Calories
Excerpt From: Live Longer &
Healthier Eating Foods You Love
| Americans eat an
average of 3,770 Calories a day, the highest in the world, but they
only spend $7.00 a day on food.
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization |
The Calorie is the measure of energy in foods. The correct term when applied to food energy is kilocalories (kilo = 1,000). If you are on a 2,000 Calorie diet, you are actually eating 2,000,000 calories per day! Because the calorie is such a small unit of measure and the number of calories needed daily by the human body is so large, it is more convenient when referring to food energy to drop the last three zeros and list the numbers in terms of kilocalories. So that 1 Calorie soft drink in fact has 1,000 calories.
With the United States still using the English system of weights and measures, kilo is normally left off and kilocalories are called Calories or calories. A capital 'C' is sometimes used when referring to kilocalories to differentiate it from the standard calorie.
NOTE: A calorie is the amount of energy (heat) needed to heat 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius. It is a metric unit of energy that is being replaced by metric unit joules (1 kilocalorie = 4.2 kilojoules). Don't be alarmed, there is no move to convert Calories to Joules on food labels.
Food energy comes from four sources; carbohydrates, fat, protein and alcohol. The number of Calories per gram are:
| Source | Calories (per gram) |
| Carbohydrates | 4 |
| Protein | 4 |
| Fat | 9 |
| Alcohol | 7 |
Proteins and carbohydrates provide the same number of Calories. Fats and alcohol contain about twice as many Calories per gram as proteins and carbohydrates. If you are trying to loose weight or maintain your weight, it seems like the best thing to do is to decrease the amount of fat and alcohol in your diet and increase the amount of carbohydrates and protein. If only it were that simple. Today the debate rages on about good carbs and bad carbs, good proteins and bad proteins, good fats and bad fats and even good alcohol and bad alcohol.
Too much of anything is not good for you. A diet of 100 percent carbohydrate and protein is as dangerous as a diet high in fat and alcohol. Ideally, you should eat the highest quality protein, fat and carbohydrates. Your body needs all three for optimum health. A person on a Mediterranean style diet should try to eat healthy foods that will provide approximately the parentage of Calories shown in the following table:
| Source | Calories (percent) |
| Carbohydrates | 50-60 |
| Protein | 10-15 |
| Fat | 15-20 |
| Alcohol | 5-10 |
Fast food, snack foods and processed foods are convenient, but usually do not provide high quality nutrients your body needs. Most are high in fat especially saturated fats, sodium (salt) and simple carbohydrates (sugar). That does not mean you should totally ban these foods from you diet. What it does mean is that you should restrict the amount of low nutrition foods you eat. Having a small bag of potato chips or French fries with your lunch occasionally is not bad and provides variety. It is the daily bag or serving of chips, or two, that provides few essential nutrients and can lead to health problems as you age. French fries and potato chips are high in salt and fat and should be eaten in moderation.
It is best to be an informed consumer. Your doctor can help, but nutrition is seldom their specialty. If you dine out often at fast food restaurants check their website for healthy meal options. Many list the nutritional value of their foods on their website.
On average, people who eat fewer Calories have a longer life expectancy and fewer medical problems.