Nutrition Info

I had vacations and i got the feeling i was eating too much, so i did a little look around to try to learn more about nutrition, Im posting here some of the findings.


What means the stuff in the back of food packages?
As cars use gas for energy source, people use what is called Calories, and we consume a bunch of them per day.
So what we see in the back of food packages is the amount of Calories that that food gives us. We can see it represented in different ways but is quite straightforward:
1 kcal = 1000 cal
1 Calorie (the nutrition Calorie) = 1 kcal
(http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-82681.html)

How many of them should i eat?
Thats is, what are my energy needs(calories) per day?
See in: http://www.shapefit.com/dailycalorie-calc.html
For example: age:27, height:176cm, weight:80.5 person, consumes around 2400 calories per day.
So if you wana loose weight you should eat less than your Caloric needs! not too less thought, for example, should not eat less than 1200 Calories per day.

Is there different kinds of Calories?
Yes, food contains mix of several smaller things, and there are a couple to be aware of:
Fat: 1 gram = 9 calories
Protein: 1 gram = 4 calories
Carbohydrates(Sugars): 1 gram = 4 calories
Alcohol: 1 gram = 7 calories
(http://www.nutristrategy.com/nutritioninfo2.htm)

The amounts of each one you should get depend on your the energetic needs(also metabolism speed) on your amount of body fat, or on your goals, for example:
To reduce body fat, obviously avoid the fat stuff.
To Increase muscle, a diet should be mostly protein based.
To decrease body weight reduce carbs(Carbohydrates).
etc...

How many calories are in food?
See in http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Calories+chart&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

For example:
1 strawberries = 6 Calorie, no fats, mostly carbs(sugars)
1 average sized apple = 70 Calorie, no fats, mostly carbs(sugars)
100g cooked white rice = 130 Calorie, no fats, mostly carbs(not sugars thought), very little protein.
100g cooked spaghetti = 140 Calorie, almost no fat, mostly carbs(not sugars thought), little protein.
100g salmon = 150 Calorie, some but low fat, no carbs, mostly protein.
100g raw chicken meat, no skin = 200 Calorie, no carbs, less fat than proteins (in ratio 20/80)
100g raw pork meat = 280 Calorie, no carbs, more fat than proteins (in ratio 60/40)
etc...

(source: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calorie-chart-nutrition-facts)

What Sports spend more calories?
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php or http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate_metric/cbc

For example:
81kg person walking for 10 minutes burns around 50 Calories.
81kg person running for 10 minutes at good pace burns around 108 Calories.
81kg person cycling for 10 minutes at 20km/h(relatively slow pace) burns around 80 Calories.
81kg person swimming slow pace for 10 minutes burns around 85 Calories.