How to Calculate Kcal

Kcals measure the amount of energy provided by a type of food. Foods contain one or more of the following substances: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The amount of calories (Kcals) of a food is the sum of the kcals in each one of these categories.

Things You'll Need

• Calculator

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Instructions

Measuring KCals

• 1

  Look on the food label of a product. If there is no label, look up the nutrition information online (see Resources). See how many grams of protein the food contains. Multiply the amount of protein grams by four. This is the amount of kcals in the protein portion.

• 2

  Notice how many grams of carbohydrates are included in this product. Multiply the carbohydrate count by 4. This is the amount of carbohydrate kcals in the food being evaluated.

• 3

  Find how many total fat grams there are. Multiply this number by 9. This is the amount of fat kcals in the food.

• 4

  Add together the amounts of kcals in carbohydrates, fats, and proteins to get a total kcal count.

• 5

  To find the percentage of an individual component, divide the amount of kcals by the total kcal count. For example, if there are 45 kcals of fat in a 90-kcal product, you would divide 45 by 90. This food, then, is made up of 50 percent fat kcals.