Since calorie is a measure of energy, so what does it mean when, for example, alcohol, having “empty calories”? What kind of energy is being measured here?
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Actually, no energy is being measured.
“Empty calories” is more a NUTRITION phrase than an energy phrase. It is used by health coaches/nutritionists/dietitians to describe foods that have calories, but very few or no nutrients.
Something like potato chips, they have a lot of calories but no other real nutritional value. No vitamins, no minerals (at least not in meaningful amounts.
So those foods have calories, but are empty of other nutrients. So “empty calories”.
Unlike say, an Orange, which has calories and is a supply of vitamin C, as well as a bit of magnesium, calcium, and vitamin B6.
It’s typically a term used in discussions about nutrient content. A source of calories that simultaneously lacks fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc.
They contribute nothing towards your sense of satiety or nutritional wellbeing aside from strictly calories.
**Edit:** Comment success edits usually aren’t really my thing, but I really didn’t expect one of my insomnia-fueled ramblings to be so appreciated. Thanks, everyone!
The purpose of food is for your body to receive energy and nutrients.
Calories are energy.
Nutrients are things like carbs, protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, and other compounds that your body uses for its functions.
When you say “empty calories”, you typically mean that it’s a caloric food, but doesn’t have a meaningful amount of useful nutrients.
Imagine you have a special plate for your body that needs all the right kinds of food to keep you healthy and strong. Some foods have good things your body needs, like vitamins and energy. But there are some foods that look yummy but don’t give your body anything useful. These foods are like “empty calories.” They taste nice, but they don’t give your body any power or strength
“Empty calories” means the food or drink gives you energy but doesn’t have much nutritional value. Like candy or soda, they give you quick energy but don’t have vitamins, minerals, or proteins your body needs. So, it’s like filling your car with low-quality gas; it’ll run, but it won’t perform at its best.
Your body needs two things from eating: calories and nutrients. Calories are how your body does stuff, and nutrients are the stuff it does it with. Normally, these come together: if you eat, like, a salad, you’re going to get calories but also vitamins and minerals and such like. However, in the case of very processed foods, like drinking sugared soda, you can consume solely calories without getting any nutrients. This is what people refer to as empty calories: any food that is at least reasonably high in calories but which has little to no nutrients in it.
From an energy perspective all calories are equal.
But from a nutritional perspective, the health effect from 50 calories obtained from eating an egg are very different from say 50 calories obtained from eating a spoon of sugar.
While it is easy to count calories when measuring dietary requirements, we must be mindful that saying you need 2000 calories a day does not mean you can survive on just 500 grams of sugar a day.
Your body needs vitamins and minerals and even fiber. But calories from sugar don’t give you any of those, they are “empty” of such nutrients.
So “empty calories” typically refer to such calories from sugar or similar simple carbs like glucose.
Mostly meant to describe food that is high in sugar or fat but doesn’t offer any vitamins and minerals or has no protein.
So candy or certain things high in oil that is very calorie dense but doesn’t offer protein or vitamin/minerals with the calories.
Empty calorie means it lacks supplementary required nutritional content.
For example, if you stopped eating, and drank nothing but beer (a common empty calorie trope). Your calorie needs may get met enough for you to maintain your weight, but all other nutrition wouldn’t. So you’d probably die a very, very uncomfortable death despite the fact your diet was *technically* very calorie rich.
Humans don’t just need “calories”. They need a proteins, lipids (mostly fats and oils), carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and water.
What your body needs in most quantity to work is calories. However, if you don’t eat enough of other nutrients, like protein, vitamins, fiber… your body will not work properly and you might get sick.
Empty calories are calories that don’t come with those other nutrients, or come with very little of them. If you eat an orange, you’re eating calories, but you’re also eating lots vitamin C, fiber among other things. If you eat a cube of sugar, you get just calories.
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