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Associated Press

When it comes to losing weight, it turns out the simple maths of counting calories does not always add up.
Fad diets come and go, but the underlying message almost always follows a simple equation: if you consume fewer calories than you burn, the weight will melt away.
In principle, it is true. And counting calories can be a useful tool for managing weight. But it only works if you know what numbers you are counting. And what has been billed as basic maths can sometimes look more like Einstein’s theory of relativity.
That is because a complex web of factors influences how, or even if, our bodies process calories. And it turns out diet quality is just as important as quantity, and possibly more.
“Different foods have very different effects on the brain, liver, fat cells, muscle function, pancreas and all organs related to metabolism and body weight,” says Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University in the US state of Massachusetts.
Counting calories could burn you
A calorie is the unit of energy released by eating carbohydrates, proteins and fats. That sounds simple, but the complexity of counting calories went mainstream recently, when a lawsuit accused the maker of David protein bars of misrepresenting how many calories and how much fat the products contain. The lawsuit has since been dropped.
The allegations were based on an analysis of the bars using bomb calorimetry, which measures calories by burning food and calculating the amount of heat released, a method that counts every potential calorie.
But our bodies are not combustion chambers and don’t treat all calories the same. The company’s numbers, like many food labels, are based only on the calories our bodies can actually use. Technically, both are correct, but only the latter matters for diet.

“You could put sawdust into a bomb calorimeter and you would get basically 4 calories per gram,” says Dr David Ludwig, an endocrinologist and researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts. “If you’re a termite, yes, you’ll get calories from it. But humans won’t.”
The calorie counts on most nutrition labels reflect the total our bodies are likely to metabolise, not their burn rate. But they still can be misleading. Because of permitted rounding, the tallies can be off by as much as 20 per cent.
Additionally, the digestibility of an ingredient, whether and how it is cooked, to what extent it was processed, variations in processing, even quirks in our DNA, all of these things influence whether and how our bodies use the calories we eat. Even that is just the start of the complications.
Calories are simple. How your body uses them is not
Our bodies determine how to process calories – either burning them or storing them – depending in part on our energy needs. But the quality of the calories matters, too. High-glycaemic foods, such as white breads, pastas and sugars, are easily converted to usable energy and trigger our bodies to store calories, Ludwig says.
Foods containing resistant starches, including some beans, whole grains and seeds, resist easy conversion into usable energy and don’t trigger that same storage response. They also are more difficult to process, so we absorb fewer of the total calories contained in them.
“Having a snack of eight [fluid] ounces [236ml] of sugary drink at 100 calories, should be better for your weight than 1oz of nuts at 200 calories, right?” Ludwig says. “That’s the opposite of what actually happens because those 100 calories, even if they’re fewer at that moment, they shift your body towards storing fat and leave you hungrier sooner.”
Which, of course, triggers you to eat more.
Genetics lead our bodies to treat calories differently
Dr Fatima Cody Stanford, obesity specialist
Cooking and ripeness also influence the equation. Calories in cooked foods are more easily absorbed than from raw ingredients, while the calories in unripe produce, such as bananas, are less easily absorbed. This means the number of calories you get from eating a medium banana, which is listed at 105 calories, can depend on how ripe it is.
As for processing, including something as simple as grinding a food, can change caloric impact.
“One classic example is that the calories in whole almonds are absorbed substantially less well than the calories in almond butter,” Ludwig says. “Just processing the almonds into almond butter causes a change in how much they will be absorbed.”

Ultra-processed foods introduce another challenge. Diets high in such foods have been found to decrease the number of calories we burn at rest, Mozaffarian says. That means a higher proportion of those calories will stick to your ribs.
Then there is just plain old variation between people. Genetics lead our bodies to treat calories differently, says Dr Fatima Cody Stanford, a Harvard Medical School obesity specialist. Even something as simple as a bad night’s sleep can change how the body processes calories. So you might absorb more or fewer calories from the same food on different days.
Should you bother to count calories?
So what is a weight watcher to do? Calorie counts can be a rough guideline; many people otherwise struggle to make healthy choices or determine appropriate portions, Ludwig says.
But the evidence indicates people should focus on diet quality, not just calorie quantity. Avoid ultra-processed foods, particularly refined starches, and build your diet around whole, minimally processed foods with an emphasis on plant-based ingredients rich in fibre.
“We need to think about calories in a much more sophisticated fashion than the number on the package,” Ludwig says. “The number on the package can do more harm than good by misleading people into thinking that it’s simply an accounting problem.”


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Why losing weight is about more than counting calories – quality beats quantity

Weighing ingredients that you eat gives you a rough idea of calories, but your calorie uptake depends on a number of factors. Photo: Shutterstock

Several factors influence whether and how our bodies use the calories we eat, from the digestibility of an ingredient to whether and how it is cooked. Photo: Shutterstock

Calorie uptake from various foods is affected by many factors including ripeness, processing and our genetics. Photo: Edmond So

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Lychee season is here, but experts advise moderation due to its “heaty” nature and potential health risks. When consumed in moderation, however, the fruit offers a range of health benefits according to traditional Chinese medicine. Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto


TCM practitioner Karen Cheung says eating too many lychees can disrupt the body’s natural balance. Photo: karencheungtcm.com

TCM practitioner Cinci Leung suggests a daily limit of 10 to 15 lychees for adults, and five to 10 for children. Photo: Instagram/cincileung

How a 100kg father struggling to keep up with his 4-year-old lost 27kg in 6 months

Canlas with daughter Arya in August 2022 (left) and June 2026. Photo: Ayo Canlas

Ayo Canlas with daughter Arya in August 2022 (left) and June 2026. Photo: Ayo Canlas

A young Ayo Canlas plays tennis in 2011. Photo: Ayo Canlas

Canlas does overhead presses with his personal trainer, Shamus Sum. Photo: UP 

In October 2025, Canlas hit his highest weight of 100kg. Photo: Ayo Canlas

Canlas takes part in Hyrox Singapore in April 2026. Photo: Ayo Canlas

Canlas and his brother, Ino, at Hyrox Singapore in April. Photo: Ayo Canlas 

Canlas and his wife, Margarette, relax by the pool on a staycation in May, after he had lost 27kg. Photo: Ayo Canlas

Canlas before he started losing weight (left) and in May 2026 at 73kg.  Photo: Ayo Canlas

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Eating bananas for breakfast to help lose weight is trending on social media – again. Photo: Shutterstock

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Delhi-based nutritionist Ruchika Sodhi. Photo: Ruchika Sodhi

The Morning Banana Diet may be a good kick-start to a weight-loss journey, but a balanced diet and regular exercise are necessary for long-term success, according to Sodhi. Photo: Shutterstock

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How ultra-processed foods increase your dementia risk, and ‘healthy’ items to avoid

Ultra-processed foods, from instant noodles and breakfast cereals to bread, contain colourants, flavour enhancers and preservatives that can be detrimental to gut health and indirectly lead to a decline in cognitive health. Experts explain how and share which foods to avoid. Photo: Dickson Lee

Dr Helen Macpherson, an associate professor at Deakin University’s Faculty of Health, says “diet has a direct effect on the brain”. Photo: dementia.org.au

Many breakfast cereals are examples of ultra-processed foods. Photo: Shutterstock Images

Dr Michael Greger is an American doctor and author of the books How Not to Die and How Not to Age. Photo: Instagram/michaelgregermd

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Lifestyle

Health & Wellness

Health

Food & Drink

If you burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight. However, calorie uptake is affected by ripeness, processing and burn rate


If you burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight. However, calorie uptake is affected by ripeness, processing and burn rate.


Why losing weight is about more than counting calories – quality beats quantity

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}If you burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight. However, calorie uptake is affected by ripeness, processing and burn rate

If you burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight. However, calorie uptake is affected by ripeness, processing and burn rate