Carbohydrate Calculator

How to use our Daily Carbohydrate Calculator

Our daily carbohydrate calculator is simple to use and is an essential aid when trying to lose weight. It can be used when trying to understand the influence carbohydrates have on our body, for weight gain or weight loss. Firstly, enter your gender, we have limited this to your birth gender to avoid complicating the calculation process. Secondly, you need to enter your age. Next you need to input your weight, this is in kilograms or KG. Finally, select your daily activety level, this can be no activitly through to high. Bare in mind high activety is 4 hours or more. If you have an active or physical job, then it is possible your activity level will be high.

• Select your gender (This is restricted to birth gender so, male or female at this time)
• Next pick your age. (This is an important stage so be honest)
• Add your weight in KGs. (Again don’t cheat, as this number is what you are trying to lower or at least get under control)
• Choose your activity level. (Don’t forget to add work activities too. If you are active at work and also visit the gym, your activity level is likely to be high. Likewise if you do not go to the gym and have a sedentary role you should select low intensity. If you remain seated at work for long periods this could be classified as low or no activity. However, you may walk or cycle to work so this will have an impact on the daily activity level selected. To help you further, our calories burnt through exercise calculator will give you a rough idea of how many calories you can expect to burn when participating in exercise.

What is a carbohydrate?

Before using our carbohydrate calculator, it might be useful to understand what a carbohydrate actually is. Simply put, a carbohydrate is a combination of starch, sugars and fibres. These are then broken down to provide energy. From there you either have simple or complex carbohydrates.

Simple carbohydrates cause a spike in blood sugar levels; this can lead to an increased store of fat. Examples of simple carbohydrates are; biscuits, sweets and chocolate. Complex carbohydrates will provide a more sustained energy release; examples of this are, pasta and bread. The type of carbohydrate depends on the number of units of sugar units in the molecule. Many foods will contain both of these so it is hard to split foods into separate categories.

How many calories are in carbohydrates?

Before using our carbohydrate calculator, it is useful to know how many calories are in a carbohydrate. Per gram carbohydrates provide the same number of calories as protein, 4kcal per gram. Therefore to determine how many calories in your diet are from carbohydrates, use your carbohydrates calculator score and multiply this figure by 4. Your balanced diet will consist of between 40-60% carbohydrates. This does all depend on your level of physical activity, carbohydrates are used for the fuelling of the body and recovery. This is all covered in the aforementioned e-book which you can download for free.

To calculate your personal calorie allowance is essential, when you are trying to control your daily calorie intake. Having an idea of the total number of calories that should be consumed daily will help you to achieve your personal goal. Try our calorie calculator, as it’s the perfect tool for this.

What are good sources of carbohydrates?

When looking at your choice of carbohydrates you want to think of the glycaemic index (GI) of the carbohydrate. The higher the GI the greater the spike of glucose in the blood, which can lead to more carbohydrates being stored as fat. However, glycaemic load (GL) can give you a better idea of the effect of this. If the GL is low then you shouldn’t worry, instead this is a good carbohydrate source. If the GL is high then this is a more accurate representation of a surge in blood glucose. The below table will show you a few different examples of carbohydrates.

Restricting your diet to low GL carbohydrates is highly recommended following years of research. Many nutritionists will suggest switching from white rice to brown, as the GL is lower in the brown rice. However, the glycaemic load isn’t actually shown on food product labels so it can be difficult to work out the best food option. Take the following as an example

This shows that the shows the whole wheat spaghetti has fewer carbohydrates and the same amount of sugar. The blood glucose would likely remain the same for both products. However, the whole wheat option has fewer carbs so would be the preferred choice, if trying to lower your carbohydrate intake.

Should I avoid carbohydrates when I want to lose weight?

DO NOT AVOID carbohydrates when trying to lose weight. It is a common myth that they should be avoided as Carbohydrates are your friend. Studies have shown that eating carbohydrates can increase your metabolic rate; this is due to the burning of around 10-15% of the calories being burnt through heat. When you eat carbohydrates you will store it as glycogen.

One thing that you should do is to take a look at the GI and GL of the carbohydrate source. If these are both high you are more likely to store the carbohydrates as fat. This is due to a rapid release of insulin into the blood to combat the increased amount of blood glucose. Control this and carbohydrates will play no issue on your fat deposits. Using our carbohydrate calculator will help measure your carb intake, giving you a real advantage when trying to lose weight.

Why does my carbohydrate intake increase when I exercise more?

Carbohydrates are stored as glycogen. This glycogen is used as fuel in your muscles in almost every type of activity you will do. The more you train the more you will want to consume. Increasing your carbohydrate intake, especially after exercise, will help to replace any loss to the glycogen stores. If you really want to optimise your recovery post-exercise, combining your carbohydrates with protein can speed up the replenishing of your glycogen stores. One factor that slows down this is the extent of muscle damage. Combining the two will help with muscle synthesis and replenish glycogen stores.

So use the carbohydrate calculator to get a better understanding on what your carbohydrate intake should be.