Calculating the Ratios of Food
Calculating the Ratios of Food
If your patient wants to gain or lose weight, they will need to accurately determine how many calories from carbohydrates, fat, and protein they are eating.
The following is a simple calculation to do so. First, calculate the total calories in the meal:
| (grams of protein x 4) | + | (grams of fat x 9) | + | (grams of carbs x 4) | = | total calories |
Then, for protein:
| (grams of protein x 4) | ÷ | total calories | = | percentage of calories from protein |
For fat:
| (grams of fat x 9) | ÷ | total calories | = | percentage of calories from fat |
For carbs:
| (grams of carbs x 4) | ÷ | total calories | = | percentage of calories from carbs |
If your food label only has percentages of these macronutrients, here is a simple calculation to convert percentages to grams:
For protein:
| daily calories | x | percent protein | ÷ | 4 calories per gram | = | grams protein |
For fat:
| daily calories | x | percent fat | ÷ | 9 calories per gram | = | grams fat |
And for carbs:
| daily calories | x | percent carbs | ÷ | 4 calories per gram | = | grams carbs |
Online sources can be accessed to calculate calories in food. Professional software such as NutritionCalc Plus or NutriNote are more comprehensive programs that can be used to calculate nutritional information.