Calorie Calculator: Count and Calculate Calories Burned

Ian C. Langtree - Writer/Editor for Disabled World (DW)
Published: 2017/12/03 - Updated: 2024/10/21
Publication Type: Conversion, Calculation
Topic: Medical Calculators and Charts - Publications List

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main

Synopsis: How to count and calculate calories in food, includes calculator for daily protein needs, and number of calories burned when exercising or performing activities.

Why it matters: The information below offers a comprehensive calorie calculator, helping users estimate daily calorie and protein needs, and track calories burned through various activities. It provides detailed explanations about how calories work, including the energy values of different macronutrients, and clarifies kilocalorie and kilojoule conversions. This makes it an insightful resource for anyone looking to manage weight, understand energy expenditure, or optimize their nutrition, with practical tools to apply this knowledge effectively - Disabled World (DW).

Introduction

What is a Calorie?

A Calorie is a unit of energy that measures how much energy food provides to the body. The body needs calories to function properly. The amount of Calories in food gives you energy, protein, carbohydrate, nutrients and fat to fuel your body. When you eat food, your body turns the food into fuel, burning it to produce calories (energy).

Main Item

The calories in your food come from sources such as carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. For example, a gram of carbohydrate contains 4 calories. A gram of protein also contains 4 calories, where as a gram of fat contains 9 calories, which is more than twice the amount of carbohydrates and protein. This is why a food with the same size serving may have far more calories.

Very large toasted chicken sandwich on a white plate.

What Does it Take to Burn off Calories If I Eat or Drink a Food Item: List of various foods and drinks showing how many calories they contain and how long it would take to burn off those calories if you do certain exercises such as running, cycling, swimming, walking etc.

Kilojoule and Calorie Calculations

We normally refer to kilocalories as Calories, so when you see 800 calories on a food label it actually means 800 kilocalories, and the same applies when you calculate an activity that burns 800 calories. When referring to food consumption and energy expenditure we refer to them in multiples of 1,000. Thus 1,000 calories = 1 kilocalorie or kcal.

A calorie is the amount of energy (or heat) needed to increase the temperature of one gram of water by 1C. So 1000 calories = 1 kilocalorie, is the energy it takes to raise the temperature of 1kg of water by 1 degree Celsius.

There are 239 calories in 1 kilojoule - A joule is a 1 unit of electrical energy it takes to equal the current of 1 ampere passed through a resistance of 1 ohm for one second.

1,000 joules = 1 kilojoules or kJ.

One calorie has the same energy value as 4.186 joules.

It takes 3,500 calories to equal one pound of body weight.

The energy value per GRAM of various food components includes:

• Water = 0kJ (0 Cal)
• Protein = 17kJ (4 Cal)
• Dietary fibre = 13kJ (3 Cal)
• Fat = 37kJ (9 Cal)
• Alcohol = 29kJ (7 Cal)
• Carbohydrates = 16kJ (4 Cal)

Author Credentials: Ian was born and grew up in Australia. Since then, he has traveled and lived in numerous locations and currently resides in Montreal, Canada. Ian is the founder, a writer, and editor in chief for Disabled World. Ian believes in the Social Model of Disability, a belief developed by disabled people in the 1970s. The social model changes the focus away from people's impairments and towards removing barriers that disabled people face daily. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and achievements, check out his bio.