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?

I happen to sell healthy food...   But I can't afford TV advertising because the margins in genuinely healthy food (produce in my case) are very, very low indeed and there's nothing spare.   Manufacturers are not responsible for advising us which food is the most healthy but they do spend millions influencing our eating behaviour to their own ends.  If the average person is exposed, day in day out, to persistent and very clever advertising that subtly informs them....

• 'you don't have time to cook a meal.....',
• 'our low-fat biscuit means you can enjoy yourself without feeling guilty',
•  'this low cal TV-dinner will help you get as slim as the smiling model eating it',
•  'if you've no time for breakfast our (very sugary) cereal bar has as much calcium as a glass of milk... ', 
• 'your kids will prefer our fried chicken out of a box much more than this dreary family sit-down dinner we've staged for the advert' 

... that's the steady stream of 'advice' we're getting 24/7 and have done so for 50 years+. 

Original Post by pgeorgian:

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?

You are stating what many people avoid.....we all try to find ways to cheat, trick, or sneak around weightloss. The real issue is self control. For years I looked for low fat..no fat....low calorie....until it occured to me the human race was is great shape for tens of thousands of years. Why? Because they only had access to healthy foods and ate for nourishment like you point out. Over the past several months I have switched to healthy choices and portions. No soda...lots of salads....good proteins like chicken...and I eat three meals a day with minimal snacks(which are fruits, nuts, or whole grain breads). Weightloss can be VERY easy.....watch the calories! And...I don't plan "reward" days....or "treat" days....or anything like that. Just watch the daily intake and always exercise.

Original Post by gi-jane:

• 'you don't have time to cook a meal.....',
• 'our low-fat biscuit means you can enjoy yourself without feeling guilty',
•  'this low cal TV-dinner will help you get as slim as the smiling model eating it',
•  'if you've no time for breakfast our (very sugary) cereal bar has as much calcium as a glass of milk... ', 
• 'your kids will prefer our fried chicken out of a box much more than this dreary family sit-down dinner we've staged for the advert' 

... that's the steady stream of 'advice' we're getting 24/7 and have done so for 50 years+. 

I really don't buy it when someone tries to blame food companies for 'influencing' peoples' eating habits. It's your own damn fault if you seriously buy into such obvious and ridiculous "advice." Use your head.

You may not buy into it but there is an effect.  You may well be immune from the messages of advertising and you may think that your eating behaviour or food choices have never once been influenced by a marketing message but sales figures, eating habits and product preferences suggest that many others take what they see and respond accordingly.   Yes, it's 100% down to the individual what they eat (I am using my head incidentally) and we can't blame a manufacturer for our own poor food choices but if advertising didn't change habits companies wouldn't pay for it. 

And hence.... back to 'calorie-free' products.  At some point in the recent past they did not exist and someone invented them.... and then advertised them as a 'solution' to the problem of eating too many calories.... and then people bought them for high prices.  Sensible people like you, of course, would have solved the problem and saved a lot of money at the same time by realising all they needed to do was simply eat less...