3 replies to this topic

[Live Forever]

Here is a post I ran across with several meals at or around 300 calories:
http://www.diet-blog...s_look_like.php


It reminded me of this other site I ran across awhile back "What does 200 Calories Look Like?":
http://www.wisegeek....s-look-like.htm
Where they show the volume of different foods that make up 200 calories, in order from highest volume to lowest (If you click on the individual pics you see the full one). At the high end are celery, broccoli, peppers, and carrots; and at the low end are peanut butter, nuts, butter, and canola oil.

[OutOfThyme]

That was interesting LF.

I was struck by the comment:

The average American consumes around 3,800 Calories

[s123]

Even if you eat 3,800 calories, you will starve to death. 3,800 calories is roughly 1 gram of proteins. One calorie approximates the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 °C. This is about 4.184 Joules. It's a common made error. Kilocalories is not the same as calories. One kilocalorie is 1000 calories. The average American consumes around 3,800 kilocalories.

[Live Forever]

Even if you eat 3,800 calories, you will starve to death. 3,800 calories is roughly 1 gram of proteins. One calorie  approximates the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 °C. This is about 4.184 Joules. It's a common made error. Kilocalories is not the same as calories. One kilocalorie is 1000 calories. The average American consumes around 3,800 kilocalories.

If you want to get technical, the calorie you refer to is called a small calorie or gram calorie (enough energy to raise 1 gram of water by 1 °C or about 4.184 Joules). This is generally used in the scientific context. The kilogram calorie is also called the large calorie. (enough energy to raise 1 kg of water by 1 °C or about 4.184 kJ) This large calorie is generally the one used in nutrition and other contexts. Generally you can tell the difference if it is capitalized ("Calorie" vs "calorie"), but it can usually be inferred from the context which one (large calorie or small calorie) is being discussed.