How To Calculate Calories In Food

These days people are more and more concerned with the number of calories in the foods that they eat than ever before. Everyone is able to read the labels on food containers and determine exactly how many calories are contained in each type of food. Understanding what calories are and how they are calculated is an entirely different story. This guide shows you how the calories that you see end up on the labels.

What is a calorie?

The first step to understanding how to calculate the number of calories in the food that you eat is to learn what a calorie is. A calorie is a unit of measurement used for energy. Although food labels list "calories," it is actually reporting kilocalories, or units of 1,000 calories. A calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water 1 degree Celsius. The number of calories is calculated by placing the food in a sealed container surrounded by water. The food is burned and the resulting rise in temperature determines the number of calories contained in the food. This method is not used very often anymore, as it is prone to error.

Calculating calories in your food

Today, there is a much more convenient and easier way to calculate the calories in food. After many years of using the old system to determine the calorie count, an easier way of finding out the number of calories in a particular food has emerged. All foods contain protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Protein and carbohydrates both contain four calories per gram, and fat weighs in at nine calories per gram. With this information, one can simply total up the protein, carbohydrate, and fat content to determine the calories count. For example, if a food product has five grams of protein, eight grams of carbohydrates and three grams of fat, then it contains 79 Calories.

Diet-conscious Americans count calories more than ever these days, and that trend is not likely to abate any time soon. This health conscious nation is going to continue to watch the amount of calories that they consume in order to move toward a healthier future.

Protein and carbohydrates both contain four calories per gram

by William Rudloff, Food & Grocery writer