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This article was co-authored by Claudia Carberry, RD, MS. Claudia Carberry is a Registered Dietitian specializing in kidney transplants and counseling patients for weight loss at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She is a member of the Arkansas Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Claudia received her MS in Nutrition from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 2010. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.
How marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article has been viewed 385,379 times. Counting calories is a useful strategy for losing weight. Since all packaged foods in the US must contain a nutrition facts label, this should be pretty easy to do. If you need to know the exact number of calories coming from fat, protein, and carbs, then you will have to do a little extra math. Locate the nutrition facts on the item’s packaging. In many parts of the world, food manufacturers are required by law to provide nutritional information on packaged food products.
This information is presented in the form of a chart, which can usually be found on the back or side of the package. If you’re curious about what you’re eating, the nutrition facts label is where you should look first. A food’s nutrition facts can tell you everything you need to know about what’s in it, including a comprehensive ingredients list and an overview of each of the major macronutrients. Note the amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fat contained in the item. When assessing a food’s nutritional value, you should look at 3 things: protein, carbs, and fat. As a result, the exact amount of each macronutrient indicates what proportion of the total calories they make up. Alcohol also contains a significant number of calories.
Each gram of alcohol is about 7 calories. Multiply each macronutrient by its caloric equivalent. A gram of protein is estimated to contain about 4 calories. A gram of carbohydrates also has 4, and a gram of fat is worth a whopping 9 calories. If the item you’re eating contains 20g of protein, 35g of carbs, and 15g of fat, this means you would multiply 20×4, 35×4, and 15×9 to find the number of calories contributed by each macronutrient—80, 140, and 135, respectively.