Calories

Appears in
Professional Cooking: 10th Edition
Professional Cooking

By Wayne Gisslen

Published 2025

  • About

The calorie is a unit of measurement of energy. It is defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram water by 1°C.

Remember that one of the functions of nutrients is to supply energy to the body. The calorie is used to measure how much energy certain foods supply for these functions. In our overfed society, calories have come to be viewed as something to be avoided. Nevertheless, without sufficient food energy, we could not live.
The body uses carbohydrates, proteins, and fats to supply energy: