Calculating Calories In The Foods You Eat
I’m not a fan of tracking every bite of food I eat, but being able to calculate calories is a helpful tool when it comes to nutrition. There are many medical conditions that require close monitoring of certain macro/micro nutrients, so for many people it is a necessary tool to have. For those working towards weight loss, knowing how many calories you consume on a daily basis can be very helpful. As always, I like to remind people to try and eat a wide variety of foods, making sure to get plenty of fresh fruits & veggies, whole grains, lean protein and hearty healthy fats. My motto is, “Eat the Rainbow”, the more colors on your plate the better.
First, it’s important to understand that each of the macronutrients (carbs, protein, fat) ** plus alcohol, all contain different amounts of calories per gram. One gram equals 0.035274 of an ounce (basically 1/3 of an ounce). So you really can’t base what you eat on portion size only. Thankfully, food labels are getting better and better. They go a long way to helping you to be able to know just what you’re eating & how much. Let’s take a closer look at each macronutrient & alcohol.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram. So if you’re eating one cup of oatmeal, and the food label says one cup contains 25g of carbohydrate, you multiply the calories per gram (4) by the amount of grams in the serving (25). 4 x 25= 100 One cup of oatmeal contains 100 calories from carbohydrates.
Protein
Protein also contains 4 calories per gram. So if you’re eating one cup of oatmeal, and the food label says one cup contains 6g of protein, you multiply the calories per gram (4) by the amount of grams in the serving (6). 4 x 6= 24 One cup of oatmeal contains 24 calories from protein.
Fat
Fats contain 9 calories per gram. So if you’re eating one cup of oatmeal, and the food label says one cup contains 2g of fat, you multiply the calories per gram (9) by the amount of grams in the serving (2). 9 x 2= 18. One cup of oatmeal contains 18 calories from fat.
Alcohol
Of course, alcohol is not a macro or micronutrient but it does account for a lot of calories in some peoples diets. It doesn’t matter the type of the alcohol (beer, wine , liquor), they all contain 7 calories per gram of alcohol. The amount of alcohol in grams is determined by the volume of the beverage and the percentage of alcohol present. The alcohol percentage varies for different wines, beers and hard liquors. The percentage of alcohol present is often listed on the container, or you may have to look it up online. In the U.S., 14g of alcohol is sometimes used to define a standard drink.
If you drank a beer that contained 14g of alcohol, you multiply the calories per gram (7) by the amount of grams in the serving (14). 7 x 14= 98. This particular beverage contains 98 calories just from alcohol. It is important to keep in mind that many alcoholic beverages are mixed with other alcohols, sodas, mixes and syrups. This can really increase the amount of calories per serving, especially in sweet or dessert like drinks.
Bringing it all together
So once you know how many grams of each macronutrient your food contains, you simply add them up to get your total number of calories. We’ll use the oatmeal example from above. Add together 100 calories from carbs, 24 calories from protein and 18 calories from fat. That brings you to 142 calories total. Anything you add to the oatmeal would account for additional calories. Hope this helps you have a better understanding of the caloric breakdown when it comes to the different macronutrients and alcohol.