Herbs and spices

tikka29
tikka29 Posts: 23 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Do I need to count the calories in herbs, spices and pepper ? , I haven't been so far, will it make a big difference ?

Replies

  • fitness_faeiry
    fitness_faeiry Posts: 354 Member
    Honestly the calories are so minimal I wouldn't worry. I don't even bother adding things like garlic and ginger into my daily intake.
  • tikka29
    tikka29 Posts: 23 Member
    Thanks, I won't bother , I couldn't live without a curry !! X
  • danimalkeys
    danimalkeys Posts: 982 Member
    I'll count them if I'm creating a recipe, but if it's adding pepper to dinner, I don't worry about it.

    Curry- depending on the sauce, could be very high in calories so while the dry spices themselves may not be much of a factor, oils/coconut milk/butter/dairy and things like should surely be tracked.
  • prestigio
    prestigio Posts: 181 Member
    I do not count Herbs and spices. Though I only buy the raw stuff.
    The blends and mixes often have dextrose added or are extremely salted. The added dextrose adds up in calories (even up to 300+ kcal per 100 grams) and the salt results in high sodium.
    As long as you stick the the base ingrediënts you are fine though.
  • tikka29
    tikka29 Posts: 23 Member
    I only use dry spices, and grind them for curries, it will save loads of time by not counting them ! Thanks for your help xx
  • Susieq_1994
    Susieq_1994 Posts: 5,361 Member
    I count them if I'm using a lot of them, but for the sake of laziness I tend to log it all as one spice/dried herb (don't tell on me :wink:).

    For example, 1 gram of dried dill weed isn't going to be much difference from a gram of dried coriander/thyme/basil, so if I'm adding three or more different herbs, I'll log "dill weed, dried, 4 grams" or some such thing.

    I do the same for fresh coriander/parsley/spring onions after comparing their calories per gram, since generally I add about 5 grams of each. But overall it is 10-20 calories difference in the entire recipe, so unless you want to be super-accurate, I don't think you need to bother :)

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