Calorie Nutrition Chart
A calorie chart is extremely useful as it helps one know how many calories he/she is consuming from common foods. It is especially helpful for those who are trying to lose weight, because calories play an important role in determining the amount of fat in one's body. In order to lose weight, or to burn calories, a calorie chart comes in handy as it serves as an essential dietary aid. A calorie chart also helps determine various other nutrition factors that hold the key to our health.
One of the best advantages of using a calorie chart is that you don't need to make a guess at how many calories or how much nutrition you have gathered on a particular day. Because, a calorie chart often includes health, nutrition and diet information. It often takes a serious approach to health and nutrition. That's why a good calorie chart, if followed in a proper manner, leads to significant improvements in a person's overall health and fitness.
A calorie chart tells you exactly how many calories can be obtained in a serving of a particular food. It is usually arranged alphabetically by food, or separated into food groups and then organized in an alphabetical manner. There are some calorie charts that include lists even by brand names. Once you have located the item you are looking for, you just have to move across the column to find the typical serving amount and the calories per serving.
The next column of a calorie chart tracks the quantity of fat in a serving of a particular food item. Both saturated and unsaturated fats are included on the list. For those who are dieting, it is all the more important as they have to keep track of the saturated fats column that contains most of the bad fats.
As far as nutrition is concerned, a calorie chart indicates the protein content of a food. Protein is a key element of a healthy and balanced diet because it helps your body in muscle-building. The more muscle your body contains, the more calories you burn. This is because muscle requires greater amount of calories to work properly than fat does.
A calorie chart also tracks another substance important for nutrition - carbohydrate. Carbohydrates have both positive and negative sides. A diet with too much carbohydrate can make you gain weight instead of losing it. On the other hand, our body derives most of its energy from carbohydrates. In the absence of this energy, our body can't burn calories. Because of this, it is important to keep a balance intake of carbohydrates, and a calorie chart helps us in doing so.
A calorie chart also keeps track of another key substance linked to nutrition - cholesterol. Cholesterol is important as it insulates our nerves and produces certain necessary hormones. But excessive amount of cholesterol can have harmful effects on the heart and arteries. By using a good and reliable calorie char, one can track how much cholesterol is contained in foods and limit their consumption. Having a good calorie chart will not only help control your calories but also maintain a healthy nutrition level.