Calories important for body: Expert

New Delhi, June 9 (IANS) Hot and crispy fried snacks, sweets, carbohydrates-rich food and much more should be avoided if you want to keep a check on your weight, but do provide calories to your body, say experts.

Though most of us avoid having food items with lots of calories, our body requires some amount of calories.

"Each and every individual has his own calorie requirement, which is based on their basal metabolic rate. If a person eats more calories than what he needs, he will definitely gain weight or if he eats less calories than what he needs, he will lose weight," said Annapurna Agrawal, nutritionist at Snap Fitness India.

She explained: "Your body requires 2,000 calories and if you eat 2,500 calories, the extra 500 will be converted into fat."

If you are gearing to adapt healthy eating habits, then shun junk food as it lacks essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals and proteins and is high in fat and calories.

"You need to shun all your favourite fried snacks and those curries that have a lot of fat and are cooked in fair amount of oil," Manik Pande and Meghana Surve, nutritionists at Talwalkars National Nutrition Centre, told IANS.

They even warn against intake of carbohydrates.

"Carbohydrates actually convert into fats after they are consumed. The body stores this fat and this adds to your body weight," explained the nutritionists.

Grains and sugar, which are common feature of our diet, contain large amount of carbohydrates so you need to be careful as far as consumption is concerned.

Hot summer season calls for chilled sodas and juices that instantly refresh us, but Pande and Surve advised to stick to something healthier.

According to them, stick to water, lime juice and fresh fruit juices. Alcohol also is an evil beverage - 12 ounce of beer equals to 146 calories.

Medicines usually help to eliminate diseases, but they can also make you heavier than before.

"Anti-depressant medicines, birth control pills, allergy medications, and blood pressure medications are some of the medicines that may cause weight gain," said Agrawal.