Macronutrients Energy Density

Today, let’s have a look at the energy density in macronutrients.

As I said in my previous post, energy is another word for calories. We prefer to use calories (Cal) in Australia, but if you are more familiar with kilojoules (KJ) than just multiply cal by 4.18 to figure KJ.

Our body requires a certain amount of calories every day to survive, so let’s have a look at how many calories in 1g of each macronutrient.

Fat: 9 cal/gram
Alcohol: 7 cal/gram
Carbs: 4cal/gram
Protein: 4cal/gram

As you can see, fat is the most energy-dense. The energy in 1 gram of fat is more than double that you can find in carbs or protein, so be mindful when you are having e.g. nuts as they are high in calories.

The second interesting part is that alcohol has 7cal/gram 😱 I will dedicate a separate post for this as I feel that there are so many misconceptions around this topic, but for now, just remember this when you are having your Friday night beers or cocktails.

Carbs and protein have the same amount of energy in them. Hopefully, this can help you understand that carbs are not our enemies!!