i mean i kind of know what they are but why do people say watch your calories isnt it the fat content of the food that you need to watch out for? so why do calories matter??
2006-11-27 07:55:31 · 5 answers · asked by daz1190 2 in Health ➔ Diet & Fitness
Question #1: A calorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius at a pressure of 1 atmosphere. This is the definition of a small calorie. What you are referring to is the large calorie, the Kcal. This is the amount of heat (energy) needed to raise 1kg of water 1 degree C and the term is used to denote the heat (energy) expenditure of an organism as well as the fuel or energy value of food.
Question #2: Fat is used by the body as a source of calories (energy) and should be monitored. You are correct. But our greatest source of calories (energy) should come from carbohydrates. Whatever the fat content of a given food, the total calories should be taken into consideration. Unused calories are stored as fat. Which leads me to..
Question #3: This is why calories, the total caloric value, matter.
2006-11-27 08:10:14 · answer #1 · answered by TweetyBird 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A calorie is the amount of energy required to heat 1 gram of water 1 degree Centigrade. The term as applied to foods is kilo calories. Proteins and carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram and fats contain 9 calories per gram. The fact that excess food intake is converted into fat is probably where your friends are confused.
2006-11-27 08:30:22 · answer #2 · answered by JOHN M 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A calorie is a unit of energy. Not just in food - it originated in physics.
The reason you watch your calorie intake is that your body stores the energy it doesn't use (so you should actually watch your calorie balance the way you watch your bank balance), and the body's energy storage system is fat.
You should watch the nutrient content (including the various types of fat) of the food you eat to avoid build-up of unused compounds in your body eg fats on your artery walls.
2006-11-27 08:06:51 · answer #3 · answered by ~jve~ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A unit of food energy. In nutrition terms, the word calorie is used instead of the more precise scientific term kilocalorie which represents the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of a liter of water one degree centigrade at sea level. The common usage of the word calorie of food energy is understood to refer to a kilocalorie and actually represents, therefore, 1000 true calories of energy. A calorie is also known as cal, gram calorie, or small calorie.
2006-11-27 08:04:26 · answer #4 · answered by sweet gurl 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A calorie is a unit of energy and if it isn't used turns to fat.
2006-11-27 08:03:29 · answer #5 · answered by you do not exist 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋