Why We Don't Count Calories

The Calorie idea was flawed at its inception. This model of nutrition presumes that calories are equivalent. A calorie of white flower is the same as a calorie in Whole Wheat Grain. This is simply a misunderstanding of the complex nature of nutrition. A gram of Whole Wheat Grain with its Bran and Germ (the dark covering on the Whole Grain) delivers much more than 4 calorie equivalents! This reductionist model ignores modern observations on the complex interaction of Whole Food in the prevention and potential treatment of chronic diseases. When they remove the dark Bran and Germ outer surface of Wheat or Rice in the refining process, they remove most of the vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemistry (*see below). These micronutrients are the life sustaining nutrients on which we thrive and heal. A calorie is not just another calorie.

Calorie Counting, to which serial dieters will attest, is cumbersome, exhausting, and demoralizing. People burn out trying to do it. They find it pointless, and they give up.

Dr Neal Barnard of the Barnard Medical Center in Washington, D.C., has performed work demonstrating that a low-fat Plant-Based diet may be more beneficial in controlling blood sugar and cholesterol than the calorie conscious ADA diet often used in diabetic counseling (** see below).

We cannot simplistically reduce dietary intake to a specific number of calories, nor can we eat a specific food, or take a vitamin, or supplement to achieve the desired effect. 

At Dr John’s Nutrition Health, we do not count calories. We simplify the process. Dr John advocates a wholistic plant-based nutritional program of Greens, Fruits, Grains, Nuts, and Seeds that give your body the opportunity to achieve a new healthy you. We help you understand what is best to eat. You and your body decide how much you need.