The Label Isn't the Truth

The number on the package is an estimate, not a receipt. Your body rarely captures every calorie it lists:

• Whole nuts leak energy — chew raw almonds and some pass through you undigested, so you absorb fewer calories than the label claims
• Fiber blocks some uptake — high-fiber foods give back fewer usable calories
• Cooking changes the math — softer, more processed food is easier to absorb, so you keep more of it

The label is a useful guess. What your body actually pulls from a food can be quite different.