health nerds – The Podcast about Species-Appropriate Living
"Calories arent tiny particles—they cant be good or bad. A calorie is simply a unit of energy."
Everybody talks about them; few truly understand them: calories. The little number on the label decides what we eat, how we train—and sometimes even how we feel. A calorie is pure physics: it describes the energy required to raise one gram of water by one degree Celsius. When a label says “500 calories,” its nothing more than stored energy—energy our body uses to move muscles, power organs, and generate heat.
But how much of that energy actually reaches the body? Not every one of those 500 calories gets utilized. Some is lost during digestion; some is excreted. How much energy we ultimately use depends on digestion, preparation, muscle mass, hormones, and even our gut flora.
Our daily energy needs are as individual as we are. Basal metabolic rate describes how many calories the body burns at rest to maintain vital functions such as breathing, heartbeat, and cell turnover—and this varies widely with age, activity, body composition, and lifestyle.
Energy sources matter, too: one gram of carbohydrate provides ~4 kcal, as does protein; fat provides more than twice as much—about 9 kcal. Alcohol sits in between at ~7 kcal. But what counts isnt just how many calories we consume, but where they come from—and what our body does with them.
Bottom line: calories are a tool, not a dogma. What matters is diet quality, adequate protein, movement, and awareness of how your body individually responds to energy.
Do you have questions about ADHD? Send them to us via voice message or text on Instagram. Our Health Nerds will answer them in next Thursdays Q&A.
HEALTH NERDS. Human, simply explained.
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Matthias Baum
Head of Science & Clinical Research. Gesundheitswissenschaftler, Therapeut für klinische Psychoneuroimmunologie, Heilpraktiker, Physiotherapeut, Trainer, Clinical Research Associate.
„Seit mehr als zwölf Jahren bin ich im medizinischen und therapeutischen Umfeld diverser Bereiche tätig: Von Notfallmedizin über Therapie in Kliniken und Praxen, inklusive Prävention und Gesundheitsförderung, bis hin zu Tätigkeiten als Dozent im Gesundheitswesen. Das gibt mir heute einen breiten Blick auf alle notwendigen Ebenen in der Betreuung, Beratung und Behandlung von Patienten für individuelle Gesundheit, Wohlbefinden und einen artgerechten Lebensstil.“
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