Confused about Pasta calories.

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WAW26
WAW26 Posts: 17
in Food and Nutrition
Hi.

I think I have been calculating my pasta calories wrong.

I live in UK and I use dry fresh pasta from the refrigerated section of Tesco and on the packet it states that 100g = 160 calories

All my dieting life I have been assuming that this 100g is dry pasta measured then cooked, however now after reading other posts I am thinking that this 100g is actually referring to 100g COOKED pasta!!

Can someone help me...which is correct?? Does the 100g refer to cooked or uncooked pasta????

Please help me as this could be effecting my weight loss if Im doing it wrong :-(

Thanks

P.S When I did Scottish slimmers 80g uncooked/150g cooked pasta equalled 200 calories so this also makes me think the 100g refers to COOKED pasta.
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Replies

  • yourpalsoap
    yourpalsoap Posts: 88
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    that's 100g cooked pasta, 100g dry weight is around 300-350 calories. I use 60g wholewheat penne when I have pasta and that's 190 xo
  • 4daluvof_candice
    4daluvof_candice Posts: 483 Member
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    Hi.

    I think I have been calculating my pasta calories wrong.

    I live in UK and I use dry fresh pasta from the refrigerated section of Tesco and on the packet it states that 100g = 160 calories

    All my dieting life I have been assuming that this 100g is dry pasta measured then cooked, however now after reading other posts I am thinking that this 100g is actually referring to 100g COOKED pasta!!

    Can someone help me...which is correct?? Does the 100g refer to cooked or uncooked pasta????

    Please help me as this could be effecting my weight loss if Im doing it wrong :-(

    Thanks

    P.S When I did Scottish slimmers 80g uncooked/150g cooked pasta equalled 200 calories so this also makes me think the 100g refers to COOKED pasta.

    Here in the US pasta usually states 210 cal for how many grams DRY(since the package says grams serving DRY) and then cook. That is your serving.
  • WAW26
    WAW26 Posts: 17
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    In the UK it just says 100g 'as cooked per instructions' so not sure if it means weighed before or after cooking,

    The Scottish Slimmers book and other posts are what made me think it refers to COOKED pasta. I have been measuring 150g uncooked pasta and logging it as 240 cals but this is obviously wrong and too little cals.

    So to get the 240 cals from 150g I should roughly be measuring out 80g UNCOOKED pasta which cooked with equal 150g cooked???

    Is this correct??
  • The_WoIverine
    The_WoIverine Posts: 367 Member
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    I almost went crazy the first time I was going to add pasta to my meals. I cooked a whole box and then I realized the 4 oz I was supposed to eat, were 4 oz uncooked. How the hell I was supposed to know how many oz of cooked pasta equaled the 4 oz dry?

    I figured if I was to cook one meal, I would cook exactly the portion I needed. If I was to eat two meals, and each were the same amount, I would divide in half the total amount cooked. But if one meal was more than the other, I would figure out which % was one meal of the total uncooked weight, and then calculate the weight of that % for the total cooked amount... Freaking nuts! But it works for me and now it has become easy for me.
  • The_WoIverine
    The_WoIverine Posts: 367 Member
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    By the way, cooked weight varies based on water absorption. I usually eat 4.1 oz of pasta (uncooked), and the cooked weight is always different. Sometimes it is 12 oz, sometimes 13 oz, and at times is over 14 oz. So whether it is grams or oz, cooked pasta is not consistent on the nutritional levels.
  • WAW26
    WAW26 Posts: 17
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    100g/160 and I use 150g dry so using MFP 240 calories. However if using the Scottish Slimmers book 150g dry pasta (40g = 100 calories) equals over 300 calories, hence why i need to know if I need to half my dry weight measurement from now on.


    So to get this 150g = 240 calories, Do I measure out the pasta BEFORE or AFTER cooking????

    Im soooooo confused :-(
  • suej19
    suej19 Posts: 15 Member
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    You say 'fresh dry' pasta from the refrigerated section - if it's in the fridge section it's not dry but is uncooked! That pasta is higher in calories because they add oil to keep the strands/pieces separate, otherwise it would turn into a big blob.

    The calories per gram are for pre-cooked , pasta, rice, couscous, etc.
  • suej19
    suej19 Posts: 15 Member
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    Sorry forgot to add, you weigh before cooking.
  • bluetuesday5
    bluetuesday5 Posts: 99 Member
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    That is cooked weight. I hate it when they give cooked weight, who the hells weighs their pasta after cooking it? Also I think Morrisons are lying because they claim their pasta has only 250kcal/100g dry.
  • ThisCanadian
    ThisCanadian Posts: 1,086 Member
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    It's based on weight before cooking.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,370 Member
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    You say 'fresh dry' pasta from the refrigerated section - if it's in the fridge section it's not dry but is uncooked! That pasta is higher in calories because they add oil to keep the strands/pieces separate, otherwise it would turn into a big blob.

    The calories per gram are for pre-cooked , pasta, rice, couscous, etc.


    I'd say this too. If it was dried it wouldn't need to be refridgerated. If it's giving you 100g as cooked per instructions I'd say that was the cooked/drained weight calories per 100g before you've added anything to it.
  • sportegur1
    sportegur1 Posts: 2 Member
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    personal trainer/nutritionist here:


    BEFORE cooking 56g dry pasta = 1 serving
  • ThisCanadian
    ThisCanadian Posts: 1,086 Member
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    personal trainer/nutritionist here:


    BEFORE cooking 56g dry pasta = 1 serving

    That depends entirely on the brand of pasta.
  • The_WoIverine
    The_WoIverine Posts: 367 Member
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    100g/160 and I use 150g dry so using MFP 240 calories. However if using the Scottish Slimmers book 150g dry pasta (40g = 100 calories) equals over 300 calories, hence why i need to know if I need to half my dry weight measurement from now on.


    So to get this 150g = 240 calories, Do I measure out the pasta BEFORE or AFTER cooking????

    Im soooooo confused :-(

    Ok, so let's say you need to eat 300 calories, and you will scan (if you have the package of the pasta) the barcode and the information will show up. If the package says 40g = 100 calories, then you will weight 120g of uncooked pasta, cook it and eat the whole thing, no matter how much it weights after cooked. The extra weight after cooked is water. You only care about the uncooked weight
  • sportegur1
    sportegur1 Posts: 2 Member
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    personal trainer/nutritionist here:


    BEFORE cooking 56g dry pasta = 1 serving

    That depends entirely on the brand of pasta.

    it also depends on how many servings of carbs you'd like to intake. a 28g serving = 1 carb serving a 56g seving = 2
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    ...I use dry fresh pasta...

    There is no such thing as "dry fresh" pasta - it's either dry, or fresh.

    What exactly are you eating?
  • The_WoIverine
    The_WoIverine Posts: 367 Member
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    personal trainer/nutritionist here:


    BEFORE cooking 56g dry pasta = 1 serving

    That depends entirely on the brand of pasta.

    it also depends on how many servings of carbs you'd like to intake. a 28g serving = 1 carb serving a 56g seving = 2

    Uh? Like mentioned before, that depends on the brand of pasta. A serving is not a unit of measurement, so while for one brand 1 serving might contain 28 grams of carbohydrates, for other brands a serving might be different.
  • WAW26
    WAW26 Posts: 17
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    Its just confusing as:

    150g pasta from refrigerated section (uncooked) according the way I log is 240 calories.

    but

    If I was to go by the Scottish slimmers book that states that 40g uncooked/75g cooked pasta = 100 calories then 150g fresh pasta uncooked would equal over 350 calories.

    Thats why Im thinking the Tesco package should be taken as 100g cooked pasta (weighed after cooking)
  • WAW26
    WAW26 Posts: 17
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    P.S its fresh pasta (packages from refrigerated section)
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,136 Member
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    In the UK it just says 100g 'as cooked per instructions' so not sure if it means weighed before or after cooking,

    That means after cooking.

    Pasta is pretty sneaky about which weight style it uses, so triple check the serving info. Unless it states specifically, I weight pasta dry/uncooked.

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