Calorie Calculation

2024 Author: Rachel Wainwright | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 07:39

Calorie calculation

The daily calorie calculation is necessary to determine the energy needs of your body in accordance with weight, height, age, as well as the level of physical activity. It is also required when creating an energy deficit as part of a weight loss diet.

Calories Daily Calculation

The daily calorie intake can be calculated using several methods. For example, the most elementary formula for calculating calories looks like: body weight (kg) * 24. You can also use the average values of the daily calorie intake, which for women is about 1400 kcal, and for men - 1800-1900 kcal.

The World Health Organization recommends calculating calories using the Harris-Benedict formula, which was derived in 1919. The calorie consumption rate calculated by this method is more accurate, since it depends on such an important indicator as the size of the human body surface.

The Harris-Benedict formula for calculating calories allows you to determine the level of basal metabolic rate - BOO. Basal metabolism is the energy that is necessary to maintain the body's vital functions at an ambient temperature of 20 °, before eating and at rest. For men, UOO is calculated using the formula:

UOOm = (66.5 + 13.75 * body weight (kg)) + (5 * height (cm)) - (6.78 * age (years)), and for women it looks a little different:

UOOzh = (655 + 9.56 * body weight (kg)) + (1.85 * height (cm)) - (4.68 * age (years)).

It has been established that the rate of calorie consumption for maintaining muscle tone is 26% of all energy received, for higher nervous activity - 18%, heart function - 9%, and kidney function - 7%. The remaining organs and systems of the body absorb in total 14% of the energy received from food.

During sedentary work, a person spends 500 kcal, with minimal physical labor - 1000 kcal, with medium physical exertion - 1500 kcal, and with hard physical labor and professional sports - 2000 kcal. In addition, energy is also spent on food processing.

For example, protein food speeds up metabolism by 30%, mixed food - by 6.5%, and fats and carbohydrates - by 2-3%. The effect of increasing metabolic rate after a meal, depending on the quantity and quality, can last from 12 to 18 hours.

The American Dietetic Association recommends using the 2005 Mifflin-Saint Geor formula to calculate calories, as the most accurate and modern.

The Mifflin-Saint Geor daily calorie calculation is based on the actual energy expenditure of a normal person. For men, it is calculated by the formula:

RE = 10 * body weight (kg) + 6.25 * height (cm) - 5 * age (years) + 5, and for women:

RE = 10 * body weight (kg) + 6.25 * height (cm) - 5 * age (years) - 161.

It should be borne in mind that if the daily calorie intake does not exceed 1200 kcal, then the body starts a set of negative processes - it lowers body temperature and metabolism, and also begins to consume its own muscle mass.

Other Calorie Calculation Techniques

Calorie intake can be calculated using other methods. For example, obesity specialist Dr. Usin Callaway offers his own formulas for calculating BMR based on patient age:

• men 18-30 years old: (0.630 * weight (kg) + 2.8957) * 240 kcal;
• men 31-60 years old: (0.0484 * weight (kg) + 3.6534) * 240 kcal;
• men over 6 years old: (0.0491 * weight (kg) + 2.4587) * 240 kcal;
• women 18-30 years old: (0.0621 * weight (kg) + 2.0357) * 240 kcal;
• women 31-60 years old: (0.0342 * weight (kg) + 3.5377) * 240 kcal;
• women over 60 years old (0.0377 * weight (kg) + 2.7545) * 240 kcal.

The obtained indicators are applicable for people with a minimum level of physical activity, corrected by a factor of 1.1. To calculate calorie consumption at average values of this indicator, the resulting figure is multiplied by 1.3, and at high physical exertion, this coefficient is 1.5.

Found a mistake in the text? Select it and press Ctrl + Enter.