calorie
/ˈkal(ə)ri/
noun
plural noun: calories
- a unit of energy equivalent to the heat energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 °C (now often defined as equal to 4.1868 joules).
- a unit of energy, often used to express the nutritional value of foods, equivalent to the heat energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 °C, and equal to one thousand small calories; a kilocalorie.
“A good advice is to work on your eating habits and moving away from counting calories”
A calorie is a measure of energy. Foods have calories. That is, foods supply the body with energy, which is released when foods are broken down during digestion. Energy enables cells to do all of their functions, including building proteins and other substances needed by the body.
In nutrition and food science, the term calorie and the symbol cal may refer to the large unit or to the small unit in different regions of the world. It is generally used in publications and package labels to express the energy value of foods in per serving or per weight, recommended dietary caloric intake, metabolic rates
The unit is most commonly used to express food energy, namely the specific energy (energy per mass) of metabolizing different types of food. For example, fat (triglyceride lipids) contains 9 kilocalories per gram (kcal/g), while carbohydrates (sugar and starch) and protein contain approximately 4 kcal/g. Alcohol in food contains 7 kcal/g.
Leave a Reply