Grams vs ounces

roseym10

Is there a difference between logging grams vs ounces or are both measurements in the food database to account for people who use the metric system vs what those of us here in the US use? Is one more accurate than the other?

AnnPT77

Grams are more "fine grained", so can be more precise. Most of the time, if using ounces, the scale would show ounces and tenths, so the finest distinction is a tenth of an ounce. There are approximately 28 grams in an ounce, so you can measure to a finer degree of precision, essentially one-twenty-eighth of an ounce.

I'm in the US, use the US system in day to day life outside of MFP/logging, my food scale will do either ounces or grams . . . but I weigh my food in grams, because of the finer-grained measurements for more precision.

I hope that makes sense?

roseym10

Thanks. I noticed that some of the entries in the food database only have ounces. What do you do if there isn't a gram measurement? I going to try and tighten up my logging and can use all the help I can get lol

Lietchi

You just look until you find an entry that has the units you need. The database is crowd sourced, so you do need to do a bit of work in the beginning to find entries that are correct and have the units you want to use, lots of bad and incomplete entries in there.

cmriverside

I check all items for accuracy. That's the most important thing for me. I am in the U.S, but I use grams exclusively for solid items. It's the smallest unit of measurement and I want every little gram of peanut butter to which I'm entitled,

So if I can't find one quickly that has grams and is accurate I just edit an existing food or enter a brand new one into the database. Once I use it, it goes automatically into my "Recents" list and is then easy for me to find.

AnnPT77

roseym10 wrote: »

Thanks. I noticed that some of the entries in the food database only have ounces. What do you do if there isn't a gram measurement? I going to try and tighten up my logging and can use all the help I can get lol

Check the drop down list of serving sizes on the item. Some will have grams on the list, even when the default size for the item is in ounces.

Or, another option in addition to others' good suggestions: Weigh in grams, convert to ounces and hundredths if you're comfortable with the arithmetic (28g = 1oz, close enough). You can enter hundredths of servings in MFP, and it will use that precision in its math, though it'll round on display in your food log.

springlering62

After a while you’ll get familiar with knowing stuff like a serving of butter is 14gr, and so on. Also, nutrition labels actually include both. Like the Sabra hummus I just ate was 28gr/serving. I ate 22gr, or .79 of a serving as shown in MFP.

I love using grams. My baked goods are far more consistent with them.

My daughter lives in Europe and is eternally taking me to task (like I’m personally responsible!) for “stupid American recipes”.

springlering62

Oh and PS I do NOT use the drop down menu to convert sizes. I’ve found that a lot of the conversions are sorely inaccurate. I prefer to use whatever matches the actual nutrition label and convert to fractional sizes. Far more accurate.

goal06082021

Seconding @springlering62 - there are some entries where the math gets WILD when you change up the units.

If you want to use an entry in one unit but you measure in another, just do the math - weigh out (say) 40g of cheese, just divide that by 28 to get the weight in oz and log that (40g = about 1.43 oz). If you forget the conversion, you can also just ask Google/Siri/Alexa for a conversion, like say "40g in oz" and it will spit out the answer for you.

ninerbuff

Grams are precise and easier to understand. Say something is 120 calorie for an ounce. But you ate 1.3 ounces. Now believe me when I say there are some people out there who AREN'T that good with math (remember when some asked why we needed to learn math if we weren't ever really going to ever use it) and would totally blow the calorie calculation be they wouldn't know how convert that .3 ounces into calories. With grams it's easier because you just divide the grams into the serving to see how much each calorie it is per gram.

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H1L5

I use grams or spoons. A teaspoon is 5 grams. What I can't get my head round is cups. How much is a cup? Could be any size or is it?

cmriverside

H1L5 wrote: »

I use grams or spoons. A teaspoon is 5 grams. What I can't get my head round is cups. How much is a cup? Could be any size or is it?

In the U.S. a Cup is a standard measurement of 8 ounces.

AnnPT77

H1L5 wrote: »

I use grams or spoons. A teaspoon is 5 grams. What I can't get my head round is cups. How much is a cup? Could be any size or is it?

A teaspoon of X isn't necessarily 5 grams. It depends on what X is, how dense. A teaspoon is a volume measure, a gram is a mass measure. They don't necessarily equate for all substances of all densities.

A US cup is 8 fluid ounces, a volume measure, equates to 236.588ml, call it 237ml. How many grams it will be is going to depend on what substance you're talking about it, but a US cup is a standardized volume measure.

Slacker16

H1L5 wrote: »

(...) How much is a cup? Could be any size or is it?

Ha ha, I had the exact same reaction when I first saw the term.

It's 240 ml (not exactly but close enough, like 237-something).

springlering62

Gotta watch those cups and spoonfuls.

I have a cobbler in the oven which called for a cup of flour (120gr) and a cup of brown sugar (240gr depending on source).

The King Arthur site has an interesting and rather eye-opening breakdown of volume:

roseym10

Thanks for all the replies, I learned a lot. I'm glad I can just talk to google if I get stuck on the math

springlering62

@roseym10

My math has improved right along with my weight. No joke!