Carbs vs Calories vs Sugar

sarah44254

I keep seeing that you can add up your sugars and turn them into calories, or the same with your carbs. I haven't found any info on this online.

If I am under my calorie goal for the day by say, 50, but I am over on carbs and sugars, some suggest that I really went over on my calories but don't see it?

Can anyone explain the relationship between this things for me? Or link me some reading material? thank you!

TrainingWithTonya

It's a matter of conversion from Grams to Calories. Carbs (which includes sugar, fiber, and starches) and protein are both 4 calories per gram, fat is 9 calories per gram, and alcohol is 7 calories per gram. (Actually, they aren't exactly 4, 4, 9, & 7, but those are the general numbers used based on the estimates of how much energy in the form of Calories is used to break them down.) So, if you take the total number of grams from each group that you've consumed and multiply them by those numbers, the calories from each category should add up to the total calories you've consumed. However, because of rounding and the fact that the numbers aren't exact and the food companies are allowed a certain amount of error, you won't always add up to the exact same number of calories.

If you are just trying to figure out how many grams of carbs you can have for 50 calories, though, (Say if you want to get to your calorie goal and are having a sugar craving), then you can divide the 50 calories by 4 and that tells you that you can have 12.5 grams of carbs for that 50 calories.

izzy214

Sarah, Check out "Jorge Cruise" The Belly Fat Cure. I have been on it for one week and I am seeing great results. I have lost 5 or 6lbs this week. Its about eating the right amount of sugar and carbs to maximize fat loss and still satisfying your sweet tooth. The reason he singles out sugar/carbs, not the calories to fat, has to do with the science of a naturally occurring hormone we all have: Insulin.
Insulin is the hormone controlling your body's ability to push fat into fat cells. Without lowering your insulin levels, it is impossible to lose weight, regardless of calorie intake or exercise."

Please do yourself a favor and it check out . You can purchase the book at Walmart, Amazon, just about any where. I never understood why I was not seeing results until I read and understood why, what I was doing was not working.

Good Luck
Izzy

sarah44254

Thank you Tonya that was the info I was looking for.

From that it seems that nutrition labels already include the conversion of carbs into the stated calories? So it's not like I am eating 100 calories from this snack AND the 20 calories added from the carbs/protein in it... they have already figured that in and that is how the calorie total came from in the first place?

atomdraco

It's a matter of conversion from Grams to Calories. Carbs (which includes sugar, fiber, and starches) and protein are both 4 calories per gram, fat is 9 calories per gram, and alcohol is 7 calories per gram. (Actually, they aren't exactly 4, 4, 9, & 7, but those are the general numbers used based on the estimates of how much energy in the form of Calories is used to break them down.) So, if you take the total number of grams from each group that you've consumed and multiply them by those numbers, the calories from each category should add up to the total calories you've consumed. However, because of rounding and the fact that the numbers aren't exact and the food companies are allowed a certain amount of error, you won't always add up to the exact same number of calories.

If you are just trying to figure out how many grams of carbs you can have for 50 calories, though, (Say if you want to get to your calorie goal and are having a sugar craving), then you can divide the 50 calories by 4 and that tells you that you can have 12.5 grams of carbs for that 50 calories.

Correct

TrainingWithTonya

Thank you Tonya that was the info I was looking for.

From that it seems that nutrition labels already include the conversion of carbs into the stated calories? So it's not like I am eating 100 calories from this snack AND the 20 calories added from the carbs/protein in it... they have already figured that in and that is how the calorie total came from in the first place?

Yes, the calories from the nutrition label is suppose to include the calories from carbs. However, some diet plans allow for the subtraction of any calories from fiber because it is essentially not processed by the body so they assume that you aren't really getting those calories. That's where the confusion comes in, because some places label their foods with "Carbs" and "Net Carbs" with the fiber subtracted out. Some also do that for Sugar Alcohols. It gets really confusing for most people, so just stick with the generalizations that are on the labels and don't stress about it. It's actually less important to be 100% accurate in your calorie counts then it is to de-stress. It's not possible to live your life and still be 100% accurate on what you are burning as that can only be super accurate in a calorimeter and nobody I know wants to live in one of those! So, close on counting what goes in is just as accurate as the HRM or other estimate of calorie expenditure. Close does count in this case.

sarah44254

Thank you It wasn't a big concern of mine, I just like to learn! And learn I did. :happy: