Questions about this site

What is this site about?
Our site features a complete database of foods and their nutrients for over 9,000 foods that belong to 25 different categories. We also have a “How to Burn XXX Calories” Calculator to recommend exercises to burn off the calories from different foods.

Who is this site for?
This site is for anyone who wants nutritional information about their food. Athletes, people who are trying to lose weight, or people who are trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle are just a few of the people who might use this site.

How do I navigate your site?
You can find your way around our site by using the search tool. You can also browse through the categories to find foods.

Questions about nutrition

What are carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates provide the body with glucose, which is converted to energy. The most common forms are sugar, fiber, and starch. Whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and beans are all foods high in carbohydrates.

What is sugar?
Sugar is what makes food taste sweet. Your body quickly converts it into energy, but if you don’t use the glucose by burning calories it makes you gain weight.

Advertisements

What is fiber?
Fiber is the parts of plants that your body cannot digest or absorb. Eating foods high in fiber like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes can help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

What is starch?
Starch is a type of complex carbohydrate that breaks down into glucose for your body to use as energy. Starch provides gradual energy for your body to use since it takes more time to break the starch into glucose than a simple sugar would take. Legumes, potatoes, and whole grains are all starch heavy foods.

What are complex carbohydrates?
Complex carbohydrates are carbohydrates that provide vitamins, minerals, and fiber in addition to glucose. Whole grains, vegetables, and beans are foods high in complex carbohydrates.

What are simple carbohydrates?
Simple carbohydrates are carbohydrates that provide glucose and very little else. Refined sugar and white bread are high in simple carbohydrates.

What are proteins?
Proteins are the building blocks of muscle, bone, skin, hair, and just about every other tissue in your body. Protein rich foods include meat, eggs, dairy, legumes, and grains.

What are complete proteins?
Complete proteins are proteins that have all the amino acids (building blocks of proteins) that our bodies can’t manufacture. Protein from animal sources (meat, dairy, and eggs) are complete protein sources. Protein from plant sources (with few exceptions like soy and quinoa) are generally only complete if combined correctly. For instance, rice and beans when eaten together are a complete protein.

What are fats?
Fats are essential to keeping your body healthy. They support cell growth, provide energy, protect your organs and keep you warm. They also help your body absorb some nutrients and produce important hormones. Some examples of foods that are high in fats are butter, olive oil, and avocados.

What’s the difference between saturated, poly-unsaturated, and mono-unsaturated fat?
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and typically come from animal sources like butter or lard. Eating saturated fats can increase your cholesterol levels. Polyunsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature they are found in nuts, seeds, fish, algae, leafy greens, and krill. Monounsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature they are found in olive oil, avocado, and nuts. Unsaturated fats can help lower cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Questions about popular diets

What is the South Beach Diet?
The South Beach Diet is a diet designed to help people lose weight that has 3 separate phases. The first stage is supposed to eliminate cravings and start rapid weight loss. The second phase allows more variety in foods until you reach your goal weight. The third phase is to help you maintain your weight loss.

What is the Atkins Diet?
The Atkins Diet is a low carbohydrate diet that is designed to help people lose weight.

What is The Paleo Diet?
The Paleo Diet is a diet designed to help people lose weight. It is supposed to mimic how paleolithic man ate. It emphasizes eating fruits, vegetables, and meats and discourages eating grains, especially wheat and corn.

Questions about exercise

How do I burn calories?
You are burning calories all the time. Your body has to burn calories to live. Any activity beyond existing burns extra calories. Some examples of good calorie burning activities are walking or yard work.

What is after burn?
After burn (aka excess post-exercise oxygen burn) is when your metabolism stays high after exercise so that you burn more calories after you’ve finished exercising. The easiest way to achieve after burn is to incorporate high intensity exercise into your routine.

What is cardio?
Cardio is short for cardiovascular exercise. Cardio raises your heart rate and burns calories. It uses large muscle groups for sustained periods of time to keep your heart rate at 50% of its maximum. Running and swimming are examples of cardio. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends you get 30 minutes of cardio most days of the week.

What is resistance training?
Resistance training is any exercise where your muscles contract against external resistance to increase strength, tone, mass, or endurance. The resistance can be provided by weights, rubber exercise tubing, your body weight, etc. Push ups and squats are examples of resistance training. The recommended amount of strength training differs for everyone, but you should work all of your major muscle groups and the resistance should be enough that your last couple of reps should be difficult to complete correctly.

How can I burn more calories without working out?
You can make a few simple changes to your routine to incorporate more activity in your life without feeling like you have to interrupt your whole life. You can take the stairs instead of the elevator, take a walk at lunch, play with your kids, or anything else you can think of to get your body out of a chair and moving.

Resources:

F.A.Q.

Questions about this site

Questions about nutrition

Questions about popular diets

Questions about exercise