> For too long we have just been told calories are calories and equatable amongst foods

We have? I only recall 'calories are calories' being advised when it comes to losing weight.

Healthy eating requires insulin to drop. Eating all your calories within a short time allows this drop to occur. The same calories spread over a day and into the night keep your insulin levels up and this is not what our bodies like, long term. I was a skeptic of Dr Ekberg and the other holisitic doc's, but I needed to try something, and boy oh boy are they on to something. It's only a matter of time before constant snacking is viewed as dangerous to your long-term health as smoking.

Why is a drop in insulin desirable?

I’m just guessing but type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance- your cells don’t respond and pull in glucose correctly so not having insulin in your blood all the time might help keep sensitivity high.

Then again, weight loss is such a ubiquitous desire that it tends to underlie every conversation about food. So much so that it seems like weight loss is the only thing that gets most people to consider dietary changes.

At which point, "eat less" and "CICO" do seem to suggest to people that calories are the only thing to consider while gut health, metabolic health, sleep quality (TFA), etc. sit by the wayside.