Calories are a standard measure or description of the amount of energy contained in all types of food. Calories come from the nutrients fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Too many calories in your diet supply too much energy. If your body does not need the energy right away, it is stored as body fat. It takes approximately 3,500 excess calories to gain a pound. Excess body fat aggravates conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and it puts extra stress on your heart.

High-fat foods are high in calories because fat is the most concentrated source of energy. There are 9 calories in each gram of fat but only 4 calories in each gram of protein or carbohydrate. (For comparison, a paperclip weighs about a gram.) Thus, small amounts of fat provide many more calories than other kinds of foods. It is easy to overeat fatty foods. Carbohydrates tend to be bulkier; therefore, you are more/likely to feel full, even though the calorie content is less.

Another factor may indicate why fatty foods are so “fattening.” When you eat too much fat, it is easy for your body to convert those extra calorie into excess body fat. Excess calories from protein and carbohydrate can be stored as body fat, too, but four body may burn more calories in this conversion process than it does when converting fat calories into body fat.

Think of what you are getting with the calories you take in. Some foods, such as sugar and alcohol, provide calories but few other nutrients. These foods are often described as sources of “empty” calories. The ideal diet contains the right amount of calories and emphasizes foods that provide the> most nutrients.

*287\252\8*