9781422269916

Chapter

Food, Energy, and Your Body

Most people don’t think about the food they eat—who has the time? Either someone else makes meals for us, or we grab whatever is moderately appealing in between matches or classes, or after school. Humans eat for fuel, but we also eat for pleasure, and never in history has food been more scientifically tuned to be pleasant-tasting than it is now. Food scientists are working diligently to make snacks and meals more palatable than ever before, and typically that makes them more energy-dense. But what does that mean, anyway? What is “energy” when you’re talking about food, and what does it matter? The energy in food comes in the form of calories, and the definition of a calorie is “the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of gram of water by 1 degree Celsius.” Simply put, however, a calorie is a measurement of the energy in food. Whether we’re talking about berries, steak, or a fast-food burger, the food we eat can affect our weight, our health, and even our mental state. Food can make you happy, sad, energized, or tired, all depending on what kind and how much of it you’re eating. There are a lot of fad diets, “hacks,” and medications that people use to lose weight. In reality, however, the best tools we have are

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