Thought for the Day: ” It’s great to dream, to plan, to aspire, to reach for new and improved circumstances.
And yet the way to successfully do that is by being the best you can be in the place where you now find yourself.” — Jesse
I hope you get your nutrition advice from RING OF FIRE and not from the United States government. Many people may wonder why so many Americans are obese today, but I believe that the epicenter of the problem is the government itself. Recent research brings light to the heart of the problem.
A survey from Harris Interactive reported that only 4% of Americans are getting their six servings of grains per day as recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Yes, you read that right. The government recommends that the average American consume six servings of grains each day! Really? The government thinks that the answer to combat obesity is increasing carbohydrate intake?
A carbohydrate is mass, and “gram” is a unit to measure the weight of mass. So any given mass of carbohydrate will have a weight measurable in grams. For instance, 1 cup of corn weighs 166 grams. Of that weight, 123 grams are carbohydrates. I think your real question may have been, “How many calories in a gram of carbohydrate?” This is a little tricky because indigestible fiber is considered to be carbohydrate but being indigestible has no calories. Non-fiber carbohydrates are considered to have 4 calories per gram. So in the example of the corn, there are 12 grams of fiber. This leaves 111 grams of carbs times 4 calories = 444 calories from carbohydrates. There are 16 grams of protein in the 166 gram quantity and protein is also counted 4 calories per gram, so 4×16= 64 calories from protein. Fat is considered to have 9 calories per gram and the cup of corn contains 8 grams of fat, so 8×9=72 calories from fat.
» 1 gram of fat = 9 calories
» 1 gram of protein = 4 calories
» 1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories
» As you can see fat is higher in calories, so consume it sparingly.
The Grain Foods Foundation has even enlisted Biggest Loser trainer Bob Harper for a campaign called “Daily 6″ to encourage Americans to eat more grains. The six servings of grains is the recommendation for women; it’s eight servings per day for men. Well here we go again one more fitness guru that has not even done a 500lb dead-lift, come on what is our take on all this.
Count the 2 cups of fruit that are also recommended, and together it equates to about 250 grams of carbs per day for the average American male. And that doesn’t include the six servings of vegetables. I wouldn’t even recommend that a bodybuilder consume that many grams of carbohydrates per day, unless he was in a mass-gaining phase.
So the total of carbohydrate in two cups of fruit and six servings of gain = 1000 calories.
Pump away…
Jesse Erving L.S.C.T.
