What Are Empty Calories?!

You may have read the term "empty calories," or heard it used by nutritionists or even talk show hosts on TV. But what exactly are empty calories? Why are they so bad for you , and how can you avoid them?

"Empty Calories" describes foods high in calories but low in nutritional values (also known as junk food!), lacking the health-promoting micro-nutrients listed above.

Empty Calories = High Calories but Low Nutrition

Contains Calories: Carbohydrates, Protein and Fat (collectively known as Macro-nutrients)

No Calories: All vitamins & minerals including antioxidants (collectively known as Micro-nutrients) as well as fiber

Examples of foods containing mostly Empty Calories

*French fries, fried chicken, chips and all other deep-fried foods

A large order of fries from a fast food chain can contain up to 570 kcal with a whopping 30 g of total fat and 8 g of trans fat! Tons of calories from fat and very few micro-nutrients
*Candy, pop and other sweetened packaged foods

A can of pop contains about 130 kcal as well as additives and colorings. Again, lots of calories from sugar but no micro-nutrients
*Beer, wine and all other alcoholic beverages

A can of beer contains about 150 kcal from sugar and not much of anything else. In addition, calories from alcohol tend to be stored as fat in the abdomen (leading to a "beer belly")
*Refined grains such as crackers, cookies, white rice and white bread

Refined grains do provide some B vitamins, but that's it

so~ eat healthier ~ keep away from those empty calories ~

not olny keep you in good shape but also keep your body in good condition !!

haha ... this article actually is for me as well...

because I like having something sweet, something carbohydrate...

and still cannot get rid of them ≧－≦"/