Them Cunning Calories

Calories - a word that everybody knows they have to watch, they think they understand what it is, and yet it is totally misunderstood. Most people think that calories are unhealthy and that it makes people grow fat or gain those adipose tissues! 

Actually calorie is nothing but a simple unit of measure - not height, weight or length, but of a unit of energy. So lets get to the bones of these calories and find out what they really are:

• Calories are important and good: Calories refers to the energy that is necessary to fuel our bodies. Without sufficient calories our heart would not beat, our lungs would not function, and our brain would not work. So lets first drop the myth that calories are bad!

• Calories are of different types: Did you know that there are two kinds of calories?  Yes that is right - small and large calories. Since they are units of energy, calories refer to the energy required to burn or extinguish an item or food. To help us translate it easier, scientists refer to small calories as the energy it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius. By contrast, large calories (Kilocalories) are the amount of energy required to raise one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. On labels, these are shown as Kcal. Did you notice that the important word in measuring calorie is energy? 

• How much calories do we really need? All of us are different and we each have different calorific needs. Height, weight, activity levels and age are all factors that define how much calories each of us needs everyday. For instance a person who exercises more or a taller person is likely to need more calories to keep their body sustained.

• According to the Dietary Guidelines prescribed by the USDA in 2010, children between 9 and 16 years of age should consume between 1,600 and 2,000 calories (depending on age and level of activity), women should consume 2,000 to 2,200 calories and men should consume between 2,200 and 2,400 calories.

• How do calories add up in the human body? It takes an mere excess of 3500 calories to gain 1 lb. of fat. So imagine stashing away about 200 additional calories each day over what is ideal for us.... For example, if your favorite drink is around 500 calories and this is over and above the recommended calories that you have already consumed for the day, have it everyday of the week and by the end of one week you would have gained 1 pound of fat! Remember, all those extra calories count.

Did you know that some foods we eat contain 'empty calories'? These are foods that have little or no nutritional value and almost no dietary fiber, amino acids, antioxidants, minerals or vitamins. Prime culprits of empty calories are those solid fats and added sugars that make our foods tasty with empty calories and gets us attracted to unhealthy/junk foods. Many of us eat two or three cookies a day, most of which is empty in calories. Next time you chomp down on those cookies, think about the extra pounds that you are tucking away!