Carbohydrates, along with protein and fat, are a category of macronutrients that serve as a major source of energy for the body, explains Medline Plus. Determining how many carbohydrates are in a specific food may be important to endurance athletes attempting to follow a high carb diet to enhance performance or for low carb dieters trying to lose weight. While some tables provide information about the percentage of carbohydrates in commonly eaten foods, it is easy to compute this number on your own.
Step 1
Read the nutrition label to find out total number of calories per serving in a specific food. Find the information online for foods like produce or meats that do not have a nutrition label. For example, 1/4-cup of sliced almonds contains 170 calories.
Step 2
Note the total number of carbohydrate grams in one serving of the product. The almonds contain 6 g of carbohydrates.
Step 3
Multiply the number of carbohydrate grams by 4, the number of calories in 1 g of carbohydrates, to get the number of calories from carbohydrates per serving. For the almonds, this equals 24 total calories from carbohydrates.
Step 4
Divide the calories from carbohydrates per serving by the total number of calories in the serving. Multiply the final number by 100 to get the percentage of carbohydrates per serving. For the almonds, divide 24 by 170 to arrive at .14, or 14 percent carbohydrates.
Tips and Warnings
- The Institute of Medicine recommends that carbohydrates make up between 45 and 65 percent of your daily calorie intake. Choose whole grains for the majority of your carbohydrates to benefit from fiber and additional nutrients not found in refined grains. Use the U.S. Department of Agriculture Nutrient Data Laboratory to search for foods' calorie and carbohydrate content.
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