Logging teas and herbs/spices?

vvvalentines
vvvalentines Posts: 151
in Food and Nutrition
I'm usually good about logging every last thing that goes into my mouth, but as a big fan of mixing my own herbal teas/infusions and using lots of spices in cooking I tend to leave those out of my daily logs.

Should I log them all, or try to? I log the infusions I know are fairly caloric (like hibiscus tea, which has about 80 calories a cup) but otherwise I generally just add to my water tally for the day and don't account for herbs/spices/teas. I guess it would matter for some micronutrients available from herbs and spices.

Any insight here?

Replies

  • MrsBingley
    MrsBingley Posts: 145
    I don't, for what it's worth. I think you would have to drink/eat more tea and spice than humanly possible for it to affect weight loss.
  • itsjemma
    itsjemma Posts: 24 Member
    I log teas and coffees purely because I think its a good habit to get into. I'll admit I don't tend to with herbs and spices unless creating a recipe as I'm not going to sweat the odd rogue calorie. :)
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    I ignore things that are under 5 calories.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    Is that Starbucks hibiscus tea that has 80 calories? The normal tea bags have minimal cals, like any other hebal tea.
  • stackhsc
    stackhsc Posts: 439 Member
    way too hard core lol. sure if you add sugar or milk/cream log it, otherwise id just log it as black coffee, black tea or water. theres no way mfp caloric values when entered into your journal are right on from day to day anyway so trying to log a few calories here and there would just be time consuming. I guess if it makes you feel better or for point of interest go for it but for an actuall tracking value, no.
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
    I log my spices in recipes mainly because when I use a lot of them (a curry for example) they can add a few calories to the total amount. Also, if I am just throwing something together, I like to have them logged in case it's something I want to eat again - that way I don't forget what I put in.

    If I am just sprinkling some salt and pepper on a potato, or oregano on a plate of spaghetti, then I do not bother logging that.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    No.
  • vvvalentines
    vvvalentines Posts: 151
    Is that Starbucks hibiscus tea that has 80 calories? The normal tea bags have minimal cals, like any other hebal tea.

    Nope, just plain dried hibiscus from the bulk section. It has natural sugars that contribute to the calorie count, but in most preparations you're using so little of it that it's negligible--I drink really strong infusions of just hibiscus, which is fairly caloric.

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