why do only carbs, fats and protein have calories?

115 viewsBiologyOther

Okay so we all know that we need energy to make our bodies work and that energy comes from macronutrients (ie carbs, fat, protein), but why from ONLY those three things? Isn’t there other forms of store energy in plant and animal matter that we could use to power our bodies? After all aren’t those three macro nutrients just chains of carbon and hydrogen with some other stuff hanging on, surely there most be other compounds that are similar enough that we could use as an energy source ?

In: Biology

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because the way we “burn” calories isn’t like just throwing something into a fire. There are very specific, and complicated, chemical reactions that take place that allow our cells to use those things for energy. There *might* be some caloric value in, say, niacin, but it is chemically inaccessible to the human body.

You are viewing 1 out of 4 answers, click here to view all answers.