The Charges
That typical caloric intake recommendations are invalid.
That caloric intake recommendations should not be used instead of hunger.

The Evidence
Overeating is rampant in people eating both a cooked diet and a raw diet.
Reports of people trying and failing to lose weight that are eating far below supposed maintenance caloric intake.

We proposed the following experiment:

Subject:
Raw vegan near ideal weight.

Background information:
Subject likely still overeating after many years raw.
Activity during experiment is factored into caloric needs and includes
walking, running, windsurfing, tennis, weightlifting, biking, skating, hopscotch, duck-duck goose.

Purpose
The caloric recommendations imply that humans need to ingest a certain amount of calories daily, based on bodyweight and other factors, and that failure to do so
will result in weight loss and other health problems.

We will focus on weight loss or gain, satiety and energy levels for the purposes of this trial, in order to determine the validity of the caloric recommendations.

Method

Log food intake.
Measure caloric intake versus caloric needs
Measure bodyweight before and after study
Determine whether caloric variance compared to bodyweight gain or loss is in agreement.
Any caloric variance will be translated into 1 pound of weight loss/gain per 3500 calories
Caloric needs as determined from various calculators ranged from approx. 1400 to 2500.
We averaged the numbers and arrived at 1900 as a daily target that was representative of the recommendations.

Results

Energy and health good during experiment
No deprivation noted
Hydration determined to be similar before and after study, so is not likely to impact bodyweight.
Time of experiment in days
15
Bodyweight change
zero
Total caloric needs minus calories ingested
7040
Percent caloric deficit
24%
Minimum daily caloric intake
930
Minimum daily caloric recommendations
1900
Maximum daily caloric intake
2600
Maximum caloric recommendations
2300
Average daily caloric intake
1470
Average daily caloric recommendations
1940
Total caloric intake
22000
Total caloric needs
29000

Results:
Based upon caloric deficit, subject should have lost 2 pounds of weight. This did not occur.
There was only one online caloric intake calculator out of 12 calculators that matched the true caloric intake of the subject. The other known source is 80/10/10 diet book, which recommends 10X bodyweight as a baseline, and to add 200 calories for activity of the intensity and duration undertaken during study. This matches the results of the experiment.

Conjecture

True caloric needs are equal to the BMR or less, instead of typical caloric intake recommendations.

Caloric intake calculators use observations from cooked food populations who eat nutrient deficient foods that do not satisfy the needs of the body. Therefore there is a need to eat more food that is reflected in calculators.

Subject still overate during experiment and could have eaten even less with satiation. Note that 5 days during the study had intakes around 1000 calories. This is a strong indicator that caloric needs are even less than the average taken in during experiment.
Hunger should be used as a guide and not calories

Using caloric needs as a guide will inevitably put one at odds with bodily needs and hunger.

While further studies are needed, we propose that raw fooders who ingest a large amount of food even as a result of high activity levels are likely overeating.

This conjecture follows from several days of high intensity activity with no increased hunger. In other words many are not eating as a result of anything resembling true hunger but instead as a result of symptoms of imperfect diets that cause symptoms that masquerade as hunger. A totally water rich food intake, among other things, is imperative.

Conclusions
The vast majority of calorie calculators are invalid in that recommended caloric needs are inflated.
Overeating can cause many problems for people on all diets while the blame is laid on other things.
Caloric intake based on this study was 25% lower than recommended with no loss of body weight.
While duration of experiment should have been longer to insure that stronger conclusions could be drawn, we feel that the 2 week period would have been duplicated out to 4 weeks, and the projected 4 pound weight loss would in fact have not occurred, just as it did not occur during the 2 week study period.

Verdict:
Caloric Recommendations Guilty as charged.

Next study:
Track food intake as result of True Hunger and determine if bodyweight can be maintained. There are non-quantified anecdotal reports that this is true and desirable.

[Caloric intake based on this study was 25% lower than recommended with no loss of body weight. ]

More likely: the caloric intake was underestimated. This is a very common thing. Did subject weigh every single gram of food eaten?

no, and i knew that would be one of the issues raised.

i am aware of the difficulty in measuring food values because of ripeness, proper portions, etc, but i feel the numbers were accurate. the usda database allows for accurate estimates based on fruit size and other known factors.

i have a food log.

from it you can see that the caloric intake was clearly lower than one would expect.

I have to say...I don't see this as a very sound experiment. First of all, the body is smart. If you feed it less calories then it needs, it's metabolism will slow down and adjust and store as much food as it wants away as fat as to not die. There are many complaints of people often "plateau"ing on diets -- or starvation diets. If the body thinks it's starving, it will store more fat. Abd you won't necessarily gain weight or loose weight if you cut your calories by a very little amount (oh and this also has to do with exercise per day, when you exercised; and food is very hard to count calories from, there could be some mistakes or less calories in one thing, etc. and it can add up) but you will have a higher body fat percentage depending on what your metabolism is doing.

Calories are simple physics
energy in vs. energy out

The evidence that there are people who have benefited from higher calories, resulting in weight loss - BUT - it's FAT weight loss - is strong. And yes, it is on an omnivorous diet, even. So, I believe recommended calorie intake IS correct for the right thing. Now, why it would be different for people who only eat raw food...I really can't think of anything that would effect that. Calories are calories, no matter what food you're eating. The metabolism recognizes calories.


anyway, it's not just "calories"...so many other factors play a role in determining your recommendation and there are so many people who benefit from upping their calories - despite satiety - or cutting them. The body is like a big environment always adjusting to changes, always trying to think in terms of survival.

Also, hunger is a big thing. What is hungry? To you it may be something different. It could be "I could eat ANYthing I'm so hungry" but why would you wait that long. In terms of thirsty, most nutritionist recommend you drink before you reach the point of "I'm extremely thirsty" - which likely means you're extremely dehydrated, and why not KEEP hydrated so you never get that feeling? Well I think it should be the same for food, and calories help you stay in track...that's all...good whole foods also should be a key in reminding you that you are full.

IMO caloric recommendations are bs. I watched my dad get very "scientific" about his diet. He would measure his food and add up his calories and lose weight until he reached his goal and then he would Yo-Yo back up again plus a little extra weight for his slowed metabolism. He did that over and over through the years. It kinda reminded me of the definition of insanity.
The raw foods work differently in the body and thats why eating by the hunger signals works so well with them. I threw out my bathroom scale and decided to forget about counting calories. Instead I just go by "feel". I sense how fat/lean my body "feels" and I eat by "feel". If I "feel" hungry then I eat some raw food. I prefer to eat small meals so I do that. This "feel" approach has been been nothing short of transformation in terms of my heath and wellness. I know what "feels" right for me - don't you ?

<< hopscotch, duck-duck goose>>

200 calories for laughing

You may just think you know what you feel...or if you actually documented what you are eating, perhaps your calorie recommendation is right on -- so you have no need to count them if you are in a routine of what makes you full and what is correct in terms of energy, sure. But calories can certainly play a role, no matter what diet...I mean just because someone is counting calories, doesn't mean they're doing it in a correct way. For example, not getting enough, or over-calculating or cheating! I think we would all be surprised at how many people lie about their food... and what they eat.

I just think calories should be studied more...they are in fact part of science and I don't think they should be disregarded so fast