How Your Caloric Intake Affects Your Health

It is widely known that those who are overweight often eat many more calories than those who are at their ideal weight. Calories do have a direct bearing on health and the rate that you burn calories also determines your healthy weight levels.


It is difficult to set bottom line calories levels for health since everyone has a different body composition and their metabolism and activity levels are very different. However there are some baselines that suggest 1200 calories per day for women and 1800 calories per day for men. Remember these are only a starting point.  Our metabolic rate calculator can give you more specific guidelines.

When your caloric intake is too low you will have several health problems. One problem is reduced muscles mass. Your body searches for sources of energy to just keep vital organs functioning and it will turn to your muscle mass for those energy foods. This is called catabolism. Your metabolic rate will drop dramatically if you eat too little calories and after three days of low calorie intake this will compound your muscle mass loss. When you don”t eat enough calories you become sluggish, develop nutritional deficiencies, and are often highly irritable. If you are lowering your caloric intake for weight reduction, you are actually setting yourself for high weight gain when you do being to eat properly again.

Binge dieting or not taking in enough calories can cause your vital organs to stop functioning properly. You will also have inadequate nutrient intake which will lead to electrolyte imbalances, low-potassium levels and low blood sugars. Watch for gallstones to form and gastrointestinal distress will now be a part of your life.

If you are looking for a quickie weight loss program look for a diet that will provide you with adequate calories to keep your organs and body functioning. Remember that you will definitely regain lost weight using low calorie diets, fatigue will keep you from working out and gaining back muscle mass, and you will lower your quality of life.

Eating a diet high in calories is yummy, but it can be detrimental if you are not highly active. Some high calorie diets are prescribed for active athletes or people who need to gain weight. However if you have an average metabolism and activity level, high calorie diets will have a disastrous affect – even if you are eating nutritious foods.

Eating more calories than your body burns causes the body to either excrete the energy or store it in fat cells for the future. When you have adequate supplies of insulin your body chooses to store excess calories in fat cells. The result is weight gain and higher body fat percentages.

High calorie intake will cause stress on your body. High caloric foods are high in fats and sugars and extraordinary intake of these types of foods increase your risk factors for type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancers. If you eat a large amount of food you will stress your digestive process which can decrease your length of life as well as your quality of living. Keep your calorie intake equal to your calorie output. Check out calorie counters for the proper amounts of foods to eat to ensure that you are not too heavy to move around or too weak to function.

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HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our blood alcohol, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years. Our team of health professionals, and researchers use peer reviewed studies as source elements in our articles. Our high quality content has been featured in a number of leading websites, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, Live Strong, GQ, and many more.

Written by HealthStatus Team
Medical Writer & Editor

HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our blood alcohol, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years. Our team of health professionals, and researchers use peer reviewed studies as source elements in our articles. Our high quality content has been featured in a number of leading websites, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, Live Strong, GQ, and many more.

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