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Calorie Health Article

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Author Info: Judith C. Rodriguez, The Gale Group Inc., Macmillan Reference USA, New York, Gale Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Well Being, 2004

Calorie

Technically, a calorie is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram (kg) of water 1 degree Celsius. One calorie is 1/1000 of a kilocalorie (a kcalorie or Calorie). The kcalorie is the unit by which food, and the amount of energy a person takes in is measured. To maintain one's weight, energy intake should equal energy expenditure. If energy intake is negative (if a person consumes fewer kilocalories than he or she needs or expends) then weight loss will occur. If energy intake is positive (if a person consumes more kilocalories than he or she needs and expends), weight gain will occur.

Judith C. Rodriguez

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