How Empty Calories Deceive Our Body

Even though you’ve consumed a few hundred calories, something still urges you to keep eating. Many would say this isn’t real hunger, but emotional hunger. That’s partly true—however, it’s actually a textbook case of hunger for real nutrients, and this happens to everyone. Why?

What Are Empty Calories and Why Should We Take Them Seriously?

Simply put, empty calories are the kind that fill your stomach and burden your body, but don’t give your body the right tools to do anything useful. After eating them, we feel sleepy, lack energy, and are often irritable—as if we threw paper into a fireplace instead of logs. It flashes, it burns...and in a minute, it's out.

Science says these are calories from foods that contain almost no vitamins, minerals, or fiber—that is, those components our bodies truly need to function. We most often find them in sugary drinks, pastries, snacks, fast food, and similar items. The most famous culprits are sodas, candy bars, sweets, chips, crackers, and of course—frozen fast food.

Even though one can of sweetened soda contains about 140 calories, it has not a single gram of fiber, no vitamins, and no beneficial fats. Yet, that same amount of energy can be found in a cup of cooked beans—for the same number of calories, beans also give you 15 grams of fiber, iron, folic acid, and protein.

What Does Science Say?

A 2019 study by the American National Institutes of Health (NIH) showed that people who eat ultra-processed food (which is another term for empty calories) eat, on average, 500 more calories per day than those who eat unprocessed food. In four weeks, that’s nearly 2 kilograms of extra body mass—and all without ever truly feeling full.

The Body Seeks Nutrients, Not Calories

Our ancestors understood this long ago—they ate slowly, seasonally, and moderately. In the morning, porridge with milk, at noon stew, and in the evening something light. There was no refined sugar, but still no one complained about lack of energy.

The problem with today’s food is that it satisfies us only in appearance. The body eats 500 calories in three minutes—but it doesn’t get the “key to the locked cabinet” where the nutrients are stored. So the body starts searching further. And us? We open the cabinet again—and take another croissant.

Monosodium Glutamate—The Silent Manipulator of Flavor

Here we touch upon another trick of the modern food industry: flavor enhancers. The best known is monosodium glutamate, or simply MSG—this is an ingredient found almost everywhere: in instant soups, chips, Chinese food, even in some spice mixes. It’s a compound that gives food a richer taste, which makes our brain think we're eating something “nutrient-rich.” In reality, it’s just empty deception. MSG doesn’t nourish you—it just convinces you that you wanted to eat more.

Chinese sages have long known that balance in the body does not come from quantity, but from quality. And even though MSG isn’t dangerous in small amounts, its main effect is that it makes it harder to listen to your body. And that’s the essence of a healthy diet—knowing what your body needs, and giving it just that.

Link With Chronic Diseases

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been warning for more than a decade about the direct link between the consumption of empty calories and the occurrence of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and even some cancers. The numbers are not encouraging:

• In Europe, more than 60% of adults are overweight,
  
  
  
  
• globally, more than 420 million people have diabetes,
  
  
  
  
• every year more than 17 million people die from cardiovascular diseases.

And behind all this, most often, stands a diet rich in calories but poor in nutrients.

Why Don’t Empty Calories Satisfy Us?

The fact that we eat something doesn’t mean we’re nourished. The feeling of fullness isn’t just about the amount of food, but above all, its quality. For example—a piece of bread and butter gives us about 200 calories, but we’ll be hungry again in an hour. A bowl of oats with walnuts and berries has a similar calorie value, but keeps us satisfied for hours. The difference is fiber, proteins and healthy fats—these are the things that stop hunger.

How to Avoid Them Gracefully?

You don’t have to give up everything you like. According to the old wisdom—“too much of anything is unhealthy.” If you sometimes eat a piece of cake—that’s not a big deal. But if every day starts with a chocolate breakfast, an energy bar in the car, and pizza for dinner, then you’re already in the trap of empty calories.

Smart Tips Already Known to Our Grandmothers:

• Always eat something before going shopping—a hungry person makes the most unnecessary purchases.
  
  
• Keep nuts on hand—a handful of walnuts or almonds is better than chips.
  
  
• Cook at home—even one pot of homemade soup will nourish body and soul.
  
  
• Drink water—often we’re thirsty, but mistake it for hunger.

A Few Words About Emotional Hunger

In folk medicine it’s long been known that food is not just fuel—it’s also comfort. But the difference between real and emotional hunger is obvious. If hunger strikes an hour after dinner and we raid the fridge without thinking, that’s most likely a search for comfort, not food. In that case, better make yourself some tea. Try chamomile, lemon balm or mint—it calms the spirit and fills the inner emptiness differently than food does.

Let’s Combine the Wisdom of Our Ancestors and Modern Research

When we combine the old with the new, we get a recipe for health: listen to your body, eat simple and nutritious food. According to Harvard School of Public Health, the most nutritious food groups are: leafy green vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and fresh fruit. And if we look at traditional recommendations—what did people use to eat? Beans, buckwheat, apples, walnuts. Practically the same.

In short—it’s not just how much you eat that matters, but what you eat. Empty calories are like stowaways in your diet—at first they enchant you, but then they cause long-term harm. Yet, with a bit of knowledge, some wisdom, and a pinch of willpower, you can restore natural balance. Your body will be grateful...

Information on this website is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice.