What Are Kilojoules?

Answer:

A kilojoule is a unit of measure of energy, in the same way that kilometres measure distance.

Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred fuel, although proteins and fats can also be converted into energy. Food energy is measured in kilojoules (kJ). The common term for this used to be ‘Calorie’, but ‘kilojoule’ is the term now accepted internationally. This unit of measurement allows us to talk about how much energy a food contains and how much energy is burned up during exercise.

There is a discrepancy as to what is meant by a calorie in the scientific term, to what is meant in the general “diet” terms. When applied to food, we are actually talking about a kiloCalorie (1000 calories). However the word Calorie (note capitalization) is used in most literature.

The measure of Calories gives us an indication of the potential energy that food possesses. This can easily be calculated with the following formula:

1 gram of Protein = 4 Calories
1 gram of Carbohydrate = 4 Calories
1 gram of Fat = 9 Calories
1 gram of Alcohol = 7 Calories

Therefore Calories can be calculated simply by knowing the amount of these three building blocks in the food.