While the goal is always to consume a normocaloric pattern of nutrition (meaning that the calories ingested match your personalized metabolic needs), there are a few things to keep in mind. For example, when caloric intake regularly exceeds needs, this can result in energy balance be out of place
When it comes to achieving energy balance, I don’t have to tell you that our current food environment is working against us. In recent decades, we have experienced a major double whammy: serving sizes have increased dramatically, while the nutritional quality of our food has plummeted.
Moreover, we know from rodents and primates, to Homo sapiens ourselves: conserving calories not only helps achieve and maintain a healthy weight, but more importantly, results in positive changes in body composition, meaning less excess adiposity (fat mass) and more muscle tissue lean (fat-free mass).
On the other hand, excess calories, fat storage, insulin resistance, and a shorter life are all intertwined. It’s not a fun web to get tangled up in. For example, we know that elevated insulin levels are clearly associated with accelerated aging, a relationship that is conserved across many species.
Consuming fewer calories from food is directly linked to cardiometabolic health benefits in the realm of insulin sensitivity, heart physiology, and even liver health. In addition, clinical studies indicate that being frugal with calories leads to improvements in biomarkers that indicate “the rate of aging is slowed.”
Is anyone else in awe that we have the ability to literally control our own rhythm for our well-being and fullness of life? Personally, I find it very empowering.
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