Calories

What is calorie? In scientific terms, it is the energy needed to raise the temperature1 gram of water through 1 Celsius. That's not much help. In other words, calories are like fuel. Without calories, our cells would die and then eventually we would die.

Food breaks down into 3 main macronutrients:

1.  Carbohydrates (carbs)
2. Proteins
3. Fats

1 gram of protein = 4 calories
1 gram carbs = 4 calories
1 gram fat = 9 calories

This doesn't mean we should go dive into fats. The calories our bodies don't use will turn into stored energy, or as you may know it as fat in your body. We need to eat as many calories as our body burns. If you eat 2500 calories that day, you will need to burn 2500 calories that day so your body doesn't store too much fat.

 

You may of also heard of empty calories. Empty calories have no nutrition, so therefore they have no energy in them. Sugar, for an example, is an empty calorie because it has no nutrition. It may boost you for 10 sec. but in the long run, you wont have any more energy.

 

Have a basic idea?

 

 

-My next post will be about GMOs-



 

What causes food to spoil? How can I prevent spoilage?

In my previous post, http://thehealthdictionary.blogspot.com/2014/11/preservatives.html , I talked about preservatives. Although a sign of real food is decay, spoiling can be scary once started.

Food spoilage spreads quickly once it has began. Microscopic organisms eat the food we have no longer given attention to, meaning if it is old. The microscopic bacteria is called spoilage bacteria. It multiplies when there is moisture warm climate (humid), direct sun light, and nutrition. This bacteria causes bad smells and rotten looks. Although the food may look fine, there maybe a pathogenic bacteria in the spoilage and can be very dangerous. Nothing can preserve food forever but there are ways to help it stay good without using preservatives.

We need to store our food in the proper storage. Spoiling often begins when the food is being improperly stored. When an item of food begins to spoil, it can contaminate everything else with it. We need to be aware of what stage of spoiling our food is in.

Tips:

Bacteria has a hard time growing in colder than 40 F. It can still spoil so we still need to be aware!

Bacteria needs moisture to grow. If we dehydrate our food, the moister is taken out and spoiling doesn't occur as fast.

Canning also preserves food longer, but we need to make sure our food is boiled at the right time. If we don't boil it long enough, is can grow a deadly bacteria called Botulism. Scary!

 

-My next post will be on calories-