Empty calorie
Encyclopedia : E : EM : EMP : Empty calorie
The phrase empty calories describes the content of high-energy foods with poor nutritional profiles, typically from processed carbohydrates or fats. An "empty calorie" has the same energy content of any other calorie but lacks accompanying micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals or amino acids as well as fiber such as is found in whole grains. Michael Jacobson, head of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, coined the term in 1972.
Empty-calorie food is opposite to nutrient-dense food. The idea is simple: not to gain excess weight, people need to balance calories in and out. When the calorie intake is limited, there is a risk of not getting all the minerals and vitamins required for health. So it is easy that people substitute nutrient-dense food — for example, fruit and vegetables — for empty-calorie food.
Example of foods containing mostly empty calories:
- Candy, Soft drinks, beverages with a low juice component, and other foods containing Sugar
- White bread and other products of white flour
- White rice
- Margarine or shortening
- Beer, wine, and other alcoholic beverages
- Butter, lard, and other highly-saturated fats.
- High fat foods such as hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken, pizza, potato chips, and French fries
References
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.