw fruit

Total sugar content	A can of Classic Coca-Cola (355ml) contains 39g of sugar (equivalent to 156 calories from sugar)	A can of Monster Energy Drink (473ml) contains around 54g of sugar (216 calories from sugar)	A bottle of Just Juice orange juice with stevia (350ml) contains 13.3g of sugar (53 calories from sugar)	An orange provides 17.56g of sugar (70 calories from sugar)
Types of sugar	Table sugar/sucrose (1 glucose + 1 fructose) or may contain HFCS*	Table sugar/sucrose (1 glucose + 1 fructose) or may contain HFCS*	Sucrose, fructose, glucose. May have added sucrose or HFCS*	Sucrose, fructose, glucose
Fibre content	None	None	Very minimal	Plenty
Effect on insulin secretion	Increases insulin secretion Causes insulin to spike	Increases insulin secretion Causes insulin to spike	Minimal insulin secretion Small insulin spike (unless it has a lot of added sugar)	Minimal insulin secretion, no spike (fibre slows absorption of fruit sugars)
Effect on the liver	Promotes fatty liver - sudden flood of fructose is a toxin to the liver.	Promotes fatty liver - sudden flood of fructose is a toxin to the liver.	Promotes fatty liver - sudden flood of fructose is a toxin to the liver.	Fibre means no sudden flood of fructose on the liver
Nutritional value	None	None	Low – processing destroys much of the nutrients	High – abundant in vitamins, fibre and antioxidants
Special Notes		Many contain high levels of caffeine. Side effects may be experienced with over 400 mg of caffeine. 1 cup coffee = about 100 mg of caffeine.

*HFCS - High Fructose Corn Syrup (is roughly ½ fructose and ½ glucose depending on the brand used). Can you spot what’s wrong with the empty-calorie foods on the table? By the way, why did we choose empty-calorie drinks (fluids) instead of empty-calorie solid foods? I’ll leave you to answer the first question. In answer to the second question, empty-calories from drinks have a significant impact on your weight. With the abundance of empty-calorie drinks available today, its easy to lose sight of healthy options like water in favour of lousy, delicious choices. If you want or need more calories, better not get them from fluids, try “real” food. Girl with Healthy Food

Sugary drinks don’t have the same bulking effect on the stomach as solid food does. This means that they don’t cause the same amount of appetite suppression as regular food. So of course you go on to eat a big lunch, even after you have downed a 1.5 ltr coke. See the problem? Bottom line? Water is still the best choice of beverage and it contains no calories. If you’re craving the sweetness of soft drinks, eat an orange or an apple WITH your water. Problem solved.

References

Mann, Jim, and A S. Truswell. Essentials of Human Nutrition. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.
Geissler, Catherine, and Hilary J. Powers. Fundamentals of Human Nutrition: For Students and Practitioners in the Health Sciences. Edinburgh New York: Churchill Livingstone, 2009. Print.
https://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories/empty-calories.html
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/82/4/721/4607427
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/32/12/2184.full