Calorie Counting
When you go to a gas station you have a choice of which fuel to choose for your car: regular, super
unleaded, or premium. When you go to the grocery, restaurant, or cafeteria you have a choice of
which fuel to choose for your body. Different fuels (foods) contain different amounts of energy
(calories). There are also different kinds of energy. The three main types of food energy are
carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
You can calculate the number of calories each type of energy contain by remembering these simple
conversions:
Carbohydrates:
Proteins:
Fats:
1 gram = 4 calories
1 gram = 4 calories
1 gram = 9 calories
That means that if you consume a product with 100 grams of total carbohydrates just multiply 100
times 4 and you have just consumed 400 calories of energy!
It is recommended that a person’s diet is balanced in such a way that 60 percent of the diet is
carbohydrates, 10 percent of the diet is protein, and the remaining 30 percent of the diet are fats.
10%
protein
30% fats
60%
carbohydrates
In 1990 a Federal law passed that required all food to display nutrition information so that consumers
have are able to make healthy decisions. Lets analyze some labels and see how they fit in with a
“healthy” lifestyle…
Calories from fat:
Multiply grams of fat by 9…
____ x ____ = _____ calories from fat
Calories from protein:
Multiply grams of protein by 4…
____ x ____ = _____ calories from protein
Calories from carbohydrate:
Multiply grams of carbohydrate by 4…
____ x ____ =_____ calories from carbohydrate
Total these calories, they should equal close to the total number
of calories listed:
fat ____ + protein ____ + carbohydrate ____ = ______
(usually this will match)
To calculate the % of each nutrient: divide the number of calories the particular nutrient has by the
total number of calories and multiply by 100:
fat _____ / _____ (total) x 100 = ______%
protein _____ / _____ (total) x 100 = ______%
carbohydrate _____ / _____ (total) x 100 = ______%
Total of above ______%
Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers
1. How much is one serving? ____
5. How many calories from proteins? ____
2. How many calories in one serving? ____
6. What percentage of the total is that? ____
3. How many calories from fat? ____
7. How many calories from carbohydrates? ____
4. What percentage of the total is that? ____
8. What percentage of the total is that? ____
1. How much is one serving? ____
2. How many calories in one serving? ____
3. How many calories from fat? ____
4. What percentage of the total is that? ____
5. How many calories from proteins? ____
6. What percentage of the total is that? ____
7. How many calories from carbohydrates? ____
8. What percentage of the total is that? ___
1. How much is one serving? ____
2. How many calories in one serving? ____
3. How many calories from fat? ____
4. What percentage of the total is that? ____
5. How many calories from proteins? ____
6. What percentage of the total is that? ____
7. How many calories from carbohydrates? ____
8. What percentage of the total is that? ____
1. How much is one serving? ____
2. How many calories in one serving? ____
3. How many calories from fat? ____
4. What percentage of the total is that? ____
5. How many calories from proteins? ____
6. What percentage of the total is that? ____
7. How many calories from carbohydrates? ____
8. What percentage of the total is that? ____