What is calorie density?

Team,
If you have not had time to get on the clean eating program just yet but still want some tools to reduce body fat and reach your goals, arm yourself with the information below about calorie density. Understanding this concept will help you make better choices. Remember, at the basic level, losing weight (and stored body fat) is about creating a calorie deficit and doing if over a period of time. Understanding more about the makeup of the foods you choose at every meal or snack along with the knowledge of how many calories you are burning at rest and during exercise will help you accelerate your results.

This information is from CalorieKing.com, a great web resource to use for monitoring calorie intake, looking up foods and other useful information to support your diet program.

The calorie density (or energy density) of a food is a measurement of the average calories per weight (gram or ounce) of that food.You can use calorie density to compare the number of calories in equal amounts of different foods and make better calorie choices. For example, 1 oz of chocolate has far more calories (i.e. a higher calorie density) than 1 oz of pretzels. This means that if you eat 1 oz of chocolate you will consume more calories than if you eat 1 oz of pretzels. Pretzels have a lower calorie density and are therefore a better choice when counting calories.The biggest factor in determining calorie density is the water content of a food. Water increases volume of a food without adding calories.The calorie density of foods influences your hunger, satiety and food intake. By eating foods with lower calorie density, you will feel full - but have eaten fewer calories.When you search for a food in the Food Database, you will see an option to "show cd" or "show calorie density".When you click on “show calorie density”, you’ll see stars appearing next to some foods. These stars provide a general guide to the calorie density of those foods. Here’s what the stars mean:IconMeans...Calorie density rangeBest calorie choice: Very low in calories per gram0.0 - 0.6 cal/gGood calorie choice: Low in calories per gram0.6 - 1.5 cal/gAverage calorie choice: High in calories per gram1.5 - 4.0 cal/gPoor calorie choice: Very high in calories per gram4.0 - 9.0 cal/gIn other words, a food with four stars has a low calorie density and is a better choice if you are trying to reduce your calorie intake.Note that some foods in the Food Database do not have calorie density stars. For these foods the calorie density is unknown. It does NOT mean that they are low (or high) in calorie density. You’ll find this is often the case for drinks.Note: Calorie density (more calories per weight) is not the same as nutrient density (more nutrients per calories by weight). You want to aim for lower calorie density, but higher nutrient density.