Everyone has heard the term "Calorie", but what exactly is a calorie?
A calorie is a unit of measurement, (not length or weight), but Energy. A calorie is the amount of energy (or heat) needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius.
Most foods and drinks contain calories. We need calories throughout the day for energy, but eating too many calories and not burning enough of them off through activity can lead to weight gain.
If you look at the Nutrition Facts of a food, you can calculate the amount of calories using these formulas:
- Carbohydrate — 4 calories per gram
- Protein — 4 calories per gram
- Fat — 9 calories per gram
- Alcohol - 8 calories per gram
Most vegetables (a carb) are very low in calories. Lettuce has less than 10 calories. It has 2 grams of carbs (2x4=8 calories from carbs).
However, a hamburger bun (also a carb) has about 120 calories. It has 22 grams of carbs (22x4=88 calories from carbs), 2 fat grams (2x9=18 calories from fat), and 4 grams of protein (4x4=16 calories from protein)