![\"calorie](\"https:\/\/www.healthdigest.com\/img\/gallery\/the-real-difference-between-calories-and-kcals\/intro-1609957208.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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In the realms of fitness and nutrition, you might come across the term “kcals” instead of “calories” when describing the energy content of a donut or the calories expended during a long run. While these terms are often used interchangeably, a kcal – kilocalorie – is technically different from a cal – a calorie. Confused? Don’t worry, you haven’t been inadvertently consuming more calories than you intended. Here’s a breakdown of kilocalories versus calories.<\/p>\n
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Unless you’re discussing a physicist’s experiment, when someone refers to a calorie, they are usually talking about a kilocalorie, which comprises 1000 “small calories.” Small calories, commonly abbreviated as “cals,” are 1\/1000 of a kilocalorie (via Healthline<\/a>). The calories displayed on a cereal box are technically kilocalories, or kcals.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Europe, packaging generally lists caloric content correctly as kilocalories, so don’t be surprised if, while traveling, you see a candy bar labeled with 350 kcals – it equates to the same as if it stated 350 calories.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s crucial to understand what a calorie represents, beyond merely being a unit that advises whether to indulge in another slice of pizza. Calories generally refer to the energy – joules – contained in a food item or expended by muscles during exercise. The USDA defines a calorie as a measure of heat, specifically the amount needed to raise the temperature of a kilogram of water by one degree Celsius.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The caloric content of food is determined by its energy content. Calories or kcals can also provide insights into a food’s macronutrient composition. Carbohydrates and protein each contain four calories per gram, fat contains nine, fiber contains 1.5, and alcohol contains seven (via Very Well Fit<\/a>). This explains why a small pat of butter, primarily composed of fat, can have as many calories as an apple, which consists of carbohydrates and fiber.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the realms of fitness and nutrition, you might come across the term “kcals” instead of “calories” when describing the energy content of a donut or the calories expended during a long run. While these terms are often used interchangeably, a kcal – kilocalorie – is technically different from a cal – a calorie. Confused? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nutrition"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncpic.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why do kcals matter?<\/h2>\n
![\"nutrition](\"https:\/\/www.healthdigest.com\/img\/gallery\/the-real-difference-between-calories-and-kcals\/why-do-kcals-matter-1609957208.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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