Difference Between Healthy And Unhealthy Calories?

By Ajanta Sen

Saturday, February 13, 2016, 13:31 [IST]

Not all calories are the same. For example, suppose you want to lose weight, you cannot say that 100 calories of fibre and protein are equal to 100 calories of cake.

The first thing you should know is, what is a calorie? Calorie is the amount of energy that is produced from the food that you eat. There are different types of calories that come from different sources of food.

Generally, there are 2 types of calories, namely, healthy calories and unhealthy calories. The healthy calories come from the unprocessed foods such as beans, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meats, etc.

The unhealthy calories come from the processed foods such as canned vegetables, breads, soft drinks, cookies, flavoured foods, candies, ready-to-eat foods, bacon, breakfast cereals, etc.

This article highlights some of the important points to understand the difference between the healthy calories and unhealthy calories

Health Advantages

The intake of unhealthy calories enhances the risk of numerous health issues such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart diseases, etc. Unhealthy calories lead to obesity, which in turn results in various critical health problems.

On the other hand, the intake of healthy calories improves your immunity, boosts your energy levels, improves your emotional balance and helps in weight management.

Studies say that the healthy calories from the whole-grain food intake can help prevent heart diseases and several other health problems.

Difference In Sodium Levels

Another difference between healthy calories and unhealthy calories is in the amount of sodium that they contain. The unhealthy calories contain higher sodium levels, whereas the healthy calories contain lesser amounts of sodium.

Higher sodium levels in foods can cause heart diseases, diabetes and obesity.

Difference In Costs

The next important difference between healthy calories and unhealthy calories is in their costs. It's a myth that healthy eating habits can empty your pockets.

According to the outcomes of some latest studies, eating food that contains healthy calories normally costs around 100-120 Rs more as compared to the cost of eating food that include the unhealthy calories.

This cost difference is very small if you compare it to the treatment costs of the ailments resulting from the consumption of the unhealthy calories.

Difference In Calories

When you talk about the calories, there is a vast difference between the healthy calories and unhealthy calories. The unhealthy calories resulting from the junk food intake will always leave your stomach unfulfilled and craving for more food.

On the other hand, an equal amount of healthy food calories will keep your stomach full for longer hours.

Difference In Nutrients

Foods that include healthy calories contain all the essential minerals and vitamins that your body requires. Moreover, when you consume the vitamin-rich foods, it improves your immunity system and your body can prevent many diseases from occuring.

The unhealthy calories, on the other hand, only increase the levels of sugar and bad fats in your body.

Difference In Fats

Unhealthy food calories abound with trans fats (or bad fats), saturated fats and sodium that enhance the risk of numerous diseases, whereas the healthy food calories contain the good fats that reduce the risk of diseases.

Difference In Carbohydrates

The healthy calories and unhealthy calories also differ in their carbohydrate content. Unhealthy calories contain the bad carbs in case of foods such as soda, doughnuts, pastries, candies, cookies, lemonade, etc, that are loaded with bad carbs.

These foods are not filling and make you feel more hungry.