Does cooking alter the calorie content of food?

allisonrouzes

Thank you Grannypattibo!

irnz

I have been wondering the same thing for a while.
I was able to find this article on the subject that is based on scientific research.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2011/12/08/why-calorie-counts-are-wrong-cooked-food-provides-a-lot-more-energy/#.VD2YJbB4qIR

The basic idea within it is that when food is cooked, it becomes more easily digested by your body. So if you eat a piece of raw meat, it will take your body a lot of energy to break it down and get the calories out than if you cooked that same piece of meat. Cooked meat and vegetables have already been broken down by heat so your digestive system can get more calories out of the food and digest it more efficiently.

Also, many vitamins cannot survive exposure to high heat over prolonged periods of time, so you should consider that for your micronutrient make-up.

However, I haven't been able to find a way of tracking how many real calories or vitamins you would be getting from food that is cooked v raw.

acpgee

I think the only thing significantly affected will be alcohol as boiling wine, say, in a braised meat dish will alter its molecular composition.

acpgee

I thought of another example where cooking would reduce calories. Heating up sugar to the point that it caramelizes also alters the chemical structure.

corgicake

Here. This article reads nothing like an article intended for people trying to lose weight, largely because it isn't. The answer is no, it doesn't make something have more calories, but yes, overall cooking will result in the body being able to use more of the calories that something has.