Energy Balance & Calories

Energy balance is the relationship between the calories you take in from food and the calories your body spends on staying alive, digesting and moving. Body weight rises when intake exceeds expenditure over time and falls when the reverse holds.

What published research reports

The International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand on diets and body composition (2017) reports that across the many diet styles it reviewed — low-carbohydrate, low-fat, high-protein and others — the consistent drivers of body-composition change are total daily energy intake and protein intake, with the specific diet name mattering far less than adherence to it. The joint position statement of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada and the American College of Sports Medicine (2016) likewise reports that energy intake matched to training load underpins performance, and that prolonged low energy intake compromises adaptation and health.

References

• Aragon AA, et al. International society of sports nutrition position stand: diets and body composition. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:16. JISSN
• Thomas DT, Erdman KA, Burke LM. Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine: Nutrition and Athletic Performance. 2016. PubMed