1. Eating Healthy Is Our Density...Er, Destiny
As we well know, not all foods are created equal. An apple is healthy, chocolate cake isn't. A salad is a much healthier way to go than a slice of pizza. One reason for this is that every food has a certain caloric density, or an average amount of calories in one ounce or gram of that food. The less fat and more water a food has, the lower its caloric density. For instance, a gram of vegetables has a far lower caloric density than a gram of pasta.
2. For Good or Bad, All Foods Are Dense
All foods have a caloric density. Some are low, such as rice, fruits and vegetables, and some are high, such as cheese, meats and foods high in fat. Most fruits and vegetables have less than one calorie per ounce or gram. On the other end of the spectrum, most meats are high in caloric density; for example, bacon has well over five calories per ounce. So, an apple a day will keep the calories away!
3. High Caloric Density Equals Expanding Waistline
Why do we get fat? Looking at it from a caloric density viewpoint, it's because we are eating too many foods that have high caloric density. Thus, we consume more calories to satisfy our hunger and add on extra pounds around the middle. A small slice of cake or a few cookies might not seem like much on the plate, but these foods are packed with high calories per ounce, and it then becomes a matter of simple mathematics: more calories equals an expanding waistline. And remember, any foods high in saturated fat or made with hydrogenated oils or white flour are always high in caloric density.
4. Dieting With Density
To keep with the mathematics, to lose weight simply becomes a matter of subtracting the foods that have a high caloric density from our diets and eating only those foods with low caloric density. An apple or a banana as a snack will go a long way toward dropping those unwanted pounds. However, you don't have to deprive yourself totally of meats and other foods high in caloric density. Smaller portions of meats and pasta mixed with more vegetables and fruit is a healthy and smart way to lose weight and is the basis for some diets, such as the well-known Pritkin Program.
5. The Lows and Highs of Caloric Density
In some cases, foods can be processed in a way that changes their caloric density from low to high. For instance, grinding up or refining some grains can change their caloric density, or adding fats to these grains will also up the density. Corn has a very low caloric density when eaten fresh, but when it's used to make corn muffins, the caloric density rises to over four calories per gram. In short, eat an apple...but stay away from the apple pie.
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