Have you ever worried about calories in peaches? A healthy diet always includes fresh, raw fruit on a daily basis, and peaches are a much loved favorite. But with all the worry about counting calories and carbs, some wrong ideas about fruit have been circulating. Let’s gather some nutrition facts and arrive at a clear understanding how how eating peaches affects your body.
What Is A Calorie?
Calorie is a scientific term used to describe heat energy. One calorie is the amount of heat energy it takes to raise 1 gram of water, 1 degree Celsius. This is a “small calorie.” But when talking about food energy, we are actually talking about kilo-calories, or groups of 1,000 calories. This is a “large calorie.”
Don’t panic, but food calories are actually misnamed. You need to multiply them by a thousand to get an accurate number. But it doesn’t mean you have to reduce your intake by a thousand! The term calorie when referring to food is the standard term – a “large calorie.”
A kilo-calorie then is the amount of heat it takes to raise 1 kilogram (2.2lbs) of water, 1 degree Celsius. So, what does this have to do with peaches?
How Many Calories in Peaches
Well, one medium, raw peach (150g) has 59 calories. What that means, is your body has to produce enough heat energy to boil 59 kilograms of water, in order to use up the peach’s calories. But it’s not as bad as it sounds. Here are a few ways you can burn 100 calories fast – 2 peaches!
4 Ways To Burn 100 Calories
- Vacuum your house
- Take a 15 minute walk
- Work in your garden 15 minutes
- Think for 8 hours
So now that you know how harmless a peach is, let’s take a look at all the goodness that goes with those 59 calories. First, we are not talking about peaches canned in syrup, which are essentially candy. Packed in heavy syrup, that same 150 gram peach has 144 calories, nearly three times as much. Even in light syrup or juice, you will get around 65. Also, they have been cooked, so you will be missing out on the benefits of the raw goodness. Light canned is okay when fresh is not available, but try to always eat fresh peaches.
Fresh peaches have live enzymes in abundance in them. Live enzymes help you digest your food, so your body can extract all the nutrients. They are also catalysts that lower the amount of energy it takes for a chemical reaction to take place, helping your body function efficiently. Once a peach is cooked, or cut and left sitting, these enzymes degrade. It is important to feed your body live enzymes every day with some raw foods, and peaches make that task delicious!
So don’t worry about peaches and calories. They are a wonderful addition to a well balanced diet. That 59 calorie peach is full of vitamins C, A, B-12, potassium, iron, magnesium, fiber and only 12 grams of carbs. Better, it has zero fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Enjoy this beautiful fruit without worrying any longer about calories in peaches.
