Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I'm doing a science fair project on how much energy is in multiple foods, could you answer these questions:
1.How do carbohydrates get turned into energy in a human body?
2.The calories in your food are what provide you energy, so does that mean that foods with more calories will give you more energy?
3. If question 2 is true then does it mean that eating a candy bar will give you more energy then eating a salad?
4. If burning our energy causes us to lose weight (burn calories) then what would the difference between burning energy and burning calories be?
5. Would it be easier to burn your energy after eating a candy bar or after eating a salad? Why?

Hello ameliamoye,

I’m assuming that you are working on the project described here:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ml#summary

You may want to review the summary, background and references in the bibliography for help with your questions.

Some additional information that you may find useful is as follows.

Turning carbohydrates into energy (carbohydrate metabolism) is described at these links:

http://www.caloriesecrets.net/how-your- ... to-energy/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate_metabolism

“Calories” is a way of expressing the amount of energy in a food. So, foods with more calories provide more energy. For more information see this link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_energy

I hope this helps. Please post again if you have more questions.


A. Norman