This Is How Many Calories Your Favourite Foods Have

Do you know how many calories your samosa has? 160! That is more calories than one plate of plain rice. Very often, we don't realize how harmful certain foods can be for our body, especially when they have been a part of our diet since long. Calories are simply a measure of the amount of energy we get from a particular food item. So you may think, the more energy I have, the better right?

No. It's not that simple. Every individual has a particular amount of calorie that he needs to have to perform all his bodily functions and daily tasks. Eat any more than that and you will start gaining weight. This is because your body stores any extra calories as fat. So if your daily intake of calorie is equal to the amount of calories burnt, you weight stays at a healthy and constant level. If you are looking to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume. There is no other way out.

So how many calories do we really need?

According to the Human Development department of the Planning Commission, the accepted average calories requirement in India is 2400 calories per day for people in rural areas and 2100 calories per day for people in urban areas.

This difference in the requirement is primarily because of the labor-intensive nature of activities performed by people in rural areas and the larger extent of sedentary life in urban areas.

But the actual calorie requirement can vary from person to person, because we all differ in our age, height, weight, gender, body size and level of physical activity. For example, for a female who is 40 years old, weighs 55 kg and has a 5.2" height, the required calories are 1990.

Calories in popular foods

So here's a look at how many calories your favorite foods have. You can also check the calorie content of packaged goods in the nutritional content label, that is mandatorily required to be printed on them. Calories are often written under the heading of 'energy' in units kcal, which is short for kilo-calories.

Food Item                          Calories

Masala Dosa + Sambhar     250+150

Boiled Egg                             80

Plain Rice                             120

Bread with Butter                    90

Pizza                                    400

Pani Puri                               150

Ice-cream                              200

Chinese Noodles                    450

Palak Paneer                         350

Jalebi                                    460

Tandoori Chicken                    300

Falooda Kulfi                          300

Beer bottle                             200

Calorie-dense foods

There are some foods that are nutritious but also high in calorie. This means that they will possess a high amount of minerals, proteins or other beneficial vitamins but also a large reserve of calories, that will quickly add to your weight. These are the foods you need to cut down on, if you are looking to lose weight and gorge on, if your doctor has recommended you to add some of it.

Nuts and seeds are the the first item on this list. Despite the many health benefits of these foods, one cup of pine nuts, walnuts, flaxseeds and almonds may have as much as 950 calories!

Another food to be wary of is chocolate. One bar of dark chocolate can have more than 600 calories. But eating dark chocolate has also been shown to be helpful in reducing blood pressure and as a stress buster.

Surprisingly, avocados are another source of high-calories that may escape your notice because of their small size. A single avocado can have as many as 330 calories.