Low Cal and Carb Foods and water content

[rmz80]

I spend most days staring at calorie and carbohydrate value of foods with having diabetes (T1).


A few weeks ago I noticed something really interesting. “Low” calorie vegetables are not low calorie when looking at their dry weight. In addition (before any refining) most are about the same calories and carbohydrates. The main factor is water content to determine a low from a high cal - carb vegetable.

------------------------------------------------------------|
|Vegetables.DRIED.|......................|..........|.......|
|per.100.gram.....|.Notes................|.Calories.|.Carbs.|
|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|Potato...........|Smash.instant.*.......|.340......|..71g..|
|Celery...........|Raw.*.and.**..........|.320......|..59g..|
|Lettuce..........|Green.leaf.*.and.**...|.375......|..72g..|
|Onion............|Dehydrated.flakes.*...|.349......|..83g..|
|Wheat............|Whole.grain.flour.*...|.340......|..72g..|
|CousCous.........|*.....................|.376......|..77g..|
|Rice.............|Long.grain.generic.*..|.360......|..72g..|
|Oats.............|Instant.*.............|.388......|..71g..|
-------------------------------------------------------------

References

*.http://www.myfitnesspal.com.(Food.database)

**.http://www.awakeandliving.com/awake-living/vegan-lifestyle/


An example of what this could mean. Munching on lettuce achieves exactly the same as someone eating rice and potatoes followed by a swig of diet coke (at 1 calorie a tin to rehydrate to same level).


Interested in other peoples views on this.

 

[noblehead]

There's 15cals in 100g of lettuce and only 2.9g of carbs (the above info is incorrect).

 

[bobrobert]

Don't pay attention to the calorie content. If your carb count is about 50 grms then the amount of calories don't matter.

 

[ickihun]

Healthy eating may still be 1500 calories but nutrients for keeping your body healthy. Your diabetic body. Don't get mixed up with yearning for the high carb foods and convincing yourself they're healthy in magnitude for you.
You cannot argue with your meter and scales.

 

[Oldvatr]

If 100g is the yardstick, then yes, a dessicated veg will have a larger proportion of everything since it becomes concentrated by this process. But when used in a meal, it will rehydrate, so 100g now becomes more realistic. Why this interest in dried lettuce? YUK!.

 

[tim2000s]

I think the key thing is that you don't eat them dried. They are unpalatable. In their edible form, the Carbs per 100g of edible form is what is important.

So the values you have posted here are essentially irrelevant.

 

[Oldvatr]

If 100g is the yardstick, then yes, a dessicated veg will have a larger proportion of everything since it becomes concentrated by this process. But when used in a meal, it will rehydrate, so 100g now becomes more realistic. Why this interest in dried lettuce? YUK!.

EDIT to add: In my experience, dried lettuce leaves are for smoking.

 

[azure]

@rmz80 My view is that it's irrelevant - unless you're planning to eat desiccated lettuce : D

The important thing is to carb count what you're about to eat accurately and give yourself the correct amount of insulin.

I wouldn't worry about hypothetical meals of dried veg

 

[Resurgam]

I have been low carbing for a very long time and find that both calories and carbs seem to differ according to their sources. I can eat 80 gm of carb and lots of calorific meats and fish and lose weight each day. The carbs must come from foods which are about 10 percent carbs or less. I made an exception for my own organically grown apples, when in season - but that was all, and not every day.
If I eat from the lists for the Atkins diet I am fine - but I can't eat grains, legumes and starchy vegetables and only low sugar fruits, berries and melon. If I eat the same amount of carbs from less dense carb sources I am fine. I have a glucose meter and after hearing that some diabetics can eat various different things I tried those out and checked with the meter - same result. If it prevents my weightloss it also spikes my BG - not just for the meal but into the next day. After getting a reading over 12 from unsweetened pastry I gave up the testing - it is just not going to work for me.

 

[TorqPenderloin]

There's 15cals in 100g of lettuce and only 2.9g of carbs (the above info is incorrect).

And considering that lettuce is ~96% water the information the OP posted is spot on.

I'm not sure why everyone was so quick to discount what was said. Sure, there's nothing particularly exciting about the information, but it does put things into perspective.

Obviously we know that 100g of carbs is going to equal 400 calories. That's simple science.
If you remove the water content, you're essentially left with carbs (4 cals), protein (4 cals), and/or fat (9cals).

Ultimately, most of us eat vegetables because they make us feel full. This is just an explanation of WHY they make us feel full...we're ultimately just eating water without many calories.

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

I spend most days staring at calorie and carbohydrate value of foods with having diabetes (T1).

Interested in other peoples views on this.

You're not comparing like with like.

You might think that something like pork is high in calories being about 240 calories per 100 gms. Just over half that 100 gms is water, so that's more like 480 calories. Steak is even worse with about 75% water. To make life even more interesting some meats are injected with water to increase their weight.

I think when looking at calories, just worry about the wet weight.

 

[Deespee23]

You're not comparing like with like.

You might think that something like pork is high in calories being about 240 calories per 100 gms. Just over half that 100 gms is water, so that's more like 480 calories. Steak is even worse with about 75% water. To make life even more interesting some meats are injected with water to increase their weight.

I think when looking at calories, just worry about the wet weight.

Deffo. ...who eats dried vegetables? Yuk :***: