Sport What is a calorie?

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Karky

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when you read the nutrition info on something, and you read cals. is that number just what you get if you add together the cals of the entire thing, from the carbs, etc..?
Im just kind of confused, because you have to eat alot of cals to gain weight, but if you eat alot of carbs you will also gain weight, right.
im just asking if i need to consider the carbs AND the cals, or if i calculate the cals then the carbs is included in that?

kinda messy explaination there but.. :p
 
calorie is form of energy that allows you to do work.

without energy, your body will eventually shutdown.
 
In scientific jargon, a calorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree centigrade. In simpler terms, it's just a measure of the amount of energy in food.

1 gram of fat = 9 calories
1 gram of carbs = 4 calories
1 gram of protein = 4 calories

So if you multiply the number of grams of fat, carbs, and protein in a food by these numbers and add up the results, you get the total calories in that food.

Metabolism is a complex thing, but in general eating more calories than you expend will cause weight gain, eating fewer than you expend will cause weight loss. Regardless of whether they're carbs, fat, or protein. Carbs have gotten a bad rap from Atkins and others, but your body needs them because they're the body's primary fuel source. Just eat whole grains instead of processed grains and processed sugars, because those empty out of your bloodstream quickly and will be stored as fat if your body doesn't need them for energy.

In general the my recommendation is:

Carbs should be 55-65% of your total calories
Fats should be about 20-30% of your total calories
Protein should be about 15-25% of your total calories

Kind of long winded, but I hope this helps clear things up a bit.

Bob
 
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Officially, a calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise one gram of water one degree celsius.

And to add to what Busketti said: Alcohol is 7cal/g.

But, the C˚ is celsius now, replacing centigrade in 1948. Same concept, different term.

Also, this from Wikipedia:

Colloquially, and in nutrition and food labelling, the term "calorie" almost always refers to the kilogram calorie. This applies only to English text; if an energy measurement is given using a unit symbol then the scientific practice prevails there. A convention of capitalising "Calorie" to refer to the kilogram calorie, with uncapitalised "calorie" referring to the gram calorie, is sometimes proposed, but neither recognized in any official standards, nor commonly followed.
Click to expand...

So in foods, were talking about kilocalories. So it's the energy required to raise one kg of water 1˚C.
 
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buskettiBob said:
In scientific jargon, a calorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree centigrade. In simpler terms, it's just a measure of the amount of energy in food.

1 gram of fat = 9 calories
1 gram of carbs = 4 calories
1 gram of protein = 4 calories

So if you multiply the number of grams of fat, carbs, and protein in a food by these numbers and add up the results, you get the total calories in that food.

Metabolism is a complex thing, but in general eating more calories than you expend will cause weight gain, eating fewer than you expend will cause weight loss. Regardless of whether they're carbs, fat, or protein. Carbs have gotten a bad rap from Atkins and others, but your body needs them because they're the body's primary fuel source. Just eat whole grains instead of processed grains and processed sugars, because those empty out of your bloodstream quickly and will be stored as fat if your body doesn't need them for energy.

In general the my recommendation is:

Carbs should be 55-65% of your total calories
Fats should be about 20-30% of your total calories
Protein should be about 15-25% of your total calories

Kind of long winded, but I hope this helps clear things up a bit.

Bob
Click to expand...

just the answer i was looking for :) thanks alot!
 
Karky,

I'm not arguing with Bob here on recommended macro intake, but this is what I suggest.

1g-1.5g of protein per pound of lean body mass
.5g of fat per pound of lean body mass (with a fairly even split between saturated, poly un, and mono unsatruated)
and the rest will come from carbs.

depending of you're bulking or leaning out, you'll change the type of carbs you eat, and how many. for example on a cutting diet you get down around 1g of carbs per pound of lean mass, and most of your carbs are fruits and veggies except pre and post workout meals.
when bulking you'll probably go up near 3g of carbs per pound of lean mass.
 
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