What's A Calorie? (And More Nutrition Buzzwords Defined)

There are a lot of terms that get thrown around in health articles. But do most of us actually know what they mean? Of course you can use the word calorie in a sentence, you know you don’t want too many or too few of them -- but what are they? Here, your back-to-basics cheat sheet.

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Antioxidants

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Antioxidants are substances that sop up free oxygen molecules, which some believe may prevent the damage that occurs naturally through daily life to our cells and DNA. When our tissue comes into contact with oxygen as we breathe and eat, a process called "oxidation" occurs which can set off a reaction that permanently damages cells -- and even DNA -- within your body. Although this is a lot of science talk, oxidative stress may contribute to the development of a host of conditions -- including cancer, cataracts, arthritis, stroke and heart disease. Antioxidants may contribute to the prevention of oxidative stress. Some of the most common antioxidants include Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Uric Acid and Melatonin. They can be ingested naturally through certain foods or be taken in supplement form.

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Antioxidants are substances that sop up free oxygen molecules, which some believe may prevent the damage that occurs naturally through daily life to our cells and DNA.

When our tissue comes into contact with oxygen as we breathe and eat, a process called "oxidation" occurs which can set off a reaction that permanently damages cells -- and even DNA -- within your body. Although this is a lot of science talk, oxidative stress may contribute to the development of a host of conditions -- including cancer, cataracts, arthritis, stroke and heart disease.

Antioxidants may contribute to the prevention of oxidative stress. Some of the most common antioxidants include Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Uric Acid and Melatonin. They can be ingested naturally through certain foods or be taken in supplement form.

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HuffPost blogger and Medical Advisory Board member Dr. David Katz, M.D., contributed to these definitions.

Comments

[Palitra Pitania]

01:15 AM on 08/02/2011

So many trends are copied from the US - Worldwide - Latest trend already dead in the US is now "finally" reaching Russia - ACAI berries - Would have been better to skip this one! http://www.palitra-pitania.ru/2011/05/news-80-superfruits/

[Jamiinvegas]

01:59 PM on 07/31/2011

Calories are not as important as where the calories came from . Sure it is simply a measurement of energy but what is put into the body is treated differently regardless. Simply look at the way "calorie free' food causes us to retain/gain weight. There is a better way to eat than all the fake food out there

[The Revolving Diet]

10:29 PM on 07/23/2011

Good information for those that are unsure of what certain nutritional meanings are.

I will share these on my own blog - information is always best passed around!!

Thanks!
The Revolving Diet

[ApolloniusofTyana]

03:03 PM on 07/23/2011

#2 (calories) is misleading. The calorie numbers you see on food labels are just estimates.

read this- http://dietforhumans.com/2011/06/05/where-do-calorie-numbers-on-food-labels-come-from/

[A George]

01:25 PM on 07/23/2011

I learned something about food coloring by watching TV. Some red food coloring is labeled as "carmine" or "cochineal" and can be found as a coloring for yogurt for example. What is carmine? It is a scale insect found in South America and Mexico. The insect produces carminic acid that deters predation by other insect. Carmine is extracted from the dried remains of the insects body and eggs and mixed with aluminum or calciuim salts to make carmine dye. Carmine dye was used as a dye in 15th century Central America for coloring textiles. Enjoy!

[se72748]

01:19 PM on 07/23/2011

Avoid, or ,greatly reduce,eating all foods that are white or made with white flour.Avoid or greatly reduce,eating, all processed foods of any color.This is excellant advise,but,be my guest and do what ever you want.

[Carol Moragas]

02:57 PM on 07/23/2011

I found this article to be very informative, and I plan on using it to eat in a healthier way.

[jokinok1]

12:58 PM on 07/23/2011

It is beginning to cost the food companies more to print these idiotic labels that they are forced to put on everything they produce than the cost of the food itself. The label on a can of pinto beans should read "Pinto beans". period.

[justwannaseehisface]

11:57 PM on 07/23/2011

If the can of Pinto Beans only contains Pinto Beans the label will read "contains Pinto Beans"

Starting 20 years ago I started eating God's foods - seeds, nuts, fruit, vegetables, legumes, fish and eggs. Most of these foods come from local growers and strengthen the economy. If the food conglomerates keeled over tomorrow we'd all be a lot better off - physically AND financially.

I appreciate your concern about jobs etc but most big businesses are anti-capitalist. They partner with Communists and thugs and stifle economic activity wherever they roost. The Republicans are NOT pro-business and neither are the Democrats for that matter.

[warehambr]

12:42 PM on 07/23/2011

Best thing to do is what I do, avoid all processed foods as much as possible.

[cheesesteak wid]

12:04 PM on 07/23/2011

All hype to bait the ill informed, scientifically undereducated , and calorie conscious public into buying crap. Your stomach acid is as strong as battery acid. Anything you ingest is chemically reduced to their fundamental building blocks. Proteins-doesn't matter what kind, turn into amino acids and short peptides. complex sugars are broken down to simple sugars.
The best way to control weight is to eat a third world diet!!! AND learn how to cook yourself-this does not include microwaving frozen crap.

[justwannaseehisface]

12:01 AM on 07/24/2011

That's right! I lived in Africa for awhile and when I returned to the US the "food" tasted like plastic.

[aries932]

09:41 AM on 07/23/2011

good article..haven't a clue what the hell they are talking about..pass the pie and ice cream please.

[justwannaseehisface]

12:03 AM on 07/24/2011

You may not know what they're talking about but you'll feel it in the morning.

[BluebirdofUnhappiness]

01:32 AM on 07/22/2011

Gad. The person who wrote this doesn't have a freakin' clue what these "buzzwords" (most are scientific terms, hardly buzzwords) actually mean.

[Arthur L]

01:34 PM on 07/21/2011

And I though trans-fats were fatties trapped inside men's bodies.

[badders]

10:57 AM on 07/21/2011

Richard Feynman said, "You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing — that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something."

Nutrition experts are people who hear information and process it this way. They repeat the concepts they learn about but they don't know the science behind it. Quite often that science is wrong. That is why the information they give changes all the time.

[onionboy]

03:42 PM on 07/21/2011

I don't know that the science is always wrong. More common is that it's non-existent or being used out of context with regard to how it's being cited.

You especially find this with the efforts to sell supplements. A study will show the important of a diet high in X or Y. The supplement companies say "take X or Y!!!". But that's not what the research said. The research said that diets high in X or Y provided their results. It doesn't mean a supplement will have the same effects because it doesn't take into account the co-factors, additional fiber, other nutrients, etc.

[Thomas Frizzensnitchel]

02:17 AM on 07/31/2011

That is right, after hearing "words" that didn't sound right on commercials for healthy products like bifodus regularis from the yogurt commercials when you google that term it says it is a marketing term. Nothing to do with health at all, It's all mostly hype anyway.

[se72748]

01:21 PM on 07/23/2011

you sound like a wise individual,reminds me of Rumy.

[William Anderson LMHC]

10:53 AM on 07/21/2011

I think you need to have an RD review and revise this. The reason to lean towards unsaturated fats instead of saturated fats is not their caloric difference (they are about the same), but the effect it has on your blood cholesterol and vessel health. Also, the naturally occurring carbohydrate in fruit, fructose, is a simple carb according to my staff dietitians, a natural sugar, more complex than sucrose, but simple compared to other carbohydates like that in broccoli. All simple carbohydrate is not "bad" for you. Having accurate nutrition information along with good behavioral science has helped me to lose 140 lbs, keep it off, and help others too. Let's make sure that bona fide experts in nutrition, Registered Dietitians, sign off on 'nutrition facts' before the Huffington Post publishes them.

William Anderson, LMHC
Author of 'The Anderson Method - Secrets of Permanent Weight Loss'
Blog: http://theandersonmethodblog.wordpress.com/

[Ross Parlette]

03:03 PM on 07/23/2011

Starches and half of sugar (sucrose) become serum glucose. The other half of sugar is fructose (as well as most sugar in fruits) and becomes fat directly. In most fruits, the fructose is a lesser constituent, so no biggie. OTOH, in POWER drinks, (with HFCS-55) there's a LOT of fructose and many folks drink a LOT of them, so they are a major contributor to serum (blood) triglycerides (fat).

Attributing obesity to behavioral problem buys into the fantasy that the obese are slothful gluttons. Rather, they are the victims of governmental disinformation about how to loose weight.

"Theories that diseases are caused by mental states and can be cured by will power," as Susan Sontag observed in her 1978 essay Illness as Metaphor, "are always an index of how much is not understood about the physical terrain of a disease." (Sontag, S, 1990, Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors, New York, Picador. Quoted in Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes)

[William Anderson LMHC]

12:06 PM on 07/24/2011

Along with recommending that one checks for the R.D. credential before listening to nutritional info, I recommend that one checks for credentials in behavioral medicine and sciences before accepting someone as an authority in those fields.

[sshegde]

10:51 AM on 07/21/2011

It's true that coconut oil is a saturated fat, however, It's slightly misleading when you group it with butter, lard, and other saturated fats. In reality, coconut iol, though a saturated fat, is probably better than hyped-up and commonly used unsaturated fats like corn oil, olive oil, vegetable oil etc. etc. Unlike every other fat both unsaturated and saturated that are long chain fatty acids, coconut oil is a medium chain fatty acid that gets metabolized right away in the liver and is the only commonly used fat that does not require bile salt emulsification for the uptake and digestion. Moreover, it's rich in lauric acid, building block of monolaurins.

[polishlogician]

07:26 PM on 07/21/2011

and it tastes good in coffee...

[robertaruth]

11:51 AM on 07/23/2011

You say "probably" better than olive oil? I think you're wrong. I would not place olive oil in the same category as corn oil or vegetable oil, etc. It is the only oil I ever use except for a tiny bit of butter in a non-stick pan when I make scrambled eggs.