A unit of measurement for energy, used mainly in connection with nutrition to indicate the energy content of foods and drinks. In general usage, it usually means the kilocalorie (kcal).
example
Ein Apfel hat ungefähr 95 Kalorien.
An apple has about 95 calories.
Usage tips
Word formation
The word stem 'kalorien-' is often used to form compound adjectives. The most important ones are 'kalorienarm' (low in calories) and 'kalorienreich' (high in calories).
EXAMPLE
Joghurt ist ein kalorienarmes Frühstück.
Yogurt is a low-calorie breakfast.
Colloquial usage
In everyday language, 'Kalorie' (calorie) almost always means 'Kilokalorie' (kilocalorie, kcal). If a food package says '100 Kalorien' (100 calories), scientifically speaking it means 100 kilocalories.
EXAMPLE
Diese Pizza hat über 1000 Kalorien!
This pizza has over 1000 calories!
Typical verbs
In connection with nutrition, the verbs 'Kalorien zählen' (to count calories) and 'Kalorien verbrennen' (to burn calories, to use energy through movement) are often used.
EXAMPLE
Beim Joggen verbrennt man viele Kalorien.
You burn a lot of calories when jogging.
Physics context clue
You can recognize the original physical meaning from the context. If it is about 'Wärmeenergie' (heat energy), 'Wasser erwärmen' (heating water), or the unit 'Joule' (joule), the outdated physical unit is meant.
EXAMPLE
Der Lehrer erklärte, wie man Kalorien in Joule umrechnet.
The teacher explained how to convert calories into joules.