Many people in the nutrition blogosphere firmly believe calories are meaningless when it comes to weight control.It is their belief that weight is simply affected by diet composition (ie: 3,000 calories of a low-carb diet do not cause weight gain, while 2,000 of a higher-carb diet do).
Carbohydrates usually take the fall as causing weight gain and obesity.
Please riddle me this, then.
How do you explain anorexia nervosa?
These people -- including the runway model you see pictured here -- are severely underweight as a result of cutting total calories.
The majority of people living with anorexia have diets that, while extremely low in calories, consist mainly of carbohydrates (typical intake includes a large proportion of vegetables, fruits, and low-calorie foods like ricecakes and fat-free Jello).
In fact, the majority of clinical anorexia cases involve people on very low calorie diets that have virtually no fat or protein.
Don't just take my word for it.
A report by the American Dental Hygienists' Association states that "individuals with anorexia tend to ingest a lower than normal amount of food. However, the proportion of carbohydrates to protein and fats is higher than in the normal population."
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