Why Do Some Foods Have More Calories Than Others?

These measurements are based on100 grams of each food.

170 Calories (Raw)

35 Calories (Steamed)

570 Calories (Raw)

65 Calories (Cooked in Water)

90 calories (Raw)

270 Calories (Grilled)

Different foods have different amounts of calories because the calories in the foods we eat actually come from the 3 macronutrients, fat, carbohydrates and protein.

1 gram of fat contains 9 calories

1 gram of carbohydrates contains 4 calories

1 gram of protein contains 4 calories

Each food contains a different amount or percentage of those macronutrients. Therefore foods containing a higher percentage of fat have more calories than foods that contain a higher percentage of protein and or carbohydrates. Below are the percentages of the macronutrients each food consists of.

Since the calories come from each macronutrient that the food consists of a simple way to find out roughly how many calories the food has is this equation below.

Multiply the grams of fat x 9 + the grams of carbohydrates x 4 + the grams of protein x 4.

For example here is the equation to find the calories in 100 grams of Avocado.

Macronutrients in 100 grams of Avocado:

Fat: 15 grams

Carbohydrates: 9 grams

Protein: 2 grams

15 x 9 + 9 x 4 + 2 x 4 =179

Overall the calories in food comes from the amount of fats, carbohydrates and protein that the food contains.

To find the macronutrients of other foods click here