Food and Energy Conversion (how calories work)

 

An interesting thing about calories is that you burn calories everyday, when you walk, think, run, stand, carry weight, sign up with a fitness gym, or you go on a diet. All these help you to burn calories and stay healthy. And calories are in everything we eat.

 

What are calories?

Calories are the amount of energy released when your body breaks down (digests and absorbs) food. 

The more calories food has, the more energy it can provide to your body. When we eat more calories than the energy we use up, it stores as fat. That's why it is important to know the amount of calories you take in.

Abstaining from fatty foods doesn't reduce fats although fat is an essential nutrient needed for a balanced diet. But knowing and watching your calorie intake is very important for your diet.

Now I know why people consider counting calories so important. One time this aunt of mine downloaded a food calorie table that shows the amount of calories in nuts, sugar, drinks. but did that stop me from taking those things? Not at all, it helped me ration my food intake, the more calories I eat the more I need to use them up.

 

 

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Are Calories Bad? 

One thing I have noticed is how people dread being fat thereby starving themselves of every sort of meal, going on strict diet and other extreme measures, remember I told you that unused calories are stored as fat. You can still be on a diet and still store fat. First of all fats are not a bad thing neither are calories. Fats are part of the nutrients your body needs to have a balanced diet. 

Calories also are very essential for you. Calories aren't bad for you. Your body needs these calories for energy. But there is a ‘But’,  eating a lot of calories and not burning enough of them off through activities, exercises can lead to weight gain.

To maintain a stable weight, the energy we put in our body must be the same energy we use in our physical activities.

The more physical activities you do the more energy you use. If you take in too much energy in one day, you do not have to worry about it, just make sure you take less energy the following day.

 

How many Calories do I need to eat in a day?

Most women need 1,600- 2400 calories to maintain their weight while men need 2000- 3000 calories. Anything less than this will lead to weight loss. 

Although figuring out how the number of calories you need to take per day depends on age, size and activity level; to ensure you are eating healthy and the right amount of calories your body needs, you need to consume fewer calories than you would normally eat and exercise frequently even if it's a walk down the road.

The National Health service UK (NHS)  says an ideal daily intake of calories varies depending on age, metabolism and levels of physical activity, among other things but generally, the recommended daily calorie intake is 2,000 calories a day for women and 2,500 for men.

 

How do I check for calories in food? 

Knowing the calorie content in your food, can help you regulate your consumption. You will know whether you are consuming too much or too little.

 Most food items have the content calorie stated at the packaging. For some Nigerian products you will see at the back of the product as part of the nutritional label.

 

 

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This information will appear under the  ‘Energy’ heading. The calorie content is always given in Kcals which stands for kilocalories or in KJ which represent Kilojoules

A kilocalorie is another word for what's commonly called a calorie, so 1,000 calories will be written as 1,000kcals. And for KJ you will have to multiply the calorie content by 4.2

The label will usually tell you how many calories are contained in 100 grams or 100 milliliters of the food or drink, so you can compare the calorie content of different products.

Many labels will also state the number of calories in 1 portion of the food. But remember that the manufacturer's idea of 1 portion may not be the same as yours, so there could be more calories in the portion you serve yourself.

You can use the calorie information to assess how a particular food fits into your daily calorie intake. You can find that out on this site.

on this site

Ways to calculate calories

 

●       Locate the nutritional information on the item packaging.

●     Note the amount of protein, carbohydrates and fat contained in the item.

●     Multiply each macronutrient by its caloric equivalent. For example  A gram of protein is estimated to contain about 4 calories. A gram of carbohydrates also has 4, and a gram of fat is worth a whopping 9 calories. If the item you’re eating contains 20g of protein, 35g of carbs, and 15g of fat, this means you would multiply 20x4, 35x4, and 15x9 to find the number of calories contributed by each macronutrient—80, 140, and 135, respectively.

●     Total the calories for each macronutrient. 

●     Take serving into account; remember that the figures for both the calories and macronutrients represented in the nutritional facts only indicate a single recommended serving.

You can check out  here for more ways to calculate calories.

I hope this piece was helpful to you. And from today ensure you take a look at the back for the nutritional label for that item you are buying.