why is it when on FD that broccoli cooked from raw is more calories than just plain raw broccoli? if i steam my veggies i never add butter or anything so how would the calories then be more? normally i tend to eat my veggies raw as i feel they are better for me that way, but i was just wondering.
I'm pretty sure it's because most veggies cook down a little bit, so one cup raw ends up being less than a cup cooked. This might be more evident with something like mushrooms or spinach where the cooking down process is easy to see. Something like broccoli won't be as noticable probably. As for how you log it into fit day, if you measure a cup raw and steam it, you can probably enter it as a cup raw since that's what you started with. It's like the decision to enter meats as raw or cooked. As long as you're being accurate and consistent, it probably doesn't matter.
I'm pretty sure it's because most veggies cook down a little bit, so one cup raw ends up being less than a cup cooked. This might be more evident with something like mushrooms or spinach where the cooking down process is easy to see. Something like broccoli won't be as noticable probably. As for how you log it into fit day, if you measure a cup raw and steam it, you can probably enter it as a cup raw since that's what you started with. It's like the decision to enter meats as raw or cooked. As long as you're being accurate and consistent, it probably doesn't matter.
that makes sense.
frozen vs fresh strawberries that is a strange one as well...lol
I think the difference with frozen fruits is the potential for sugar being added. I'm careful to buy unsweetened frozen fruit and I put them in as a custom food so I know my calorie count is accurate.
I think the difference with frozen fruits is the potential for sugar being added. I'm careful to buy unsweetened frozen fruit and I put them in as a custom food so I know my calorie count is accurate.
I'm sure this is taking into account food purchased already cooked. I eat a lot of broccoli and it doesn't have 7 grm of fat unless you add some. I just use the raw and adjust for cookdown, which in my case isn't very much since they are essentially blanched. :]
Make sure you are utilizing the search to its potential. I am finding several listings for Strawberries, one is Frozen, the other is Frozen, unsweetened. The same holds true for the vegetables. Don't just take the first option. "Broccoli, frozen, spears, boiled, drained, no added salt" is an option in the database. 1 cup is 51.5 calories. In order to win your battle you might have to cross over some obstacle courses. But isn't that what this is all about? Not accepting the first option?
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I know this question is long dead but I felt compelled to chime in since the answers provided were incredibly wrong.
I can explain this phenomenon for you very easily:
1) A calorie is a unit of energy.
2) When you consumes a piece of broccoli your body uses energy to break it down.
3) Raw broccoli is much harder to break down than cooked broccoli therefore it uses up more energy.
4) Since the raw broccoli is using more energy to be consumed, it's calorie count is lower than cooked broccoli.
The answers given are not necessarily incorrect. While there is some truth to the fact that cooked vegetables can have slightly more calories due to starches generated in cooking, that is not what this question refers to. If you search "broccoli, cooked" in FitDay, you get about 103 calories per cup. If you search raw, you get about 30 calories per cup. The difference in cooked and raw forms does not account for 70 calories, no way, and no matter how much more your body supposedly has to work to break it down. The FitDay search function is such that you have to specify cooked, fat not added in cooking in order to obtain the accurate measure, if that indeed is how it was prepared, as Frenchhen noted above. Same goes for frozen fruits; for some reason it assumes sugared unless you specify.
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Broccoli raw vs cooked
Stacey 
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