Food Data Chart



	Using the food charts

	Important basics

	Fat-soluble vitamins

	Water-soluble vitamins

	Elements

	Others

- Important Basics Food Charts -

1: E N E R G Y:
KILOJOULES / KILOCALORIES

Energy has traditionally been expressed as calories or kilocalories. More recently, the units of energy have been changed to kilojoules. There are 4.2 kilojoules in 1 kilocalorie. For convenience, both units are shown on the chart. Someone having 2000 kilocalories each day would be having 8400 kilojoules, also known as 8.4 megajoules. The energy value of a food indicates its value to the body as a fuel. This may be less than the heat value obtained experimentally by 'burning' the food outside the body in what is called a 'bomb calorimeter'. After a food is ingested, some of its energy may be 'lost' during digestion and metabolism. Although the energy value of some foods has been found by combustion in a bomb calorimeter, more usually the amounts of the macronutrients - fat, protein, carbohydrate and alcohol (ethanol) - in a food are taken into account when assessing the total energy value of the food. The energy value for each macronutrient must be known, and an allowance made for body losses. The first system for giving energy values to the macronutrients was described by Dr W. O. Atwater in 1899. Modified, the 'Atwater factors' are:

kilojoules per gram kilocalories per gram

Fat
Alcohol
Protein
Carbohydrate
37
29
17
16 9
7
4
4


	Important Basics
		Energy
	-	Water
	-	Dietary Fibre
	-	Protein
	-	Phenylalanine
	-	Carbohydyrate
	-	Fat
	-	Cholesterol
	-	Saturated and Unsaturated Fat
	-	Alcohol

Food charts list:
beverages
cereals, biscuits,cakes,deserts
egg and cheese dishes
fats and oils
fish and seafoods
fruit
meat and meat products
milk and milk products
nuts
sauces and condiments
soups (as served)
sugars, jams and spreads
sweets
vegetables

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The energy value of a particular food is calculated from a knowledge of macronutrient composition and the modified Atwater factors for these macronutrients. The energy values shown in the chart have been obtained with this approach.

Fat is the most energy-dense macronutrient, followed by alcohol, protein and carbohydrate. For example, one double Scotch has about twice as many kilocalories as a glass of soft drink; a glass of full-cream milk has about twice the kilocalories as a glass of soft drink or of skimmed milk Dietary fibre or roughage is not usually ascribed an energy value for humans, but it is now recognized that some dietary fibre components are used as fuels by the microflora (bacteria) of the gut, especially in the large intestine. Some of the products of dietary fibre digestion may provide energy for the gut lining and some may actually be absorbed for general bodily metabolism. Vitamins and elements have no energy value.

Energy requirement can be thought of as the amount needed to maintain the basic processes of life at rest, that is, basal metabolism, plus the amount needed for physical activity under a variety of circumstances. Body weight is an important factor in determining how much energy we need, since more energy will be needed to sustain and move a greater body mass.

You should refer to the charts of energy requirement according to age, sex and level of physical activity (Figures 11 and 12), together with the energy values of foods. However, remember that there is a great deal of individual variation in the efficiency with which ingested food energy is utilized for work by the body. If your body is relatively inefficient in its use of food energy, loss will occur in faeces and by relatively more heat production.

The word 'energy' has been used here in the nutritional sense of 'provider of fuel' and not in the sense of providing zest and vitality. High-energy foods do not necessarily affect how we feel. Food products are sometimes promoted as mood-changers on the basis of their energy value, but this is simply a reflection of the double-meaning of 'energy'.