Calories in food

jenhenning219
jenhenning219 Posts: 385 Member
edited February 11 in Food and Nutrition
I know that there are
9 cal = 1 gram fat
4 cal = 1g carbs and
4 cal = 1g protein
Wheat I don't understand is how they get the total cal from this information someone please help maybe I am looking at this the wrong way?

Replies

  • lisajsund
    lisajsund Posts: 366 Member
    Nutrition labels will often be off a little on the total calories due to rounding purposes.
    Just take your number of grams of the macros, and multiply those by your numbers. Then add them together.
  • castlerobber
    castlerobber Posts: 528 Member
    Not quite sure what you're asking. Is it "how do I calculate calories for a food based on these equivalents?" Or is it "how did they determine that a gram of fat has 9 calories, while a gram of carbohydrate or protein has 4 calories?"
  • castlerobber
    castlerobber Posts: 528 Member
    I know that there are
    9 cal = 1 gram fat
    4 cal = 1g carbs and
    4 cal = 1g protein
    Wheat I don't understand is how they get the total cal from this information someone please help maybe I am looking at this the wrong way?
    I was asking how did they calculate the food cal not how did they get them sorry If it was confusing

    I ate a bowl of chili for lunch today. It had 16g carbohydrate, 24g fat, 20g protein.

    (16g * 4 cal/g carb) + (24g * 9 cal/g fat) + (20g * 4 cal/g protein) = 64 cal from carb + 216 cal from fat + 80 cal from protein = 360 calories.

    It may not match exactly what you see on the nutrition label, because of rounding. Also because fiber, while it's called a carb, provides fewer than 4 cal/gram. Certain types of sweeteners (xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol, lactitol, maltitol) called sugar alcohols also have fewer than 4 cal/gram.
  • lisajsund
    lisajsund Posts: 366 Member
    Yeah, fiber makes a difference.
    When I calculated my almonds yesterday, it turned out that the label goes off of net carbs.
    Net carbs = total carbs - fiber (then multiply that by 4).
    My calculation told me the snack bag contained 338 calories. The package said 340.
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