Nutrition Science and Everyday Application - beta v 0.1

CLASSIFICATION OF NUTRIENTS 35
A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/
nutritionscience/?p=748
VIDEO: “Bomb Calorimetry” by David Read, YouTube (September 16, 2008), 2:19 minutes.
In the US, the kilocalorie (kcal) is the most commonly used unit of energy and is often
just referred to as a calorie. Strictly speaking, a kcal is 1000 calories. In nutrition, the term
calories almost always refers to kcals. Sometimes the kcal is indicated by capitalizing calories
as “Calories.” For the sake of simplicity, we’ll use the terms “calories” and “kilocalories”
interchangeably in this book.
Below is a list of energy sources in the diet from lowest to highest calories per gram (a
gram is about the weight of a paperclip). Notice the addition of alcohol. Although alcohol
does provide energy, it isn’t a nutrient, because it isn’t required as a source of nourishment
to the body.
Energy Sources (kcal/g)