Editorial standards

Who Reviews Our Content

Calora publishes calorie and weight-management guidance, which is health information. This page sets out where every number on the site comes from, who checks it, and what our review currently does and does not cover.

Current review status

No clinician has signed off on this site yet

Calora does not currently have a registered dietitian or physician on its masthead. We are telling you this rather than leaving it out, because a health site that quietly implies clinical oversight it does not have is the exact thing you should not trust.

That is why no page on this site carries a “medically reviewed by” byline. If you ever see one, it means a named, credentialed person has actually reviewed that page, and this page will list their registration number and a link to the public register so you can check them yourself.

Until then, treat everything here as what it is: arithmetic run on published equations, useful for planning and not a substitute for advice from someone who knows your medical history.

Where the numbers come from

No calculator on this site invents a formula. Each one runs a published equation, and the page that uses it names the equation so you can go and read the original.

  • Resting metabolic rateThe Mifflin-St Jeor equation, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1990. It is the equation the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends for healthy adults.
  • Body-composition-based needsThe Katch-McArdle formula, which works from lean body mass instead of total weight. It is the better choice only when you have a real body-fat measurement.
  • Calories burned in exerciseMET values from the Compendium of Physical Activities (Ainsworth et al.), applied to the standard MET formula. Every activity on the site cites its MET value.
  • Calories in foodUSDA FoodData Central. Every ingredient in the food and recipe tools stores its FoodData Central ID and its verbatim USDA description, and both are printed on the page.
  • Energy from macronutrientsThe Atwater factors: 4 kcal per gram of protein, 4 per gram of carbohydrate, 9 per gram of fat, and 7 per gram of alcohol.

What a review covers, and what it does not

A review checks that the equations, thresholds, and health guidance on a page are accurate and safely presented. It does not make the results medical advice. Calora's calculators produce population-level estimates, and no calculator can account for your medical history.

The site also refuses to recommend a target below 1,200 kcal a day for women or 1,500 kcal a day for men, whatever the arithmetic says. Those floors are a safety limit, not a goal, and eating below them needs supervision.

Our editorial guidelines set out how content is researched, written, reviewed, and updated. If you think something on this site is wrong, you can report a factual error to the Calora editors.