Recap: Why you should stop counting calories | Giles Yeo

What It Covers

Biologist Giles Yeo explains why calorie counting fails for weight loss, how the body extracts different energy from foods, and why appetite involves hunger, fullness, and reward circuits.

Key Questions Answered

• •Energy extraction varies by food: The body works harder to extract calories from different foods. Eating 100 calories of sweet corn results in far fewer absorbed calories than 100 calories of processed food due to digestion effort.
• •Calories are nutrient-blind: A calorie count reveals only energy content, providing zero information about fat, sugar, fiber, or salt. This allows 300 calories of soda to appear equivalent to 300 calories of salad despite vastly different nutritional impacts.
• •Appetite operates as three circuits: Hunger, fullness, and food reward function as separate brain systems forming a triangle. When fuller, people require more energy-dense foods (high fat or sugar) to continue eating, explaining the dessert stomach phenomenon.