I don't understand calories

magaves

I get so much different information on diets I don't know what's right!

If all I have to do is count calories than what's the difference between having 1500 calories of fruit or 1500 calories of chocolate!

I have 7 pounds to lose, have tried the slim fast milkshakes, Special K diet and many others - ill go down a few pound the first week then nothing after that!

Please help

tbrain1989

The name calorie is used for two units of energy:

the small calorie or gram calorie (symbol: cal) which is the approximate amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius;[1]
kilocalorie, large calorie, kilogram calorie, dietary calorie, nutritionist's calorie or food calorie (symbol: Cal, equiv: kcal), which is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius; thus it is equal to 1000 small calories.[1]
Although these units are part of the metric system, they now have been superseded in the International System of Units by the joule. One small calorie is approximately 4.2 joules (one large calorie or kilocalorie is therefore approximately 4.2 kilojoules). The factors used to convert calories to joules are numerically equivalent to expressions of the specific heat capacity of water in joules per gram or per kilogram. The conversion factor depends on the definition adopted.

In spite of its non-official status, the large calorie is still widely used as a unit of food energy in the US, UK and some other Western countries. The small calorie is also often used in chemistry as the method of measurement is fairly straightforward in most reactions, though the amounts involved are typically expressed in thousands as kcal, an equivalent unit to the large calorie.

The calorie was first defined by Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat,[2] and entered French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. The word comes from Latin calor meaning "heat".

janimei

You don't get all the necessary nutrients, vitamins, fiber, and minerals by eating one food. You nourish your body by eating a variety of nutrient-dense foods. Losing weight may be mostly a matter of calorie reduction, but health is much more complex and demanding in terms of good food choices.