1 cal =/= another?

AllTheGainz

Active member
Awards
0
Someone in my social group tried to make this argument. "1 calorie of protein isn't the same as 1 calorie of fat"." Now if he had changed calorie to gram then I would agree with this. But we are talking in terms of energy. So 1 cal will always equal 4184 joules of energy. Granted the body has to go through different processes to get the calorie but in the end 1 calorie is equal to another regardless if it goes through the Kreb's cycle or skips it and goes to the electron transport chain.

I ended up giving up on the argument because he couldn't seem to understand what I was saying.

Arguing with him is getting tedious as he often tries to undermine me when I'm talking about nutrition with others and I'm not sure how to get it across to him.
 

fakeazzrock

Member
Awards
0
Any chance he was trying to say our body uses the 1 Cal of protein different than 1 Cal of fat? Or is he just dumb? LOL
 
NurseGray

NurseGray

Well-known member
Awards
0
Yea a calorie is a unit of measure or approximate amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius at a pressure of one atmosphere. So 1 calorie is equal to 1 calorie.
 

AllTheGainz

Active member
Awards
0
He's not the sharpest tool in the shed.
 
Rodja

Rodja

Board Sponsor
Awards
3
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
Fat is going to yield more energy after digestion than protein. Up to 30% of proteins calories are burned off as heat. 100 calories of protein consumed is going to have different net calories than 100 calories of fat.
 

fakeazzrock

Member
Awards
0
Fat is going to yield more energy after digestion than protein. Up to 30% of proteins calories are burned off as heat. 100 calories of protein consumed is going to have different net calories than 100 calories of fat.
That's why I asked my question too. Essentially if I'm strictly arguing if a calorie is a calorie then I'm not very smart. But if I'm arguing our body utilizes these calories differently or the difficulty each type of calorie, that's different. As we know from posts above and science classes, the calorie is designated with the burn. A calorie of fat is not utilized for energy at the same rate as protein, hence the push for a high protein diet. Get your daily caloric intake and allow your body to absorb and digest the better calorie.
 

Similar threads


Top