All calories are not created equally, as we well know from things like comparing candy to an apple. But new research has shown that eating specific carbohydrates and proteins may be more effective for controlling weight than counting calories. The key is finding the right balance.

The study done at Tufts University found that even the smallest changes can make a huge impact later on down the line and over the long term. The study actually took into account three separate long term studies over 16 years, which included 120,000 different men and women.

Unsurprisingly, the researchers found that the more red meat and processed meat consumed the more weight that was gained. But what they did find of note, was that consuming high amounts of nuts, lean chicken, seafood, and low fat dairy was actually attributed to weight loss.

The obvious conclusion from those findings were that it isn’t not the calorie count that is important, but the type of calorie that is being consumed. Interestingly, they also discovered that the fat count of dairy did not seem to make much of a difference. Basically full fat cheese didn’t seem to cause weight gain any more than low fat cheese.

There actually might be reasons why full fat cheese is a better option. Jessica Smith, a research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, made a statement about this in the press release.

“The fat content of dairy products did not seem to be important for weight gain. In fact, when people consumed more low-fat dairy products, they actually increased their consumption of carbs, which may promote weight gain. This suggests that people compensate, over years, for the lower calories in low-fat dairy by increasing their carb intake.”

The researchers also took into account the glycemic loads of foods and found that when people balanced low glycemic foods with high glycemic foods they could reduce some of the potential gain. For example, if someone is going to eat red meat, they should balance it out with low glycemic vegetables.

“Our study adds to growing new research that counting calories is not the most effective strategy for long-term weight management and prevention,” said Dariush Mozaffarian, senior author of the study.