Calories—too few or too many—are the source of health problems affecting billions of people in today’s globalized world. Although calories are essential to human health and survival, they cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted. They are also hard to understand. InWhy Calories Count, Marion Nestle and Malden Nesheim explain in clear and accessible language what calories are and how they work, both biologically and politically. As they take readers through the issues that are fundamental to our understanding of diet and food, weight gain, loss, and obesity, Nestle and Nesheim sort through a great deal of the misinformation put forth by food manufacturers and diet program promoters. They elucidate the political stakes and show how federal and corporate policies have come together to create an "eat more" environment. Finally, having armed readers with the necessary information to interpret food labels, evaluate diet claims, and understand evidence as presented in popular media, the authors offer some candid advice: Get organized. Eat less. Eat better. Move more. Get political.

Calories—too few or too many—are the source of health problems affecting billions of people in today’s globalized world. Although calories are essential to human health and survival, they cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted. They are also hard to understand. InWhy Calories Count, Marion Nestle and Malden Nesheim explain in clear and accessible language what calories are and how they work, both biologically and politically. As they take readers through the issues that are fundamental to our understanding of diet and food, weight gain, loss, and obesity, Nestle and Nesheim sort through a great deal of the misinformation put forth by food manufacturers and diet program promoters. They elucidate the political stakes and show how federal and corporate policies have come together to create an "eat more" environment. Finally, having armed readers with the necessary information to interpret food labels, evaluate diet claims, and understand evidence as presented in popular media, the authors offer some candid advice: Get organized. Eat less. Eat better. Move more. Get political.

Introduction 

Part One. Understanding Calories: It All Starts with the Science 
1. What Is a Calorie? 
2. The History: From Ancient Greece to Modern Calorie Science 
3. Foods: How Scientists Count the Calories 
4. Bodies: How Scientists Measure the Use of Calories 

Part Two. Why You Need Calories: Survival, Warmth, and Work 
5. Metabolism: How the Body Turns Food into Energy 
6. The First Use of Calories: Basic Life Functions 
7. The Second Use: Heat Losses while Metabolizing Food 
8. The Third Use: Physical Activity 

Part Three. Calorie Intake and Its Regulation 
9. How Many Calories Do You Need? 
10. Calorie Confusion: The Struggle to Estimate Intake 
11. Secret Calories: Alcohol 
12. Calorie Regulation: The Body’s Complex Weight Management System

Part Four. Too Few Calories 
13. Starvation and Its Effects on the Body 
14. Individuals, Communities, Nations: Calories and Global Hunger 
15. Could Restricting Calories Prolong Human Life? 

Part Five. Too Many Calories 
16. An Introduction to Obesity 
17. Calories and Weight Gain: Another Complex Relationship 
18. Do Excess Calories Make Some People Gain Weight Faster than Others? 
19. Are All Calories Created Equal? 
20. Do Some Kinds of Diets Work Better than Others? 

Part Six. The Politics of Calories: A Closer Look 
21. Today’s “Eat More” Environment: The Role of the Food Industry 
22. More Calorie Confusion: Portion Distortion, Health Halos,and Wishful Thinking 
23. Calorie Labeling: Science and Politics 
24. Alcohol Labels: Industry vs. Consumers 
25. Will Calorie Labels Help Fight Obesity? 

Conclusion: How to Cope with the Calorie Environment 

Appendix One. Selected Events in the History of Calories, 1614 – 1919 
Appendix Two. The Respiratory Quotient (RQ) 
Appendix Three. Frequently Asked Questions 
Notes 
List of Tables 
List of Figures 
Acknowledgments 
Index