Why the government is wrong to raise the recommended daily intake of calories
You’re reading my blog for diet tips. For this I must applaud you as you must be fairly intelligent. Having established this fact, you must be pretty confused as to why the UK government has gone back on it’s advice regarding calorie intake. According to the latest information released, women and men can eat an extra 16% of the original government recommended daily intake of calories without gaining weight.
Women can apparently safely consume an extra 320 calories whereas men can have an extra 400 calories. To make it easy, that is a small cheese burger a day you can eat on top of your diet. Apparently.
As I said, you’re probably fairly intelligent so you will understand that this advice could blow back in the face of the DoH when the UK is set to rival America in 2012 with a third of adults being overweight if current trends continue. So why am I outraged?
Everybody processes calories and converts food into energy at different rates. What’s good for the goose is not always good for the gander. This is because our current weight and the speed at which we metabolise mean that a blanket one-size-fits-all approach is not suitable when advising adults how many calories they should eat. There are methods by which you can calculate how many calories you can eat to maintain your weight but this is complicated and should be done with an expert who you are fully honest with.
Michael Phelps can eat far more than the average person as he burns calories off swimming to an Olympic standard.
At the Beijing Olympics last year, it was revealed that Olympic swimmer, American Michael Phelps ate 10,000 calories a day. His breakfast was:
- three fried egg sandwiches, with cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, fried onions and mayonnaise,
- three chocolate-chip pancakes
- a five-egg omelette
- three sugar-coated slices of French toast
- a bowl of grits (a maize-based porridge)
- two cups of coffee
However a woman weighing 10 stone may only be able to eat 1800 calories a day to maintain her weight but a smaller woman with greater muscle mass may be able to have 2200 calories a day. A guideline such as this is dangerous for those who stick to these guidelines but does not have a particularly active metabolism.
Also, studies have indicated that people misjudge the amount of calories they actually eat. This is why you should keep a rigorous and detailed diary of everything that you put in your mouth, including drinks.
If you are currently trying to lose weight, keep a strict food diary and log everything you eat. Yes, unfortunately, you must be clear about your portion sizes too. Weigh your food if it helps. From there you will be able to calculate what you honestly consume in a day and from there you can make your own boundaries.
As even a spokesperson for the National Obesity Forum said, this is not a green light for people to eat themselves silly. In this situation, I wholeheartedly suggest dieters ignore government advise on this issue as I feel they are not only giving out mixed messages, they could further contribute to the growing obesity crisis.
I don’t think I could walk after Michael Phelp’s breakfast, let alone swim to an olympic standard!!
individual metabolic rates are so different. Of course at 5ft 8ins and going to the gym 2/3 times a week, I can eat a hell of a lot more than someone who is 5ft tall and has a 30 minute stroll every day. Then again, a woman at 5ft 4ins with a higher muscle mass than me is going to need more than i am to keep her going since I still don’t have a lot of muscle going on
the government can’t tell us all to eat 2200 calories a day
This is one of those things that really frustrates me. So many people think that because they are a man or woman of a certain height and build they can eat xxxx calories a day. If it were only that simple. I am not saying calories don’t have anything to do with it, but the point you bring up is often overlooked. We all burn calories at a different rate. Furthermore, my body may be designed to more effectively digest grains than someone else’s body; therefore, those calories burn more effectively in me.
Great points in this Louisa.
By the way, the new color scheme looks nice.