All of us are familiar with those mysterious little creatures that sneak into your closet at night & make your clothes get smaller, WACH Fox's Get Fit Stay Fit correspondent Christy Sequin clears up some of the myths about "calories."

Real definition of ‘calorie’:  It was first defined by Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat, entering French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. 

--A food calorie approximates the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 °C. 

--Latin word ‘calor’ meaning ‘heat’.

An archaic term & measurement.

The body isn’t a fireplace or coal stove.    We don’t burn our food like logs on a fire.

Useful as a standardized unit of measurement only.

The food is not burned, it’s digested, which starts in the mouth with chewing & the digestive enzymes in our saliva.  Then moves to the stomach & then on to the small & large intestine, where the constituents of the food are absorbed & used by our bodies to rebuild & repair our cells.

This does produce heat, and the body does use the energy from food to fuel everything from brain activity to exercise.  

A calorie, is a calorie, is a calorie.  Right???  WRONG!!!

Remember, the food isn’t ‘burned’ like coal or gas or wood.  It’s broken down into its individual  molecular components of protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, etc.    If it’s really FOOD, your body will use it to build stronger cells.   If it’s not FOOD, the body will attempt to get rid of it, or if overwhelmed, it will store it in White Adipose Tissue—better known as bodyfat. 

(Compare apple to 100-calorie snack pack. )

White Adipose Tissue is the body’s self storage facility for toxins.

Eat to feed your CELLS, not your brain’s pleasure receptors!