Different people have different reasons for focusing on healthy foods. Maybe you're trying to lose weight. Perhaps you're pregnant and looking to eat healthier for the sake of your baby. Whatever the reason, one of the best ways to focus on healthy eating is to pay attention to the number of calories you're consuming on a daily basis and the number of calories in that snack you're about to eat.
Why Calories Matter
A calorie is a unit of energy found in food. Different types of foods have different levels of calories, making some foods enticing for those trying to lose weight. When it's all boiled down, the basic way to lose weight is to burn more calories--through normal physical activity and exercise--than you consume on a regular basis. In order to maintain your weight and stay healthy, you similarly must not consume more calories than your body burns during the day. Focusing on low-calorie health foods can help you meet or beat your calorie goals and help you strive for or maintain a healthy weight.
Federal Guidelines
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has placed strict guidelines on what food manufacturers are allowed to claim for their products in terms of calling them "low-calorie" foods. For example, for a particular type of food to be called low-calorie, it must contain 40 calories or fewer per a typical serving amount. Standard meals and dishes must contain no more than 120 calories per 100 g of food to qualify for the low-calorie label. This allows consumers to rest assured that the claims on food packaging are accurate when making their health food decisions. Similarly, any food labeled "reduced calories" or something to that effect must contain at least 25 percent fewer calories than a similar item or the normal-calorie alternative.
Low-Calorie Food Examples
Fitness magazine regularly publishes diet tips, including low-calorie health foods that are easy to prepare and great tasting. Some examples include a snack of a half slice of pita bread, 3 tbsp. hummus and 1/2 cup of pea pods, coming in at just 150 calories, or around 7.5 percent of the total recommended daily intake of calories. For a similar low-calorie dessert, you can also try drizzling 2 tbsp. chocolate syrup on 1 cup of cut strawberries for less than 150 calories.
Considerations
Just because a food is labeled "low-calorie" or "reduced calories" doesn't necessarily mean it's automatically healthy and poised to help you lose weight. Much of your weight loss has to do with the overall amount that you consume. Downing a half a bag of low-calorie chips means you're getting three to four times the recommended amount and still consuming a large amount of calories. Following the food label's recommended serving size is essential for making sure you're not going over on calories over the course of the day.
Finding Alternatives
If you're trying to go healthy with your diet and the types of foods you eat, it can be difficult to give up your favorite foods. But, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, eating healthy, low-calorie foods may be easier than you think if you just come up with healthier alternatives to your favorite snacks and meals. For example, substituting your favorite flavor of ice cream with a lower fat--and thus lower calorie--type of sherbet or frozen yogurt can make it so you don't have to give up on that tasty frozen treat. Go out on a limb and try a turkey burger with reduced fat cheese instead of a beef hamburger with full cheddar. You'll be eating healthier and saving on calories at the same time.
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