This is the season of the Christmas cookies, eggnog and other tasty treats. How many calories are in these delicious confections? I don't even want to ask. What exactly is a calorie anyways? In its very basic definition it is a unit of energy. Originally, the term was used to define the heat needed to increase the temperature of water by one degree. Calories can refer to anything. For example, a gallon of gasoline contains about 31 million calories. So, don't drink gasoline. Food measurement calories are actually Kilocalories, which means 1,000 thermocalories, or 4,184 joules. How are food calories calculated? Calories in food are calculated based on how much energy that food contains.
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