Sweet potatoes

Steaming or boiling it in water doesn't add calories....neither does baking it unless you rub it in oil.

itsmemaringle wrote: »

If it's cooked isn't it just water content that changes?

That's why there can be a large calorie difference between the same weights of raw and cooked. If you cook the water out (which has weight but no calories), then the cooked food will have more calories per gram than the raw. If the food gains water (such as when you cook pasta), then the cooked food will have fewer calories per gram than the raw.

sbelle07 wrote: »

hi! I am new at tracking. I am so confused how everything I can find gives the same calorie count per gram for a raw sweet potato AND a cooked sweet potato. How can that be when the same potato weighs less cooked?

I wouldn't think that sweet potatoes would lose or gain as much water as many other foods will when cooked (they don't seem to me to shrink or expand much) so the calorie counts for raw and cooked should be pretty close. Since your potato weighed less after cooking, it will have more calories per gram than it did before cooking. As someone mentioned above, the raw weight should be used whenever possible when logging. If you are planning to split the potato into multiple servings, get the overall nutritional info from the raw weight and then get the cooked weight to use to split up your portions.

The MFP food database info is mostly entered by users so double-check entries for accuracy against another source (such as the USDA or the box) whenever you can.