Are All Calories Created Equal?

All calories are created equal, right? Wrong. This myth began in the 1930s when sugar companies started to realize that sugar was uniquely fattening. To counter this reality, Big Sugar began funding studies showing that people who gained weight did so simply because they were eating more calories than they burned off through exercise. But the reality is that our bodies don’t work like simple arithmetic equations. Hormone signaling is what guides our body shape. After all, do adolescent boys suddenly hit growth spurts and young women grow breasts because they are eating more or because of hormonal shifts? To put a finer point on it, does it really seem plausible that 100 calories of kale and 100 calories of high fructose corn syrup have the same impact on the body? Today, it’s becoming increasingly clear that diets high in sugar and refined carbohydrates drive hormonal changes in the body that lead to weight gain and a host of other health problems.