Logging dried spices?

midpath

I have never logged dried spices like garlic powder, curry powder, black pepper, cayenne, red pepper, etc but I got curious today and logged my seasonings for my eggs and it tacked on over forty calories.

Do you log these? Is it even worth it? I don't even measure my seasonings so it'll be eyeballing it anyways and I'm not going to weigh my food, I have a history with eating disorders and I don't need to get back into old habits.

mburgess458

What spices added >40 calories to eggs?

Gallowmere1984

I do, but it usually only ends up being like 15 kcals.

StealthHealth

I've got these built into several of my own recipes, but as @Gallowmere1984 says - it's a very small number of cals.

for non-recipe stuff, where I'm logging individual items for a meal, I rarely bother.

annacole94

I add it to my recipes, but it's generally pretty negligible. I doubt you've got it right if you added 40+ cal. Should be more like 4.

Ready2Rock206

Those must have been some spicy eggs!! What did you add?

I only log them when I'm using the recipe builder.

kshama2001

I suspect database entries with errors is what gave you 40 calories for dried spices.

I don't log these.

Seffell

Thyme for example seems to have around 2.5 cal per teaspoon (1gr).
16 teaspoons of thyme to anything seems a but excessive.

Erotyka

Spices are one of the few things I don't log. 2 calories of oregano is not worth my time.

Those sorts of things, in my experience, are areas where the MFP database is wildly inaccurate. I got 2500 calories for 15g of fresh garlic once (which is like... several cloves). It's nothing like that, at all.

OhMsDiva

I have not in 2 years.

cwolfman13

midpath wrote: »

I have never logged dried spices like garlic powder, curry powder, black pepper, cayenne, red pepper, etc but I got curious today and logged my seasonings for my eggs and it tacked on over forty calories.

Do you log these? Is it even worth it? I don't even measure my seasonings so it'll be eyeballing it anyways and I'm not going to weigh my food, I have a history with eating disorders and I don't need to get back into old habits.

pretty sure you're using erroneous entries from the database. The calories that will come from spices are going to be pretty negligible.

jennybearlv

I think you may be over seasoning. I add them sometimes, just because they end up getting weighed mindlessly with the rest of the ingredients. They never add a worthwhile amount, and I cook with a lot of spices and herbs. If you aren't weighing the spices you are completely inaccurate. An eyeballed teaspoon is not a unit of measurement.

angel7472

When in doubt I use this: https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/

earlnabby

midpath wrote: »

I have never logged dried spices like garlic powder, curry powder, black pepper, cayenne, red pepper, etc but I got curious today and logged my seasonings for my eggs and it tacked on over forty calories.

Do you log these? Is it even worth it? I don't even measure my seasonings so it'll be eyeballing it anyways and I'm not going to weigh my food, I have a history with eating disorders and I don't need to get back into old habits.

I don't log them if it is a sprinkling of pepper on my burger. I always enter them when doing a recipe in the recipe builder. I have one seasoning that includes cheese, so I do log that one when I use it on something like steamed veggies.

Basically, herbs and spices tend to have negligible calories. Seasonings can have calories depending on what they are made of. Seasonings also often have salt so if you are watching your sodium, you want to log them for that reason.

estherdragonbat

I log them in the recipe builder. I'm too lazy to check now, but I think some of the blends like chili powder and curry powder have more calories/tsp than single seasonings like thyme or oregano, but we're talking about something like 10 calories vs 2 (and my recipes are typically 4-6 servings, so on the one hand... five times as many calories. On the other hand... 10 calories split 4 ways? Not going to stop using chili powder.

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Afura

Regular spices I don't add, I think it's negligible enough not to bother.

zdyb23456

I was surprised at the calories in pepper, granulated garlic, and cumin. I always thought it was close to zero calories. I usually log garlic fresh or dry.

markrgeary1

I haven't. Maybe I should given I found a database entry for a 600 calorie garlic clove.

VintageFeline

I don't log fresh garlic and herbs or dried herbs and spices. If I buy a rub or seasoning I check to see if there's a an impactful number of calories (more than say 20).

40 calories though, yikes!

ritzvin

40 calories is pretty high, unless it is a spice blend containing cheese and/or a lot of sugar.

kshama2001

markrgeary1 wrote: »

I haven't. Maybe I should given I found a database entry for a 600 calorie garlic clove.

Ugh - is it still like that? I emailed Support about that several times. I have since given up trying to get Support to fix erroneous system entries.

cmtigger

ritzvin wrote: »

40 calories is pretty high, unless it is a spice blend containing cheese and/or a lot of sugar.

Or a huge amount of hot sauce. But for dry spices, I agree.

I log if they contain sodium, but that's because I track it.

earlnabby

zdyb23456 wrote: »

I was surprised at the calories in pepper, granulated garlic, and cumin. I always thought it was close to zero calories. I usually log garlic fresh or dry.

So much depends on the source. Herbs generally have almost no calories since they are the leaves of the plant. Spices are any other part of a plant and can have calories. Roots like ginger, turmeric, etc. often have calories. Seeds like cumin, etc. vary. Dried "vegetables" like paprika, red pepper flakes, cayenne, etc. (which are dried chili peppers) as well as garlic and onions would have calories because their fresh source has calories. Seasonings are where you have to be careful. They are made of a mix of herbs and/or spices and often have things like salt, cheese, and sugar added. Some, like chili powder, are pretty low but there are others that can be a bit high.

Purplebunnysarah

I only log spice blends, and only if I use a lot. Some of them will have sugars and other additives that increase calories. Dried pure spices are unlikely yield have enough caloric value to impact your calorie goals.

rollerjog

lol,

Hamsibian

I log it for my own sanity, but I use spoons and cups to measure. It really does not make a difference, in my opinion.

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MelanieCN77

Curry powder is 20 cals a tbsp. I log the stuff, it's not nothing when you're on 1300 odd cals.

apullum

I'm very short and very close to my goal, so I'm on a small deficit. I log everything, even Splenda. Not everyone will feel like it's productive to be that precise.

Gisel2015

I only put them in the recipe when I use the recipe builder, but it is only to remember what kind of seasoning I use in the recipe. I am also very short and small but few grams of omission here and there never made a dent when I was trying to lose or now that I am maintaining.