Advice needed for a newbie

pangy1958
pangy1958 Posts: 151 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi Everyone, I started on Monday but am getting a bit confused. When i look up calories for foods I have noticed there are different calories for the same food. What is the best thing to do about this as i don't want to put the wrong calorie down on my tracker. I have also noticed that against some foods it will have U.K next to it, does this mean here in the UK we have different calories for same food to that say in US.

Also, am i doing the right thing by staying under all the recommended stats for me eg Cals, fat, protein.

Sorry if i am asking to many questions but i so want to get it right as i have a long way to go. Thank you

Replies

  • Shellz206
    Shellz206 Posts: 97 Member
    I typically compare to the nutritial guide on an item if I can. Otherwise, for items not out of a box or can, I tend to pick the listing with calories in the middle (not the highest or lowest). Not sure about the UK thing though!
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    Often the difference is portion size. Haven't been to the UK recently, but in both South Africa and Sweden, they listed calories in standard 100g servings, even though sometimes you'd eat much more or less than that.

    In the US, we list by portion size and you adjust from there. That is one source for difference.

    Another reason for differences in calories is data entry and changes in products over time.

    And some foods really are made differently for different countries.

    Most differences I've seen are small - don't sweat it.
  • AwesomeSquirrel
    AwesomeSquirrel Posts: 644 Member
    Re UK and US; many commercially produced items can be subtly different between countries. For example HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) is very common in the US but I'm not sure I' ve ever come across an item with it in the UK.

    Typically I would check the entry against the information given on your packaging and adjust the entry as necessary/create a new on if your food is not listed.

    For raw items I often go with the entry without a * (so not provided by a member but form government provided information I think?). I find this useful as they often have several serving sizes. Eg small, medium, large, 1 cup chopped or 100g onion. Makes it easy to pick a fair number.

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