Calorie Counting and Nutritionism

Calorie Counting and Nutritionism are taking on a new meaning in today’s world.

We don’t think about nutrition or survival very often but our bodies thrive and maintain themselves.

We really don’t need to be overly concerned with the quantity, quality or chemistry of our food.

Within reason our bodies will use what they want and dispose of the rest—through urine, feces, sweat, expelling it through breath or even spitting it out.

We don’t need to try to do calorie counting, or measure the quantity of the nutrition in the food that we eat. We can’t see the calories and we can’t know with any accuracy the amount that is in our food—along with the liquids and indigestible stuff that our food may contain.

Now we come to the mysterious and often misunderstood inner-world where we think we know more than we really know.

A skinny person with a high metabolism and a hefty person do not use the same amount of energy. Furthermore, they do not need the same amount of food. Their bodies will use what it wants, stores some for future needs and will throw out the rest.

Calories in and calories out is not a zero-sum proposition. There is no way that we can count or measure what our bodies need and then feed ourselves that amount. The best that we can do is to provide the nutrition—and then let our awesome computerized brains do their jobs of running the show.

Gut Microbes Work Without Calorie Counting

The trillions of microbes in our the gut will process the food without calorie counting. Also, they manufacture the mysterious nutrition that we need—we don’t even have names for some of the products they produce. They even manufacture things like B and K vitamins in the large intestine (poop-gut) that are then absorbed into the body as needed.

We are composed of more than 100-trillion cells, and each cell has 3-5 million events taking place at any one time. That is 100 X 10¹² X 3 X 10⁶ = 300¹⁸. That is 300 trillion million happenings at any one time.

These cells can order-in basic materials, manufacture their own repair parts, repair themselves, expel waste, heat their environment and still do the work that is required of them. That is, they can enable you to think, work, procreate and kill your neighbor.

That is a lot of work being done—and all they ask for is basic nutrition. They accomplish that awesome task without us being concerned with the exotic chemistry of their realm.

This awesome task takes place under supervision of the mighty brain. Lest we forget, the dog, horse and other lowly critters are similar to us—even though we may believe them not to be able to “think.”

All they need is grass that is grown in healthy dirt in order to get the needed nutrition.

We should pay attention to eating the green things grown in good dirt. Also, the eating of the things that eat the green things. I think that is the key to us having a good diet and staying healthy.

A good read: Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food.

Bacteria for Breakfast, Dr. Kelly Karpa