# Food Label - Kcal or Carbohydrates



## Proteincarb (Oct 12, 2010)

Which do you look out for while bulking? i have some oats and it says there 356kcal and 60g per 100g and then on some burgers i have it had any carbs in it - totally confused.


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

Calories all day long, unless on keto


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## Proteincarb (Oct 12, 2010)

whats the difference between kcal and calories then, i have been eating burgers thinking there a good bulking food but cant be?


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

killah said:


> whats the difference between kcal and calories then, i have been eating burgers thinking there a good bulking food but cant be?


Absolutely nothin


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## Fatstuff (Mar 2, 2010)

Carbs and kcal is a totally diff matter


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## Malibu (May 13, 2010)

burgers have carbs, because they use fillers, which are carbs. If you want full protien no carbs, just buy steak


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## Proteincarb (Oct 12, 2010)

They make it so hard to understand, so whats some good high carbs foods for bulking.


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## Hera (May 6, 2011)

I'm sorry if this sounds patronising and if you're already know this...but calories are the energy contained in a food and carbs are a component of the food. High kcal/calories means lots of energy which comes from whatever the food is made up of. For example, although a nice juicy steak will have hardly any carbs in...it will still have lots of energy from the fat and protein. You can get the same amout of energy (calories) for example, from a bowl of cornflakes but the source of those calories will be from mainly carbs...and not protein and fat (though some will come from that).


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## Proteincarb (Oct 12, 2010)

Oh thanks katy understand it now lol, so if bulking kcals need to be coming from mainly carbs.


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## Hera (May 6, 2011)

I'm not an expert in this area as I have never bulked (not intentionally anyway) but I personally don't see that it matters where the calories come from just as long as your getting the energy. I personally don't like carby things so if I was bulking I'd probably eat lots of protein and fat with some carbs too. I think that it's also important to be aware of the quality of the food that your eating with regards to health...you can get 1000's of calories from just white bread but it isn't exactly nutrient dense so I certainly wouldn't advise that approach...I nice balanced diet of protein, fats and carbs are what I would advise...and for bulking just eat lots of them


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## Greenspin (Dec 27, 2010)

As above, carbohydrates (CHO), fats and Proteins are macronutrients. So in other words, they are nutrients that your body needs in large amounts when compared to micronutrients. Micro meaning small, these nutrients are things like vitamins and minerals etc. Macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) contain energy. Kilocalories are the standard measure of this energy (for the general public). Kilocalories are often caller just 'calories' this is incorrect, as 1 kilocalorie = 1000 calories. That is why you see Kcal on food labels (Kcal = kilocalorie).

As a general rule of thumb, 1 gram of 'pure' carbohydrate has 4 kilocalories (or as people mistakenly put it '4 calories'), 1 gram of 'pure' protein has 4 kilocalories, and 1 gram of pure fat has 9 kilocalories. The preceding values are not solid, but are excepted as good general rule.

These macronutrients all have different possible roles in the body, I.e, protein (or the amino acids that make up proteins) are used in all the bodies tissues and etc, including muscle tissues. But ultimately, if you eat excess of these macronutrients you will store energy (the energy value is the kilocalories contained in the food) as either fat, or in the case of carbohydrates, glycogen (stored CHO) or fat.

Total calories are what you need to focus on for weight management.


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

If bulking it doesn't matter where your extra calories above your maintenence requirements come from - for weight gain carbs, fats and protein in excess will all help you add weight fairly equally.


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## Driven Sports (Jul 15, 2011)

I look at both for mapping out my nutrition each day, but ultimately it's calories.


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