Calories from Carbohydrate
Energy from carbohydrate at 4 kcal per gram.
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Example
50 g ⇒ 200 kcal
How it works
Carbohydrate provides about 4 kilocalories of usable energy per gram because the body can break it down into glucose and use that fuel in cells. Nutrition labels and diet plans use this standard energy value so you can estimate how much energy a serving of food contributes from its carbohydrate content.
When to use it
Use this formula when you want to estimate the calorie contribution of carbohydrate in a food, meal, or daily diet plan. It is also useful when comparing foods, tracking macros, or checking nutrition labels.
Worked example, step by step
Suppose a snack contains 32 g of carbohydrate. E_C = 4C E_C = 4 × 32 E_C = 128 So the snack provides 128 kcal from carbohydrate.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Using this formula for total food calories instead of only the carbohydrate portion
- Forgetting that C must be in grams, not servings or ounces
- Confusing kilocalories (kcal) with calories (cal) and reporting the wrong unit
Did You Know?
Fibre is a carbohydrate but yields far less energy (~2 kcal/g) because humans cannot fully digest it.
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