You must have heard everywhere the word calories relating to topics of weight loss.
That's loaded with calories!"
"Are you counting your calories?"
When people talk about the calories in food, what do they mean? A calorie is a unit of measurement — but it doesn't measure weight or length. A calorie is a unit of energy. When you hear something contains 100 calories, it's a way of describing how much energy your body could get from eating or drinking it.
That's loaded with calories!"
"Are you counting your calories?"
When people talk about the calories in food, what do they mean? A calorie is a unit of measurement — but it doesn't measure weight or length. A calorie is a unit of energy. When you hear something contains 100 calories, it's a way of describing how much energy your body could get from eating or drinking it.
Why are calories important for human health?
The human body needs calories (energy) to survive, without energy our cells would die, our hearts and lungs would stop, and we would perish. We acquire this energy from food and drink.
If we consume just the number of calories our body needs each day, every day, we will probably enjoy happy and healthy lives. If our calorie consumption is too low or too high, we will eventually experience health complications.
The number of calories foods contain tells us how much potential energy they posses. Below are the calorific values of the three main components of the food we eat:
- 1 gram of carbohydrates contains 4 calories
- 1 gram of protein contains 4 calories
- 1 gram of fat contains 9 calories
Lets look at where the calories in one cup of large eggs (243 grams) come from:
- Fat 24 grams.
24 x 9 = 216 calories. - Protein 31 grams.
31 x 4 = 124 calories. - Carbohydrate 2 grams.
2 x 4 = 8 calories - 243 grams of raw egg contain 348 calories, of which 216 come from fat, 124 from protein and 8 from carbohydrate.
Now you can look at, find out the calories in foods by looking at the calorie label or the nutrition facts panel on packages of processed foods. They will all have the number of calories per serving and the portion size per serving. And using these tools, you can help yourself estimate how many calories you're taking in per day and help you achieve your weight loss goals.
If you buy any item just check the back label, you can find nutritional info
For example,
Here 1 slice of bread which is 47 g has 120 calories. So it doesn't mean all breads are 120 calories, it may differ from company to company. So that's how you check calories for packaged items.
And Portion size is one slice , so recommended slices to eat is one.
And Portion size is one slice , so recommended slices to eat is one.
But for fresh produce there may not be nutritional info , so use Google to find their calories
Here is an example of nutritional info of banana from Google search,
- Nutrition Facts
Calories 105 - % Daily Value*
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. - Now you know about calories ,next step is how much calorie we must consume?
- The number of calories the body consumes in a day is different for every person. You may notice on the nutritional labels of the foodsyou buy that the "percent daily values" are based on a 2,000 calorie diet -- 2,000 calories is a rough average of what people eat in a day. But your body might need more or less than 2,000. Height, weight, gender, age and activity level all affect your caloric needs. There are three main factors involved in calculating how many calories your body needs per day:
- basal metabolic rate
- physical activity
- thermic effect of food
Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of energy your body needs to function at rest. This accounts for about 60 to 70 percent of calories burned in a day and includes the energy required to keep the heart beating, the lungs breathing, the eyelids blinking and the body temperature stabilized. In general, men have a higher BMR than women. One of the most accurate methods of estimating your basal metabolic rate is the Harris-Benedict formula: Adult male: 66 + (6.3 x body weight in lbs.) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years) Adult female: 655 + (4.3 x weight in lbs.) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
The second factor in the equation, physical activity, consumes the next highest number of calories. Physical activity includes everything from making your bed in the morning to jogging. Walking, lifting, bending and just generally moving around burns calories, but the number of calories you burn in any given activity depends on your body weight. Click here for a great table listing the calories expended in various physical activities and for various weights.The thermic effect of food is the final addition to the number of calories your body burns. This is the amount of energy your body uses to digest the food you eat -- it takes energy to break food down to its basic elements in order to be used by the body. To calculate the number of calories you expend in this process, multiply the total number of calories you eat in a day by 0.10, or 10 percent.- CalorieKing: Food Data (includes fast-food options)
- Calorie Counter (includes vending machine snacks)
- NutritionData: Nutrition Facts Calorie Counter
The total number of calories a body needs in a day is the sum of these three calculations.- To make all these calculations easy there is already many calorie calculator apps ,If you need some help determining how many calories you eat in a day: use this CALORIE CALCULATOR and find
- You can also find you total energy spend from energy calculator
Now you must have clear idea about calories and how much calorie you should consume for your height and weight.
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