Food and Energy
The total energy (calories) in a given food depends upon the amount of carbohydrate, protein, fat, and alcohol it contains. These substances provide different amounts of calories for the same unit of weight: Calories/gram: Carbohydrate (4)
Protein (4)
Fat (9)
Alcohol (7)
Density is an important nutrition principle that can be applied to both calories and nutrients. A calorie dense food is one that contains a large number of calories and relatively few nutrients in a given amount of the food. Foods that contain primarily fat and/or alcohol are more calorie dense than foods containing carbohydrates or protein. Large amounts of sugar also increase the caloric density of foods.
As you get older, your body requires less energy. During weight loss and maintenance, it is especially important to maximize your nutrient intake by choosing nutrient dense foods, because these foods will give you the most nutritional bang for you caloric buck.
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