Calories in food and drinks
Welcome to the most straightforward calorie counting tool on the internet. If you want to learn about calories in food and drink, this really is the site for you. We feature the calorific and nutritional values of hundreds of the foods and beverages that make up your diet each day, all of which are displayed in a format that is incredibly easy to digest.
From the number of calories in a banana and other popular fruits, to those found in a boiled egg, we have everything catered for. Additionally, we also highlight exactly what is found inside each food, from the positive nutritional factors such as vitamins and minerals, to the things that are bad for your health like cholesterol and saturated fat. We help you learn which foods are good for you, and why.
You don't need to be on a diet to wonder about the calorie content of the things that you eat and drink, but generally those that are will be seeking this type of information.
In dietary terms, there is a great divide in society between those who meticulously count each and every calorie and nutrient, in order to lead a healthy lifestyle, and those who border, or fall into what is known as the 'obese epidemic', where calorie counting is something that is not followed, nor understood. This site can help everybody who has an interest in finding out what is in the foods that they eat, and who actually wants to make better dietary choices.
If you want to know how many calories are needed each day to lose, gain, or maintain your weight, we show you the basic formula to work that out too.
What makes us different to the many other food calorie calculator sites online, is that the information that we provide is more user friendly. The statistics that we provide are laid out in a basic format, without all the drop down boxes, confusing graphs, tables and jargon.
We give you what you want, the basics, in plain and simple language that you understand
Are you a calorie counter?
Maybe you have decided it's time to slim down and are embarking on a diet that involves counting every calorie that you consume, or perhaps you are just wondering about the number of calories that are found in a favorite food of yours? Either way this site is a free and easy calorie counter that can really help you out.
Find the food that you are looking for by searching through the different categories on the left hand side of the page. With our picture menus, we make it easier for you to find what you are looking for.
A brilliant example can be found by clicking here to access our fruit menu. The fruits are displayed visually, and in alphabetical order, it doesn't come more straight forward than that.
With the nutritional values of foods being such a big point of interest too, we also highlight which nutrients are found in each food, and whether that food is classed as a rich source or not. So not only can you see how many calories a banana contains, but also how much potassium, protein or fiber it has in it too. Again the information is listed in a way that anybody can follow.
Keeping an eye on your calorie count couldn't be any easier than using our site to find out the total calories in food that you eat at each of your meal times, or in between.
Calories are unavoidable, but not always a bad thing
Calories are found in all foods, however the amount that each item of food contains will vary dramatically. There is often a negative stigma surrounding calories in food, however this does not need to be the case as long as you understand what calories are, why they are needed, and how to control how many you consume. Each and every calorie in food does not necessarily have to cause you, or your diet a problem.
Let's first quickly explain exactly what a calorie actually is:
In the most basic of terms a calorie is a unit of energy. As we have said there are calories in all foods that your diet consists of. If you eat a chocolate bar that has 100 calories in it, this chocolate bar contains enough energy to raise water temperature by a single degree celsius 100 times. Naturally with calories being a unit of energy, this is what your body will use the calories consumed for.
Calories that are not immediately used are stored as fat, so the more calories that you burn by using the energy they provide, the less fat that your body will retain. This is the whole point of calorie counting and dieting, you want to extinguish your energy reserves as this will involve burning off unwanted fat. The more calories that you burn, the more weight that you will lose. On the flip side, the less calories you consume the lesser the chance of gaining unwanted fat and weight. This is why keeping a careful eye on the calorific content of everything that you eat, is the primary way to keep your weight in check.
The calories that are stored on your body can be burned by exercising. This can be doing anything from a quick walk, to a hard session at the gym. Anything physical that you do will burn calories to a degree, even some foods that you eat will actually burn calories as they take more effort for the body to chew, digest and process them, these are known as metabolism boosting foods.
Obviously the harder you work physically, the more calories will be burned away. This is why people eat less in order to consume less calories, or exercise more in order to burn more of them than normal, both in an attempt to lose weight, or prevent themselves from putting weight on.
On this site we have hundreds of informative pages providing you with information on how many calories are in foods that you eat every day, and also those that are popular in healthy lifestyles. Generally the unhealthier a food is deemed to be, the more calories it is likely to have in it. For example there are more calories in a donut, than there are in a piece of fruit such as an apple.
Popular pages and easy to use menus.
Here are some examples of the most popular pages on the site, and links to our easy to use menus.
Please see our dedicated pages for the following foods:
Remember there is more to your diet than the calorific content of the things you choose to include in it.
Vitamins and minerals in food
It is critically important to remember that there is more to a food than the number of calories that it contains. Of course calories provide you with the energy that your body needs to get up and go, but what it also requires is a number of vitamins and minerals, as well as protein and fiber. These allow all of the bodily processes to take place that we all take for granted, from the creation of blood cells to your ability to breath in air through your lungs.
We cover each nutrient, telling you which foods act as their best sources, how much of each one you need each day, and why they are vital to your health.
Here are some popular examples:
All of these and many more can be found by clicking the below link to our vitamins and minerals in food menu:
Always remember that highly nutritious foods come primarily in the form of fruits and vegetables. These natural foods are better for you in that they contain less calories, no cholesterol, barely any fat and often little sugar too. You will find plenty of healthy food facts on each and every page featured on this site.
Where to find specific information on food calories?
Besides using a site like ours, one of the best ways to count calories in your diet is by checking the label found on a product's packaging. Besides helping you to make your own calorie chart, or list, the information on a food's label highlights the nutritional values, such as how much protein and fat it contains. This is vital information for the consumer and it is a legal requirement of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) that this information is accurate and clear.
There are a wide range of people that will make a conscious effort to count calories before they decide which foods they are going to consume. Popular examples are those that are on a strict weight loss diet, body builders, athletes, or just people generally watching their weight.
What is calorie counting?
Counting calories is where people will actually count the amount of calories that they eat on a daily basis. This can be done to see whether they are eating too much, too little, or in order to make a predetermined plan of what they are going to eat over a day/week/month by counting how many calories they are allowing themselves to consume over this period. Dietary decisions can then be made based on this.
As calories in foods can vary this can mean a lot of research is needed before any sort of calorie counting plan can be made. All of the information that we have on this site can help you to work out the total found in your own diet, by showing you the calorific value of each item in it.
Many people will count calories by recording what they eat over a period of time and counting the total that they are eating. They can then make a plan in order to amend the total calories consumed by knowing what they regularly eat, and how they can balance their diet by eating less of certain foods, or by eating more of others.
How many calories should I consume per day?
Most people have no idea just how many calories are in the food they eat. We are now going to explain what the average calorific intake is and what you would need to do in order to burn off these calories (to prevent them from being stored on your body as fat).
The amount of calories that you should consume each day will depend on your gender, age, height, weight and how active you are. There are many calorie calculators online where you simply fill these details in and this will show you your recommended daily intake. We have a page dedicated to telling you the number of calories you should consume each day, providing you with a simple calculation to determine the figure applicable to you as an individual.
- A sedentary 30 year old male who weighs 156 pounds and who is 72 inches tall would need to consumer 2095 calories a day in order to maintain their weight. Obviously to gain weight they would need to consume more calories in foods and less in order to actually lose weight.
- A male of the same age who exercised lightly (1-3 times a week) who also weighed 156 pounds and stood at 72 inches tall would need to consume 2400 calories a day to maintain their current weight.
- A sedentary 30 year old female, who weighs 140 pounds and who is 64 inches tall would need to consume 1700 calories a day in order to maintain their weight. As above to gain weight they would need to consume more calories in foods and less if they wanted to lose weight.
- A female of the same age who exercised lightly (1-3 times a week) who also weighed 140 pounds and who is 64 inches tall would need to consume 1947 calories a day to maintain their current weight.
Without finding out the number of food calories that make up your diet, it is very difficult to know whether you are eating too much, or too little, if you want to lose weight. This is why the information on this site is so valuable to anyone thinking of losing weight by counting their calories.
More information
We hope that you will make the most of the free information that we have on calories in food. All of the calories in foods lists that we display have been thoroughly researched, although of course some foods can vary from brand to brand, and depending on their size, weight, or quantity.
We cannot stress enough how important it is to not only take note of your food calories, but also the vitamins and minerals in food that you eat.
The nutritional values of foods should be one of the primary factors that determines whether or not you eat it.