Does it matter what I eat as long as it is under my calorie count for the day?

This is the question that has generated a raging controversy in nutrition for years. The short answer is that yes, it absolutely matters. But that doesn’t mean you can ignore where they come from.

As far back as 1957, two researchers named Kekwick and Pawan investigated the question “is it what you eat?” or “is it how much you eat?” They put volunteers on a carefully controlled diet of 1000 calories a day, but 1/3 of the subjects ate 90% protein, 1/3 ate 90% fat and 1/3 ate 90% carbohydrates. The results were interesting and counter-intuitive: Those on the 90% protein diet lost .6 pounds a day, those on the 90% fat diet lost .9 pounds a day. And those on the 90% carb diet actually gained a little. Though the research findings are not all in agreement, enough studies now exist for us to be pretty sure that it’s easier to lose weight (especially body fat) with more protein and fat and less carbs in the diet, even when calories are kept the same.

But this has often been wrongly interpreted to mean that calories don’t count. I frequently hear from people who think they’re “doing Atkins” by eating unlimited amounts of fatty meat and cheese- sometimes thousands of calories a day worth- and are wondering why they aren’t losing.

Fact is, calories most definitely do count- but they’re not the whole story. For the best results, keep your calories relatively low—goal weight times 10 is a good starting place- but also pay attention to where those calories come from. Clean quality protein, good fat, unlimited vegetables and as little sugar as you can manage. Get the white stuff out and concentrate on “Paleolithic” food- stuff your ancestors could have hunted, fished for, gathered, plucked or grown. Stuff your great grandmother would recognize as food.

The bottom line: calories really do matter, but if you concentrate on eating real food- and less of it- you may not have to count calories as carefully.