Grapefruit - why do calories range from 0 to 100+?

tadburger
tadburger Posts: 12
in Food and Nutrition
Hi - I am eating a lot of grapefruit off my tree. Love it.

I want to know if anyone can explain why there is such a wide range of nutritional numbers for the calories of grapefruit? And fresh fruit in general I guess.

It surely can't be ZERO calories as I see some have listed when searching on MFP. I also see it listed as 60 80 90 110 and almost every other double digit number under the sun.

Should I just follow my general rule and take an average in the middle of all these numbers? I don't want to cheat as that defeats the purpose of being here. Just curious why this fruit is listed and evaluated so differently by different sources.

Replies

  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    Because US citizens use cups which is a million miles from an exact science. Because some people use per piece if fruit and there are variations in size. Because people don't complete the entries properly. Perhaps because some are fresh, some are including juice, some are in syrup.
  • tadburger
    tadburger Posts: 12
    OK let me clarify - FRESH grapfruit - not juice, not prepared in syrup. Just a grapefruit. This wide range I am talking about is just for a single, fresh grapefruit.
  • seventieslord
    seventieslord Posts: 59 Member
    Just use the entry that says "grapefruit - raw" and do the same for any fruit or vegetable.
  • cordianet
    cordianet Posts: 534 Member
    Look for the entry that does NOT have an asterisk in front of it. That's a system defined entry that comes from the USDA. The others are all user entered.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    Because a single grapefruit can vary wildly in size. If you want something very specific, weigh it, and look for a caloric measurement based on that.
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
    look it up on calorieking.com or something like that... lots of MFP food items are user created, and its hard to tell which is most accurate unless u have more experience dealing with nutrition.
  • OspreyVista
    OspreyVista Posts: 464 Member
    I'm going to guess different sizes and what not. However, I wouldn't believe the 0 calories. The medium size ones I have say they are 51 calories for half of one and I believe they are medium sized. Seems about right to me. :) It would make it 102 for a whole one.
  • Rach911
    Rach911 Posts: 72 Member
    I eat grapefruit, and other citrus, on a regular basis. However, I am extremely anal, so I weigh everything to the gram. I use the generic fresh grapefruit and then put in my grams. Because there in no "exact" size of a grapefruit, they are all sizes, I feel like by measuring I'll get the best and most accurate calorie count
  • tadburger
    tadburger Posts: 12
    Thanks for the input. I didn't realize that about the meaning of the asterisk.

    I guess human error comes into play as a couple of the listings here give more calories for the medium size than the large ones. That sort of info is coming from somewhere and it is just odd to me that so many sources can vary so much on a piece of raw/fresh/generic fruit. I will just aim for the middle ground - and without an asterisk!

    :wink:
  • tadburger
    tadburger Posts: 12
    great idea, Rach.

    Adding a scale to the list of things I need to buy once my place sells and I get out of this financial hole. Thanks!
  • DesireeLovesOrganic
    DesireeLovesOrganic Posts: 456 Member
    I count 80 for a whole medium sized grapefruit but I find what you find, some say 65 for a whole and some say 60 for a half. It's confusing. I figure it is similar to a large navel orange? I also figure no one ever turned into a fat *kitten* from eating grapefruit so oh well if it's a little bit off. LOL
  • wluck
    wluck Posts: 11 Member
    the grapefruits where I live are pretty large and i love them. when i have them, i log 120 cals for the whole grapefruit

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