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Every needs energy for body work such as “basal metabolism,: breathing, heartbeat, kidney function, and so on, as well as for physical activity. Children also need energy for growth. This is provided by food and expressed in terms of kilo calories or Calories.* The number of calories a food provides depends on the number of grams of carbohydrate, protein, and fat the food contains.
| NUTRIENTS |
|
FOODS |
| |
Bread (1 slice) |
Corned Beef (3 ounces) |
| |
Calories Total |
Calories Total |
| |
Grams per gram calories |
Grams per gram calories |
| Carbohydrate |
15 X 4 = 60 |
0 X 4 = 0 |
| Protein |
2 X 4 = 8 |
21 X 4 = 84 |
| Fat |
0 X 9 = 0 |
24 X 9 = 216 |
| Total Calories |
68 |
300 |
| |
*Calorie with a small c is commonly used and has been used in this book. It is important to remember, however, that such designation refers to kilocalorie, a unit 1,000 times as large as the small calorie used in the science of chemistry and physics.
Alcohol is also a source of energy for the body. Vitamins and minerals and water do not supply energy; they have no calories.
When you get more calories than you need, whether in the form of fat, carbohydrate, protein, or alcohol, this excess energy is converted into body fat and stored in various parts of the body.
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