How Do We Get Our Energy From Calories And Carbs?

What’s The Difference Between Calories And Carbs?

Your body gains energy when you intake more energy through your diet than you expend through physical activity. That’s why the main point of most diets is to limit your energy intake through counting calories and carbs.

A few years ago all of the diets were about counting calories and now they all seem to be about limiting carbohydrates. But you should you limit carbs or calories? And, if they’re both units of energy what’s the difference?

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Calories Are Energy, Right?

Yes. To set the record straight, calories and carbs are not both units of energy. Calories are the units of energy, not carbs. A single calorie is the amount of energy that it takes to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.

This is a very small amount of energy, so when you read the nutrition label on your food, what they call “Calories” (with an upper-case C) is actually the number of kilocalories (that is, one thousand lower-case c calories).

But it doesn’t mean that the food companies are trying to lie to you and get you to eat more calories. They do it because it would be tedious and useless to try to count actual lower-case c calories.

Don’t worry about keeping track of whether we’re talking about calories or kilocalories in this article though. Because we’re talking about calories as a unit of energy, it doesn’t really matter which scale we’re talking about, as long as you understand what calories are and why they’re important.

Carbs Are Energy, Right?

No. As mentioned above, the carbohydrate isn’t a unit of energy like the calorie is. The carbohydrate is a class of nutrient, along with proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water.

Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are all called “energy-yielding nutrients” because the body can break them all down to release calories. Of the energy yielding nutrients, proteins and carbohydrates both release 4 calories per gram, while fat releases 9 calories per gram.

So Why Are Carbs So Special?

You might be wondering if fat contains more than twice the calories per gram, why do all of these diets have us watching carbs? And that’s a good question.
The first reason is that the average person has much more carbohydrates than fat in their diet.

We tend to think of carbohydrates as coming from grains, like pastas and breads. These are sources of carbohydrates, but carbohydrates also come from sugars. Grains are a source of complex carbs, which your body breaks down over time. Sugars are a source of simple carbs that your body doesn’t have to break down.

Sugars are naturally occurring in sources like fruits, but they’re also added to just about everything. If you put a store-bought sauce on your pasta, you’re putting carbs on carbs. If you put jam or jelly on your bread, you’re putting carbs on carbs. And don’t even get started on sources like soda and junk food.

When you eat whole grains, you’re not just getting carbs. You’re getting fiber, vitamins and minerals. All of these nutrients can also be found in other foods that don’t have as many calories, like vegetables, which often have no carbs at all.

What About Fat In Food?

Fat, on the other hand, is far scarcer in our diet and its benefits can’t be found elsewhere. We usually don’t think of fat as being good for us, but it’s in every cell of our bodies, and is very important to the nervous system. While some fats are better than others and you should be careful about how much you get of each kind. Carbs are simply more expendable in our diets.

6 Daily Habits To Boost Your Energy Levels

Remember that a balanced diet and plenty of exercise is better for you than a diet that tries to eliminate fats or carbs or calories and promises a quick solution. Lifestyle choices, poor diet and a lack of physical activity all influence your energy levels. This free report, 6 Daily Habits To Boost Your Energy Levels reveals simple to follow routines that will keep you going day-in and day-out.