The following Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Marksissons and is narrated by Brock Armstrong.

Nine more calorie myths, we should all stop believing.

Yesterday's post introduced the major myths surrounding calories, weight loss, and human

regulation of body weight.

But there are some other serious misconceptions surrounding the topic that need clearing up.

People can really get down on themselves when they listen to all the experts.

They'll weigh, measure, and count themselves into oblivion only to experience middling weight loss. Or maybe they lose weight,

but their energy tanks. Their performance in the gym suffers and their belt size doesn't get any

better, suggesting muscle loss.

They're basing their decisions and actions on myths, and myths just don't work.

These myths do real harm, so it's important to destroy them.

Today I'm going to focus on nine more. The calorie count of

food is the sole determinant of its metabolic fate. The way many people envision it, the only

thing food does is provide energy for storage or immediate use. But food is more than energy.

Protein, for example, is broken down into amino acids, which provide the building blocks for

human cells, muscles, and tissues. And yes, in extreme cases, protein can provide energy,

either through direct metabolism of the amino acids,

or conversion into glucose, but the vast majority of the protein we eat is directed toward

structural roles. We build things with protein, and even when we do burn protein for energy,

it's not very efficient food provides energy and raw material for building important things like muscles cellular membranes hormones

nerves neurotransmitters sperm tears new eyelashes beards or toenails Anything the body does or makes or metabolizes,

like convert serotonin into melatonin so you can fall asleep at night, requires both energy

...