Guest guest Posted February 10, 2003 Report Share Posted February 10, 2003 The problem with this is, of course, that your 'unit' is not the same as the next guy's. In the US, the reporting requirements are for a 'serving' - which is defined for the food type. It could be 1 ounce, or 1 cup, or 1/2 cup and so on, depending on what the food is. Note that my husband discovered his ad lib 'serving' of granola is actually about 2.5 times what the box labelling considers a serving - he's not so far off for other cereals, but 1 ounce of high-density granola looks like dust in the botttom of the bowl to him. European reporting is generally per 100 grams - about 3.5 ounces. In some ways,this is harder, and in some ways easier. The American serving sizes vary by the type of food, so if you're trying to compare the nutritional value of a serving of say tomato sauce, vs. that of tomato juice, I think you're comparing 1/2 cup vs a whole cup - don't hold me to these amounts per serving, but you get the idea. The average person might look at the per serving information and make some sort of mental evaluation - without realizing (like my husband) that their mental image of a serving is way off. Also, something like nuts (or oranges or apples or bananas for that matter) are not like processed foods - 'one' is not a uniform amount. Therefor, reporting per hundred grams rather than some average banana makes a lot more sense from a scientific standpoint. Note that even something like a bagel can vary in size. If you're eating Lender's frozen, you get a pretty standard serving size, and it's pretty uniform. If you're eating bagels from the local bagel store, they're generally bigger (think supersized) and less uniform. Sorry, reporting per 100 grams is really the most honest way to report this stuff. Iris --- In , " Hue " <kargo_cult@m...> wrote: > I was wondering the other day if any food-calorie > lists, list the actual calories and other constituents > per UNIT as consumed. What made me think about > this was eating nuts. > Hue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 10, 2003 Report Share Posted February 10, 2003 > Also, something like nuts (or oranges or apples or bananas for that > matter) are not like processed foods - 'one' is not a uniform > amount. Therefore, reporting per hundred grams rather than some > average banana makes a lot more sense from a scientific standpoint. If i was mixing ingredients in a chemical formula, i would agree on the need for precision. How much do walnuts, for example, vary in size/ weight? 50%, 20%, 10% ? I suggest the averages tend to work out. You have also rough designations of size, and by type, for example, " small fuji apples " . I will have to do some weighing, and see how the average is, and what deviation distribution is, for such crude " size groupings " . Having this kind of awareness of actual input figures on a in-process basis seems very attractive to me, at least, and i'm sure i will pursue this. Hue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 10, 2003 Report Share Posted February 10, 2003 " Hue " <kargo_cult@m...> wrote: > I also relearned something i suspected long ago: avoid > salted nuts (salted anything), specially flavored or what > ever, that just seduces one to eat just one more. With nuts, the salted varieties are not normally just salted - they are often also cooked in oil at high temperatures - or roasted. From what I know about cooking oils and high temperatures, I imagine this is not recommended at all - and at best it will make the nuts an even more concentrated source of calories than they already are - and destroy any EFAs. Most nuts are calorie bombs - and over-indulgence through unconscious consumption seems to be a definite hazzard. They are one of the few foodstuffs I force myself to weigh out, hide from myself, and ration my purchasing of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 10, 2003 Report Share Posted February 10, 2003 This may or may not be helpful, but I actually try to use smaller bowls for my husband and myself. I bought a bunch of small japanese rice bowls which really makes me think I'm eating a larger meal Also, this site may be of use: http://www.searchbug.com/health/diet.aspx It lets you search for nutrition info by the standard 100 grams or by more natural units, like an apple, small, medium or large, for instance. They don't typically list one nut, but you can get an idea of how one cup/one ounce/100 grams compare. --Jo > -----Original Message----- > From: oc9 <crsupport@...> > off for other cereals, but 1 ounce of high-density granola looks like > dust in the botttom of the bowl to him. > > European reporting is generally per 100 grams - about 3.5 ounces. In > some ways,this is harder, and in some ways easier. The American > serving sizes vary by the type of food, so if you're trying to > compare the nutritional value of a serving of say tomato sauce, vs. > that of tomato juice, I think you're comparing 1/2 cup vs a whole > cup - don't hold me to these amounts per serving, but you get the > idea. > > The average person might look at the per serving information and make > some sort of mental evaluation - without realizing (like my husband) > that their mental image of a serving is way off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 10, 2003 Report Share Posted February 10, 2003 This is actually an indirect link to the USDA nutrient database at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/index.html which apparently takes the per 100 g data and scales it depending on the menu choice you make after initially indicating what food you want values for. From the above link, choose search and enter a food. For " strawberries " you then get to choose from Strawberries, canned, heavy syrup pack, solids and liquids Strawberries, frozen, sweetened, sliced Strawberries, frozen, sweetened, whole Strawberries, frozen, unsweetened Strawberries, raw Choose the last of the above list for example, and it then presents the following choices: 100 grams of edible portion = 100 grams 1 cup, halves = 152 grams 1 cup, pureed = 232 grams 1 cup, sliced = 166 grams 1 cup, whole = 144 grams 1 extra large (1-5/8 " dia) = 27 grams 1 large (1-3/8 " dia) = 18 grams 1 medium (1-1/4 " dia) = 12.0 grams 1 pint as purchased, yields = 357 grams 1 small (1 " dia) = 7.0 grams Iris > > Also, this site may be of use: > http://www.searchbug.com/health/diet.aspx > It lets you search for nutrition info by the standard 100 grams or by more > natural units, like an apple, small, medium or large, for instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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