Confused about Pasta calories.

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Replies

  • Debbie_Ferr
    Debbie_Ferr Posts: 582 Member
    pasta is higher in calories because they add oil to keep the strands/pieces separate, otherwise it would turn into a big blob.

    no, pasta is higher in calories because it has very LOW WATER content.

    btw ~ pasta has very little oil (if any) in it. check the list of ingredients, check the nutritional label.
  • WAW26
    WAW26 Posts: 17
    Torizia it is Tesco that I use so and that is exactly what it says so Im right in thinking now that it relates to cooked weight.

    From now on I will weight 75g uncooked which will equal to 150g cooked and that will give me my 240 calories.This will then also match up to the Scottish Slimmers information.
  • suej19
    suej19 Posts: 15 Member
    pasta is higher in calories because they add oil to keep the strands/pieces separate, otherwise it would turn into a big blob.

    no, pasta is higher in calories because it has very LOW WATER content.

    btw ~ pasta has very little oil (if any) in it. check the list of ingredients, check the nutritional label.
  • barbiesykes
    barbiesykes Posts: 5
    I'm so confused now on dry weight vs. cooked weight now. I have been measuring everything (Steak, pasta... everything) after cooking. So am I doing this wrong? Am I not actually reaching the calories that I'm saying I'm eating?
  • Debbie_Ferr
    Debbie_Ferr Posts: 582 Member
    why does Pasta have some many calories compared to most other foods ????

    Pasta is 'dense'. it's relatively heavy for it's volume, and not full of air. (air = no calories)
    Pasta has very little water content (water = no calories).
    That is the reason is is high in calories. the oil really has very little to do with it.

    ************************************************

    http://www.azaquar.com/en/doc/water-in-food

    so any food that's low in air, and low in water... pretty good chance it's HIGH in calories.

    think about it. food only has 3 components (forget alcohol for now,that's whole another beast !)

    9 calories per gram = Fat
    4 calories per gram =Protein
    4 calories per gram = Carbs (btw sugar & fiber is a type of carb)

    ZERO calories per gram = water
    ZERO calories per gram = air



    ..
  • suej19
    suej19 Posts: 15 Member
    I said 'fresh' pasta was higher in calories as they add oil to it to stop it sticking together.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    Yes, usually nutritional info is listed for prepared items unless otherwise stated. I had this problem with condensed soup.
  • Debbie_Ferr
    Debbie_Ferr Posts: 582 Member
    I said 'fresh' pasta was higher in calories as they add oil to it to stop it sticking together.
    ops, sorry , I misread your post. you were comparing fresh vs dry pasta. you're right, fresh has some oil in it.

    checking the label......
    compared to total calories, and calories come from fat , Percentage wise,, maybe 10% of the calories are from fat, the rest are from carbs. zero from water...again, pasta is so friggen dense, it drives the calories up !!

    maybe total calories = 250
    maybe fat calories = 25

    ..
  • slomo22
    slomo22 Posts: 125 Member
    I'm so confused now on dry weight vs. cooked weight now. I have been measuring everything (Steak, pasta... everything) after cooking. So am I doing this wrong? Am I not actually reaching the calories that I'm saying I'm eating?

    For pasta it will make a difference. For steak....probably very little. You should measure per the serving info, if it says "cooked or prepared" than measure after it's cooked, otherwise I would measure before cooking.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Sorry forgot to add, you weigh before cooking.

    Unless otherwise stated. If the package says as prepared, that means cooked!! If is does not state as prepared, or cooked weight, then it is always before it is cooked.
  • RabbitLost
    RabbitLost Posts: 333 Member
    Wow. I am so glad to see I am not the only person who has struggled with pasta measuring. In the US, the pastas I buy are labelled dry weight, so that's easy enough. A couple of times, I cooked up multiple servings and then weighed the results of the batch to get a cooked weight per serving. The only constant I learned in these experiments is that there was no constant to cooked pasta. After reading someone else's post, I now realize the water absorption MUST be different for differing pasts. So, now I measure out dry servings, cook and then weigh the whole batch to arrive at a per serving weight for that batch. If nothing else, it feeds my mild OCD.
  • toriforte
    toriforte Posts: 8 Member
    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?

    There are typically 16oz (1lb) of pasta in a package, so 1/4 of the cooked package will equal 4oz dry.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I'm so confused now on dry weight vs. cooked weight now. I have been measuring everything (Steak, pasta... everything) after cooking. So am I doing this wrong? Am I not actually reaching the calories that I'm saying I'm eating?

    for meat and suck is usually weighs more before it is cooked, so with those things you are eating more than you think, for rice, pasta, they weigh much more after due to water absorption, so with those things you are eating less than you think.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Wow. I am so glad to see I am not the only person who has struggled with pasta measuring. In the US, the pastas I buy are labelled dry weight, so that's easy enough. A couple of times, I cooked up multiple servings and then weighed the results of the batch to get a cooked weight per serving. The only constant I learned in these experiments is that there was no constant to cooked pasta. After reading someone else's post, I now realize the water absorption MUST be different for differing pasts. So, now I measure out dry servings, cook and then weigh the whole batch to arrive at a per serving weight for that batch. If nothing else, it feeds my mild OCD.

    That is how to do it. If you make 3 servings say at 50grams each, 150 grams total, then after cooking it is 450 grams, that 50 gram serving would be 150 cooked, but to do this you need to weigh the item before and after cooking to know what % of the total batch you are eating.
  • bidimus
    bidimus Posts: 95 Member
    Holy smokes. This is confusing. I think I just found a reason to give up pasta. lol

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