How to determine the number of calories and nutrients needed per day?

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Thank goodness for all those food labels, the lists on nearly every bottle, box and jar in the supermarket, detailing the item's ingredients and nutritional content. By reading these labels, consumers gain tremendous information about their diets.

However, the data on these labels are by necessity calculated to suit a generic American adult, one who takes in 2,000 calories per day. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency that monitors food labels, can't possibly customize the information for everyone. But what if you're a 200-pound, six-foot-two, 25-year-old man? You require closer to 3,100 calories per day, and the amount of protein, fat, iron, etc., that you require will be far different from the needs of, say, a 120-pound, 70-year-old woman who's five-foot-four. Children, teenagers, pregnant women, athletes their daily caloric needs vary widely... keep on reading..

What is the difference between dark and white meat?

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What is the difference between dark and white meat?

Most people have no idea there is dark meat and white meat in poultry. The only things they know are that dark meat has more fat and that they have favorite parts they like to eat.

The difference between white meat and dark meat is attributed to the amount of MYOGLOBIN proteins, the magic stuff that distributes oxygen to the muscle cells.

This protein is stored in muscles that get active, because they need more oxygen. The more active a muscle gets, the higher the concentration of the protein.

Dark meats basically have more MYOGLOBIN proteins than white meat. Dark meats have to use this protein as they distribute oxygen more powerfully to the muscles than glycogen. Muscles used more often, get to be dark. This is reveal why non-flying poultry drumsticks are dark meat, while their breast meat is white.

While a modern domesticated chicken is basically flightless, the wings get very little in activities, so the muscles develop very little MYOGLOBIN proteins. Where this really turns out to be obvious is in flying fowl like ducks; the meat is more of a reddish color all over, which is why ducks are basically all dark meat.

When dark meat is cooked it turns the MYOGLOBIN proteins to METMYOGLOBINS, which is colored brown or gray. METMYOGLOBINS are very high in iron, although there is not that much in dark meat in the first place.


White meat gets the 'juice' through GLYCOGEN. It is an animal starch. Animal starch is stored mainly in the liver and broken down into glucose when needed by the white muscle.

However, when cooking, wings should be treated like dark meat, not white meat. This is because white meat tends to be dried if cooked too long. Wings take well to long cooking times and high heat just like thighs. This is because there are multiple bones in the wings structure. Be careful when grilling or barbecuing, because wings are also one of the fattiest parts of the chicken and tend to create flare-ups on the grill.

In addition, the white meat of a chicken contains a lot less natural internal fat compared to the dark meat parts. The MYOGLOBIN protein is responsible for the color difference but it is the fat content that makes dark meat parts retain its moisture for a longer period of time before drying out.

As for nutritional comparison, dark meats contained more zinc, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, vitamins B6 and B12, amino acids, iron than white meat. Even the fats in most of the dark meats have healthy parts. They contain Omega-3, and Omega-6 fatty acids, and other 'healthy' fats. But the saturated fat content which lowers the right quality of dark meat.

Therefore, if anybody asks, this information can now be told to them. It is also why when people are put on diets that they are told to eat chicken breasts and not drumsticks.

Not All Calories Are the Same ~ Get it Right

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Have you ever heard the phrase, "A calorie is a calorie?" I know I have, from friends and family to people like doctors and nutritionists. I'm here to tell you that they are dead wrong. Not only that, I'll tell you about a simple experiment you can do yourself to prove that they're wrong. Ready?

It was once commonly believed that all calories were essentially the same, and that controlling your weight was simply a matter of keeping the total number of calories in the right range. Many people still do believe this, even though it is clearly false.

The amount of calories in a serving of food tell you how much energy that serving can produce when you eat it. So at that level, it is true that all calories are the same. But that's a very simplistic view of the situation. Different kinds of food have wildly different effects on your body, even if you eat the same number of calories of each.

Protein takes a lot more energy to digest than simple carbohydrates do. So eating 100 calories worth of steak (protein) will have a different effect on your body than 100 calories worth of white bread (simple carbohydrate) will. And eating 100 calories of whole-grain bread (complex carbohydrate) will affect your body differently than the white bread too. 100 calories worth of salad dressing (fat) will have yet a different effect.

Clearly, when it comes to how they affect your body, not all calories are the same. Simple calorie counting accomplishes little if you don't control the types of calories you are consuming. Still don't believe me? Here's that experiment I was telling you about:

To prove to yourself that not all calories are the same when it comes to how they affect the human body, imagine this. Please don't actually try this experiment. You'll see why in a minute. Just think it through for now.

With the help of a scientific research team, we figure out the average number of calories you consume at each meal. Without changing anything else about your life, we replace your regular meals with a bowl of your favorite ice cream containing exactly the same number of calories. For the next week, you are going to eat exactly enough of your favorite ice cream to replace the calories of regular food you would normally consume.

What do you think this change would do to you? Aside from leaving you bored by eating the same thing all the time, this change would have ugly consequences for you. Your blood sugar levels would likely swing about wildly. If you were diabetic, this in itself could kill you (see why I said you shouldn't actually try this experiment?). Your moods would swing back and forth. Your digestive system would probably rebel. You would almost certainly put on weight. In short, you would be a mess. You know you would.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_Mann

This thought experiment clearly shows that the source of the calories you consume matters a great deal. If you're overweight and trying to get back in shape, you need to find yourself a plan that recognizes that not all calories are the same. Fortunately, the creators of most modern fat loss plans do understand this distinction and give you dietary advice that recognizes this fundamental truth.