To reduce your calories and lose weight, it is helpful to know which high-calorie foods to avoid. If you want to gain weight, choose foods that are high in calories but also high in nutrients. High-calorie foods are also often high in fat, so try to select healthy fats when you decide to eat high-calorie foods.
Fats and Oils
There are 9 calories in 1 g of fat compared to 4 calories in 1 g of carbohydrates or protein, so pure fats such as oils and butter are very high in calories. A tablespoon of shortening or oil has about 110 to 120 calories. Butter, palm and coconut oil are high-calorie sources of saturated fats, which increase levels of LDL, or bad, cholesterol in your blood. According to the Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center, many plant-based oils provide essential fatty acids that you need to get from the diet because your body cannot produce them. Corn, sunflower and soybean oil provide linoleic acid, an essential omega-6 fatty acid. Flaxseed oil provides alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid that may lower your risk for heart disease.
Nuts and Seeds
If you are trying to gain weight, nuts and seeds can be a healthy option because they are high in calories and healthy nutrients, but low in saturated fat and cholesterol-free. The Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center states that a 1-oz. serving of Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, cashews, almonds or pecans has about 160 calories, and even though they are technically legumes, peanuts are similar to nuts in their nutrition makeup. Nuts have heart-healthy nutrients including unsaturated fat, fiber, vitamin E and folate. Seeds such as pumpkin, flaxseed and safflower are also high in calories and unsaturated fats. Sunflower seeds have about 165 calories and 13 g unsaturated fat in one 1-oz. serving.
Fatty Meats
Fatty meats are high-calorie foods that contain unhealthy saturated fat and cholesterol, which raise levels of LDL cholesterol in your blood. The national database from the U.S. Department of Agriculture states that a 177-g piece of pork spareribs has 703 calories and 54 g fat, with 20 g saturated fat, which is the recommended maximum amount that a healthy adult on a 2,000-calorie diet should consume in a day. This serving also has 214 mg cholesterol. Other high-calorie meats include pork chitterlings, cuts of beef with visible fat, sausages and fatty luncheon meats such as bologna or salami. Lean protein sources are lower in calories, and better for your heart because they have less saturated fat. For example, a 71-g serving of skinless chicken breast has 81 calories and less than 1 g saturated fat.
References
- Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center: Essential Fatty Acids
- Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center: Nuts
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service: Nut and Seed Products
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service: Pork Products
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service: Fats And Oils
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service: Poultry Products
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