Oatmeal: plain (de-husked) whole oats, how many calories?

Broadfork
Broadfork Posts: 17 Member
edited January 2016 in Food and Nutrition
Hi All,
I am getting serious discrepancies when I try to look up calories in Oatmeal (from 300 to 1920 per pound).
MFP has it at about 100 calories per ounce (1600/pound).
Can anyone explain this for me?
Thank you!
Eric

Replies

  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
    Yes, the database is bonkers (technical term). Get your data from the package, the manufacturers website or elsewhere.
  • Broadfork
    Broadfork Posts: 17 Member
    edited January 2016
    The lower number must have something to do with calculating calories with the hull intact (which is not how they are eaten, by people):
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10319704/calorie-density-chart-images#latest
  • mlinci
    mlinci Posts: 402 Member
    I just replied in your other thread - very likely it varies hugely by whether you are talking about uncooked or cooked oats.
  • Broadfork
    Broadfork Posts: 17 Member
    edited January 2016
    Also, apparently, the term Whole Oats is not to be confused with a Whole Grain, because of the hull having been removed from Whole Oats.
  • markrgeary1
    markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
    Use the label to get the manufactures data. Yes this DB has garbage in it. Yesterday I found 2 cloves of garlic were 860 calories! Not real funny to me. I wonder what percentage of these 6 million entries are wrong?
  • Broadfork
    Broadfork Posts: 17 Member
    edited January 2016
    It is frustrating; like Publix carrots are green-check certified on MFP, but Publix doesn't actually manufacture carrots, mother nature does.
    MFP ought to have their own best average at the top of the list when one searches a whole food like carrots.
    I buy a lot from bulk-bins at the local tienda, without packaging info. But once one has their frequent foods list established, things become a little easier.
    Here is a US Federal checksum site:
    http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    You can get the approximate syntax used by MFP from http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/

    I weigh the oats before they are cooked and use that. Because I am cooking with rolled oats, my entry is from the USDA is Cereals, oats, regular and quick, not fortified, dry. http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/1847?manu=&fgcd=

    In MFP, it's Cereals - Oats, regular and quick and instant, not fortified, dry (oatmeal, rolled oats)

    614ab56708be9b31428aaecb23d2621d.png

  • Broadfork
    Broadfork Posts: 17 Member
    edited January 2016
    OK, I'll practice that for a while. I just ran into this for the 13.7 ounces of chicken breast that I need to cook:
    5onglyocwjd2.png
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    I gave up on the database.

    I find a reliable source for nutrition info (USDA, Google, the box, etc.) and enter anything I eat into My Foods and don't share it with the database. My Foods is a little glitchy (isn't everything?) but that way I can control the accuracy of the entries and no one can come behind me and edit that info for the entry without me realizing it has been changed. The initial setup is time consuming but now I just rarely need to enter a new food.

    The main drawback is that the recipe builder won't let you get ingredients from My Foods so I do need to break down and use the database when I build a recipe. :(
  • Broadfork
    Broadfork Posts: 17 Member
    edited January 2016
    "and enter anything I eat into My Foods and don't share it with the database"
    But it then shows in your Frequent food list, right, and not actually under My Foods (when logging/adding a food portion to a meal)?
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited January 2016
    Broadfork wrote: »
    "and enter anything I eat into My Foods and don't share it with the database"
    But it then shows in your Frequent food list, right, and not actually under My Foods (when logging/adding a food portion to a meal)?
    It shows both places. It may take a while for the new foods to replace the ones you've been using in the Frequent list.

    I even customize the names into categories (like Fruit or Meat at the beginning of the name) and sort by name so that the Frequent and Recent lists are more organized.
  • Broadfork
    Broadfork Posts: 17 Member
    edited January 2016
    Good idea. I give it some practice.
    I tried. I don't see how you do what you are describing.
    It goes into Frequent & Recent, but not actually into My Foods???
    I found this thread:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10298788/add-an-item-from-data-base-to-my-foods-list
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Broadfork wrote: »
    OK, I'll practice that for a while. I just ran into this for the 13.7 ounces of chicken breast that I need to cook:
    5onglyocwjd2.png

    As you will see if you cross check in http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/, the last entry is the correct one.

    Anything that includes "USDA" in the description was a user-generated entry as the system entries do not include this.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited January 2016
    Broadfork wrote: »
    Good idea. I give it some practice.
    I tried. I don't see how you do what you are describing.
    It goes into Frequent & Recent, but not actually into My Foods???
    I found this thread:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10298788/add-an-item-from-data-base-to-my-foods-list
    You have to manually add the foods if you want total control over them. As that thread said, you can't just save them from the database. Foods will get listed in My Foods if you edit them in the database but only for as long as you were the last person to edit them.

    I'm working from the website so I'm not sure if it works the same way in the apps.

    In the page header, click FOOD and My Foods. You'll see this:
    yaltethwd68a.jpg

    Click Create Food.

    You'll now be able to type a descriptive name and then continue.

    It will say that there are similar things already in the database. Ignore that. Click Nope, this is not a duplicate.

    You can then type in all of the nutritional information.

    Under that main nutrition area, make sure that you aren't sharing it with the MFP database.
  • Broadfork
    Broadfork Posts: 17 Member
    edited January 2016
    Thanks kshama, the last one I did copy and paste from usda to mfp-search.
    Thanks seska, that is exactly where I became confused in the process.
    I am going to try it with the chicken entry now...
    It worked! Thx.

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