The word calorie is a fairly common word.
‘Ice cream is loaded with calories’ or ‘Watch your calories to lose weight’, ‘Count the calories’, etc…
But when people talk about calories in food, what exactly are they referring to? Let’s find out.
A calorie is a unit of measure, a unit of energy. When you hear something contains 100 calories, it’s a way of describing how much energy your body could generate from eating or drinking it.
Are calories always bad for you?
Calories are not bad for us at all. Our body needs calories for energy. But eating too many calories, and not burning enough of them through activity, can certainly lead to weight gain. Hence the need to know which foods have how many calories or, in other words, which foods will provide how much energy to the body.
Most foods and drinks contain calories. Some foods, such as iceberg lettuce, contain fewer calories. (A cup of shredded lettuce has less than 10 calories.) While other foods, such as roasted peanuts, contain a lot of calories. (Half a cup of peanuts has about 427 calories.)
Simple measurements and their meanings-
1 kilojoule(kj) = 1000 joules
1 kilo calories = 1000 grams calories
1 calorie = 4.18 kj
1 g of fat = 9 cal = 38 kj
1 g of carbohydrate= 4 cal= 17 KJ
1 g protein = 4 Cal = 17 kJ
This means that if you know how many grams of each nutrient (read fat, protein or carbohydrate) are in a food, you can easily calculate the total calories. You would multiply the number of grams by the number of calories in one gram of that food component.
For example, if a serving of French fries (about 10 French fries) has 10 grams of fat, this implies that 10 grams of fat x 9 calories per gram = 90 calories are from fat. Simple!
Ideally, we should aim to eat a healthy, balanced diet that provides us with the right amount of calories – not too many and not too few!
Calories counter
The calorie counter or table provided on this page makes it easy to count calories for foods like vegetables, fruits, cereals, breads, and dairy products. You can use this table to find out the calories in your favorite vegetables, fruits or cereals and make your own low-calorie recipe.
Calorie Count Chart:
Know the caloric content of various foods.
Calories in Fruit per 100 Grams
Values are in Calories. Multiply by 4.18 to get values in kJ.
apple 56
PEAR 190
Banana 95
chick 94
cherry 70
Dates 281
grapes 45
guava 66
kiwi 45
guava 49
liquia 61
Handles 70
orange 53
Orange juice 100ml 47
papaya 32
peach 50
pears 51
pineapple 46
feathers 56
strawberries 77
watermelon 26
grenade 77
watermelon 16
Calories in Vegetables per 100 Grams
broccoli 25
Eggplant 24
Wiring 45
carrot 48
cauliflower 30
Fenugreek (Methi) 49
green beans 26
lettuce 21
mushroom 18
onions 50
peas 93
potato 97
Spinach 100g 26
Spinach 1 leaf 2
Spinach 1 bunch 78
tomato 21
Tomato juice 100ml 22
Calories in Cereals per 100 Grams
lower 360
Corn flour 355
rice 325
wheat flour 341
Calories in Breads per piece
1 medium chappati 119
1 slice of white bread 60
1 paratha (without filling) 280
Calories in Milk and Dairy Products per cup
Butter 100gm. 750
buttermilk 19
cheese 315
100gm cream. 210
Butter 100 g 910
milk buffalo 115
Dairy Cow 100
Skimmed Milk 45
Calories in Other Items
Sugar 1 tablespoon 48
Honey 1 tablespoon 90
Coconut water 100ml 25
Coffee 40
tea 30
Be aware of calories, but not just the number of calories in your diet. What’s far more important than the number of calories is the quality of the calories or the source of the calories in your plan—that is, whether you’re getting 300 calories from a can of cola or a chicken sandwich.
