Are we paying attention to the amount of calories we consume?

We have become people who care about the amount of calories consumed and that is good. We know the connection between the amount of calories consumed and what the needle on the home scale shows or the number of jackets or dresses we look for when shopping for clothes.

The word "calorie" comes from the Latin word calor, which means "heat", that is, it denotes the potential energy in the food we eat. Just as a car doesn't need gas to get energy to run, so we "burn" food to get energy to walk, talk, work, play and even sleep. For example, in the amount of 10 dg raw milk contains 70 calories, sour cream 216, two eggs 160, roast pork 190, sausages 450, bacon 700, butter 750, honey 320, apples 60, walnuts 700, cognac 340.

Of course, the more active we are, the more energy we need, i.e. more calories.

Almost all foods and drinks can be reduced to three nutritious chemical substances: proteins, carbohydrates and fats. All three ingredients, in certain proportions, are vital for a balanced diet. Most foods contain, in varying percentages, all three nutrients. Food especially rich in proteins is meat, poultry, fish, eggs, cheese. Important sources of carbohydrates are fruits, vegetables, cereals. The main sources of fat are meat, dairy products, oils, nuts.

It is important to point out that these three ingredients differ in their caloric value. While most proteins and carbohydrates release about 120 calories for every three dekagrams, three dekagrams of fat can contain as many as 240 calories. This is precisely why reducing just the amount of fat we eat can result in a significant difference in our total daily calorie intake. Nutritionists recommend that we reduce "fat" calories from about 1000 to 720 to 840 per day.

Today, while millions of people are unfortunately starving, millions more are looking for help to reduce their calorie intake in order to lose weight, live longer and look better. If you consume only 35 "fat" calories more than you burn in daily activities for 100 days, you will gain half a kilogram of body weight. Likewise, if we add just four teaspoons of sugar to our food or drink a day, at the end of the year we will be 3 kilograms heavier! Calories that we do not burn are stored in the body as fat tissue.

Understandably, when buying food, it is necessary to read the information on the packaging, which tells about what the package actually contains (amounts of calories, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals). They also tell us how many meals are in it.

Experts recommend that you add up all the calories consumed during the week, received from food and drink, and divide them by seven to see the average daily calorie intake. Let's say it comes out to 3200 calories, that's maybe 700 more than you actually need.

Less than 100 years ago, almost all of our food came from our own gardens, orchards. However, today is different. Much of our food is refined, processed for better convenience, convenience and thorough quality control. It is easier to prepare in our more complicated lives today. These foods are often enriched with vitamins and minerals.

Yet despite all these benefits and conveniences, many of us - and our children - eat less healthy food than we should. We are often consumers of the so-called fast food, which contains excessive amounts of fat, sugar or salt. We eat more meat than our protein needs. We consume more alcohol than we should. And why is it surprising that a large percentage of people are overweight.

For most of us, counting calories is one way to resist the mentioned trend, to switch to a light, varied and well-balanced diet with whole foods. We learn with the help of nutrition to feel good, keep our body weight normal and our energy level high.

If you need to lose weight, do it in moderation. Forget drastic diets that promise to lose 5 kilos in a week. A pound to a pound per week is medically reasonable.

Do it gradually and you'll have a much better chance of keeping the weight off.

Make calorie control and a balanced diet, plus regular exercise, a lifestyle.

You will enjoy life more and have a longer life to enjoy.