单纯依靠计算卡路里并非减重的唯一或最佳途径。专家指出，食物的质量对身体的影响与其热量数量同等重要甚至更大 [1]。不同种类的食物会对大脑、肝脏、脂肪细胞以及肌肉功能等器官产生截然不同的作用 [1]。此外，加工方式、食物成熟度及个体基因差异等因素，都会导致身体在吸收和利用相同热量时表现出不同的效率 [1]。
营养标签上标注的卡路里数值可能存在高达 20% 的舍入误差偏差 [1]。塔夫茨大学食品医学研究所主任 Dariush Mozaffarian 表示：“不同的食物对大脑、肝脏、脂肪细胞、肌肉功能、胰腺以及与代谢和体重相关的所有器官产生非常不同的影响。”[1]
基因因素导致人体处理卡路里的方式存在显著差异，哈佛医学院肥胖症专家 Fatima Cody Stanford 指出这一点 [1]。波士顿儿童医院内分泌学家 David Ludwig 进一步解释道：“你可以把锯末放入弹式热量计，你会得到每克大约 4 卡路里的热量。如果你是白蚁，是的，你会从它那里获得热量。但人类不会。”[1]
David Ludwig 强调，我们需要建立一种比包装上数字更为复杂的卡路里认知体系 [1]。他认为，仅依赖包装上的数值可能会误导人们认为减重只是一个会计问题，从而造成更多伤害 [1]。
Counting calories is not the sole or optimal method for weight loss because food quality impacts the body as significantly as, if not more than, caloric quantity [1]. Different foods exert distinct effects on organs such as the brain, liver, fat cells, muscles, pancreas, and other metabolic systems related to weight management [1]. The efficiency with which the human body absorbs and utilizes calories from identical amounts of food varies based on processing methods, maturity levels, and individual genetic differences [1].
Nutritional labels may display caloric counts that deviate by up to 20% due to permissible rounding errors [1]. While a bomb calorimeter might measure approximately four calories per gram for sawdust, humans do not derive energy from it in the same way termites do [1]. Genetic factors cause bodies to process calories differently across individuals [1]. Relying solely on numbers found on packaging can be misleading and potentially harmful by framing weight loss as merely an accounting issue rather than a complex biological one [1].