food has calories

this is just something i was thinking about while walking the dog yesterday.

there are a few people on this site (and elsewhere) who seem determined to seek out and try every "zero calorie" product on the market.  i find this troubling.  here's the thing: nutrition is necessary, and nutrition has calories.  cancel that: nutrition is calories.  if a product doesn't have calories, it isn't food. 

so this is my question: why would you want to eat something that isn't food?  all it does is trick you into feeling like you've eaten more; if you're trying to learn to recognize hunger and satiety, it's doing exactly the opposite of what you want it to do. 

am i the only one who finds this problematic?

Isn't Diet Coke like that? It tricks people into thinking that they're full after finishing a can. The amount of gas helps a lot in the trickery too. :\

I think it makes sense for drinks. If you really don't want water but you don't want to use up your calorie budget a zero calorie soda with your meal will make you not thirsty anymore without increasing the calories in your dinner.

Ive always appreciated the reduced calories of sugarfree items along with my normal calorie main foods but never have understood the quest for calorie-free food. Those foods that at a serving fall under the 1 calorie Ive never found hunger satisfaction in.

i dunno if it makes sense for drinks (but then, i don't drink soda - diet or otherwise).  the thing is, even if it makes you feel full, it won't make you feel nourished.  and if you don't feel nourished, aren't you going to want to eat?  and eating when you feel full is totally contrary to the whole point.

i mean, a glass of milk (or a mug of homemade cocoa) makes me feel full and nourished.  isn't that what food should do?

hmmm... I'ld be curious what zero calorie foods you've found.... I understand the soda... and the occasional zero calorie flavoring (like popcorn spray or the spray salad dressings) but are there really any zero calorie "foods"?

Ice cubes have zero calories...

Okay sorry, being sarcastic...

I too would like to know which foods are zero calories. I assume you mean super low cal like fat free/sugar free jello (5 cals) etc.  My opinion is this: As long as you are getting your nutrition from eating other good-for-you foods that day in the proper amounts, I don't have a problem with using the super low cal or zero cal items to satisfy my psychological or emotional need to munch on something 'extra-curricular'...those items help some of us stay within our calorie budget for the day and make me feel like I'm eating more than I actually am + trick my body into thinking I've indulged. It's true that we should be above emotional relationships with food, but the truth is that a lot of us aren't. 

I think it makes sense for drinks because they're not so much about nourishing you, per se, as they are about hydrating you.  (In a way, I consider milk to be more of a food than a drink because unlike other drinks it actually fills me up and sates my hunger.)  So, whether I have a glass of water or a glass of sugar-free iced tea or a glass of Coke Zero, I've consumed a glass of mostly-water and quenched my thirst.

Original Post by jpm_jess:

hmmm... I'ld be curious what zero calorie foods you've found.... I understand the soda... and the occasional zero calorie flavoring (like popcorn spray or the spray salad dressings) but are there really any zero calorie "foods"?

 Walden Farms has zero calorie stuff and it is pretty good. They have peanut butter, chocolate syrup, bbq sauce, salad dressings, marshmallow topping, chocolate dip, carmel dip, and pancake syrup. I buy it on occasion if I get a craving for one of the above.

Original Post by hawkychico:

Walden Farms has zero calorie stuff and it is pretty good. They have peanut butter, chocolate syrup, bbq sauce, salad dressings, marshmallow topping, chocolate dip, carmel dip, and pancake syrup. I buy it on occasion if I get a craving for one of the above.

 Oh my god I've gotten their dressings and they tasted AWFUL! Seriously, I eat a lot of sugar free stuff, but for the first time in my life when I had WF's dressing it tasted like a bunch of chemicals. So not worth it.

I eat some zero calorie stuff well er drink, like the teas. I also use the butter spray..but I would imagine even those things have some calories if eaten in big amounts. This stuff might not be super nutritional, but it does give you a flavoring or taste of something not as bland and can help someone who is dieting. In all honesty though I think water is the only zero calorie drink/food out there it's just the stuff labeled zero calorie don't have enough calories in them to worry about. The general rule is anything under 5 calories on a label can be listed at 0. So you have to watch out for that.

wow i wonder what is in that stuff...  hmm

someone post ingredients? hehe

Yea spray butter really isn't fat free..

12.5 sprays (2.5 grams) = 10 calories; 1 fat gram 
25 sprays (5.0 grams) = 20 calories; 2 fat grams 
27.5 sprays (7.5 grams) = 30 calories; 3 fat grams 

24 sprays or 1 teaspoon = 17 calories; 1.9 fat grams 
72 sprays or 1 tablespoon = 52 calories; 5.8 fat grams

the entire bottle contains 900 calories and 90 grams of fat

I share your concern.  In times gone by some people would eat tissue paper (and who knows, they still might?) in order to fill up their stomach with something that contained no calories.  I suppose a vitamin pill would contain very few calories but is arguably 'nutritious'.  However, I generally think it's better to eat real food with calories and with nutrition (fibre, protein, vitamins)..... and not the modern equivalent of tissue paper. 

Original Post by gi-jane:

I share your concern.  In times gone by some people would eat tissue paper (and who knows, they still might?) in order to fill up their stomach with something that contained no calories.  I suppose a vitamin pill would contain very few calories but is arguably 'nutritious'.  However, I generally think it's better to eat real food with calories and with nutrition (fibre, protein, vitamins)..... and not the modern equivalent of tissue paper. 

Oh, that made me think of rice-paper. The edible paper stuff you use in baking. Full of sugar and god knows what else...but i could eat a pack when i was a kid.

The issue of zero calorie is not about nourishing anyway, is to allow you to eat a little more without going over your daily calorie allowance. Have them if you like the stuff and don't worry about the chemical processes involved in the production and their not tested long term effects. I drink diet soda ocasionally but I try to avoid it.

There are also zero cal or very low cal veggies like celery. I think diet soda, sugar-free gum, sugar-free mints, serve as more of a distraction than a way to fill your stomach. You're eatting mints because you dont want to eat cake; you do it for the same reason you would paint your nails, or go for a walk, to distract you from eatting when you're not really hungry. Eatting zero cal foods can distract you from eatting bad foods.

It's true that EVERYTHING has calories except water. Even diet cola has 1 cal per 8 oz or so. I do agree that things like butter spray and diet sodas can help you get the flavor without all the calories but it's just not healthy to constantly put that stuff in your body.

Even beyond that, calories are seen as a bad thing whereas really, they're just a measure of energy. It's what fuels our bodies and I think far too many people don't see that.

I don't think there's actually anything that's really zero calories besides water. Stuff may claim to have zero calories per serving, but really it just has less than 5.

If we're talking about stuff that's made to contain less calories through more processing like sugar-free or fat-free things, I think it's generally fine to consume those as long as you're still getting adequate nutrition through other food choices. These alternatives shouldn't really be making up the bulk of your intake.

huh.  well, at least gi-jane gets it.

I think the zero-calorie thing is also symptomatic of the fear & confusion surrounding eating in general.  The extent to which a lot of people have lost touch with what is genuinely good to eat as distinct from what is purely edible.  If I was the cynical type I would say that the food industry were consipiring to promote this ... because it's very profitable to make calorie-free, fat-free, sugar-free, carb-free etc. products that cater to people who have been conditioned  to think that calories/fat/sugar/carbs  are intrinsically harmful and to be avoided.  Advertising is very powerful

I think there's a big distinction between the 'tissue paper' fake produts and naturally low-calorie foods like salads or skimmed milk.  But no manufacturer is ever going to promote the idea that we should eat less of the former and more of the latter, are they?

Original Post by gi-jane:

But no manufacturer is ever going to promote the idea that we should eat less of the former and more of the latter, are they?

They will if they sell it. Because, you know, that's their job. I don't think it's the manufacturers' responsibility to keep you informed on what food is the most healthy.