Empty Calories: What They Are And Foods That Contain Them

If you’re not careful, you could be adding empty calories to your diet and limiting the results of your efforts. To help prevent them, we’ll talk about them and the foods they’re in.

What are empty calories?

Empty calories are those that do not bring nutrients and therefore are not considered food either. What you’ll get from them is energy that, if it’s not wasted, quickly converts into fat that builds up and makes you gain weight.

One of the main problems is that foods high in empty calories often contain high amounts of sugars, dyes, saturated fats and trans fats. For this reason, not only do they not provide anything, they also generate health problems.

This class of calories is usually called “SoFAS”  for its terms in English “Solid Fats and Added Sugars”. If you’re a health-conscious person, you’ll probably already know that these ingredients are on the banned list in a healthy diet.

So, should we avoid these calories altogether?

After reading about the risks that empty calories bring, the question arises as to whether we should keep their consumption to a minimum. The reality is that the body requires these elements to function properly.

Think of calories as the gasoline that drives a car. If we don’t fill the tank, we won’t get anywhere. However, we must be careful when choosing foods that bring calories with nutrients.

Foods that contain empty calories

Among the foods that contain a greater amount of unhelpful calories and that you should avoid are:

Commercial cereals with sugar

Although you should include cereals in your daily diet to obtain carbohydrates, it is recommended to avoid industrial ones. These include corn flakes, instant oats and wheat derivatives.

Even though they may look very healthy, they often contain high amounts of sugars. If your lifestyle requires quick options and this one seems the best, look at the label.

Avoid those that contain high amounts of sugars, sodium and coloring per serving. It would be best to consume the high-fiber ones, even if the taste is not so pleasant.

Commercial soft drinks and beverages

Another of the products that contain high amounts of empty calories are commercial beverages. Here we can count the flavored waters, sodas, coffees, teas and any other that is ready for your consumption.

Even though soft drinks and beverages that advertise themselves as light contain less sugar, their calorie level remains high. This is due to the fact that to maintain their freshness, color and flavor they require sweeteners, sodium and other chemicals that are of no benefit to the body.

fried snacks

We know that occasionally we may crave some French fries while watching a TV series. Or maybe we went to the movies and couldn’t avoid the popcorn. However, we should know that because of the way these foods are prepared they bring in saturated fats.

The best alternative is to prepare your own fried snacks at home. If you like popcorn at the movies, try to make it small and occasional. For  chips  at home, it is best to prepare them fresh and baked. In this way it controls salt and avoids fats.

Breads

Both sweet bread and sliced ​​breads bring a lot of empty calories that are best avoided. We know this is not easy, as not everyone has the chance to prepare their own bread.

However, we  recommend avoiding those that are very commercial and have been prepared with refined flour. Whenever you can, choose the integral options.