The energy of food

To meet the nutrient needs of our body, ie to be well fed, just eat enough. We should not exaggerate.

When the body gets more energy than it spends, its weight increases. Obesity is usually a consequence of an excess energy in the body in relation to the expenditure. Excess carbohydrates, for example, are converted to fat and stored in cells that form adipose tissue.

Muscle activity is the main way to expend energy. Half of the energy spent by a person corresponds to his muscle activity. But this production varies according to the activities performed by each person. In a construction worker, for example, approximately ¾ of his energy is spent that way.

If you look at the body of a regular athlete, you will see how muscle activity contributes to reducing the amount of fat in the body.

Calories: Measuring Food Energy

The foods like carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, have energy. And that energy can be measured.

The unit of measurement of energy contained in food is the calorie (lime).

A calorie is the amount of heat required to increase the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius (1 ° C).

Since the calorie is a very small unit, it is easier to measure the amount of food energy in kilocalories (Kcal): one kilocalorie (1Kcal) equals one thousand calories (1000 cal).

Here are some examples of foods and their approximate amounts of energy:

The amount of calories a person needs depends on their age, gender, weight and physical activity. See some examples:

Here's the amount of calories spent on some everyday activities for 1 hour:

By examples, we find that even sleep consumes energy, because during this period, the body functions continue to occur.

Therefore, choosing food properly is an important task. Each person should seek to know how much and how much food they need. We can often get this information from health centers, from nutritionists or doctors.