Heating Blueberries

Lov3lif3
Lov3lif3 Posts: 68 Member
edited November 30 in Food and Nutrition
I really love zero yogurt and got blueberries. I am wondering now I am counting calories, would I need to add extra calories? I only hear them for 30 seconds in the microwave so they are oosing - then add 2 big spoons of zero yogurt. Good heaven!
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Replies

  • Kamikazeflutterby
    Kamikazeflutterby Posts: 770 Member
    If you are asking...

    Does microwaving increase calories in blueberries? No, but theoretically some water may evaporate. Just measure the blueberries before you heat them and use the raw blueberry entry.
    Do I need to count calories from blueberries? Yes. Weigh (by preference) the blueberries, or measure by volume.
    Do I need to count the calories from my blueberry and yogurt snack? Yes. Even low cal snacks add up over the course of the day.

    Hope that helps.
  • xxnellie146xx
    xxnellie146xx Posts: 996 Member
    Blueberries have calories so weigh the amount you are going to eat and log then accordingly
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    Count all foods you consume
    It makes no difference if they are oozing or not.
    Weigh all your solids with a food scale. Measuring cups for liquids.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Have you got a weigh scale yet? That will tell you how many calories you are getting from your zero fat yogurt and your blueberries. With MFP you count the calories of everything you consume.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Is the question about the fact that the blueberries were heated, whether or not that might negate some/all of the calories in them and thus make it unnecessary to log them?

    Just wanted to make sure I was understanding the original question because I feel I must be missing something otherwise.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Yes, count the calories for both the yogurt and the blueberries. Microwaving will not change the calorie count.
  • Lov3lif3
    Lov3lif3 Posts: 68 Member
    Thank you. I was told that any fruit which has been heated will release sugsrs making it more calorific, hence the question.
  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,255 Member
    Lov3lif3 wrote: »
    Thank you. I was told that any fruit which has been heated will release sugsrs making it more calorific, hence the question.

    Um, no.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    0.001 calories per gram per degree C of extra temperature is the number of calories to add for heating, approximately.

    100g of blueberries at 40 C compared to 20C = 2 extra calories.
  • Lov3lif3
    Lov3lif3 Posts: 68 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    0.001 calories per gram per degree C of extra temperature is the number of calories to add for heating, approximately.

    100g of blueberries at 40 C compared to 20C = 2 extra calories.

    Thank you.. I think people though I was going mad with the replies here. It's very minimal calories but answers it perfectly.
  • Lov3lif3
    Lov3lif3 Posts: 68 Member
    whmscll wrote: »
    Lov3lif3 wrote: »
    Thank you. I was told that any fruit which has been heated will release sugsrs making it more calorific, hence the question.

    Um, no.

    Um, yes.. see other comment.
  • Lov3lif3
    Lov3lif3 Posts: 68 Member
    Yes, count the calories for both the yogurt and the blueberries. Microwaving will not change the calorie count.

    Heating it does, see other comment.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    This is my favorite thread.
  • Lov3lif3
    Lov3lif3 Posts: 68 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Is the question about the fact that the blueberries were heated, whether or not that might negate some/all of the calories in them and thus make it unnecessary to log them?

    Just wanted to make sure I was understanding the original question because I feel I must be missing something otherwise.

    Why would I think it would negate any calories? When you heat fruit, it releases the sugars and hence more calorific. I want to ensure I'm counting every calorie. So.. no I'm not trying to Not Log them.. the complete opposite! See the other reply to my question.
  • Lov3lif3
    Lov3lif3 Posts: 68 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    Have you got a weigh scale yet? That will tell you how many calories you are getting from your zero fat yogurt and your blueberries. With MFP you count the calories of everything you consume.

    Yes I am but the question was if there were more calories to count..and I can see from Yarwell that there are.
  • Lov3lif3
    Lov3lif3 Posts: 68 Member
    If you are asking...

    Does microwaving increase calories in blueberries? No, but theoretically some water may evaporate. Just measure the blueberries before you heat them and use the raw blueberry entry.
    Do I need to count calories from blueberries? Yes. Weigh (by preference) the blueberries, or measure by volume.
    Do I need to count the calories from my blueberry and yogurt snack? Yes. Even low cal snacks add up over the course of the day.

    Hope that helps.

    Does heating blueberries increase calories? Yes.. See Yarwell's reply here. Although minimal, they are still EXTRA calories.

    Why would I not count the calories??
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    edited February 2016
    yarwell wrote: »
    0.001 calories per gram per degree C of extra temperature is the number of calories to add for heating, approximately.

    100g of blueberries at 40 C compared to 20C = 2 extra calories.

    I never knew that, thanks. Informative post.

    Does anyone have any info on it?
  • Lov3lif3
    Lov3lif3 Posts: 68 Member
    Blueberries have calories so weigh the amount you are going to eat and log then accordingly

    Yes of course they have calories, and more when heated which I am now aware of thanks to a reply from Yarwell.
  • Lov3lif3
    Lov3lif3 Posts: 68 Member
    RodaRose wrote: »
    This is my favorite thread.

    Thank you. Others have replied as if it was a dumb question and I was trying to get out of adding the food calories... It was the opposite in fact I don't know why people had to assume I was trying to get away without adding the food calories lol. When I was asking about the extra calories fruit has when it's heated. Thanks again.
  • Becca_250
    Becca_250 Posts: 188 Member
    I did not know that.
  • Lov3lif3
    Lov3lif3 Posts: 68 Member
    Becca_250 wrote: »
    I did not know that.

    I'd heard it.. but wanted to be sure :)
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,346 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    0.001 calories per gram per degree C of extra temperature is the number of calories to add for heating, approximately.

    100g of blueberries at 40 C compared to 20C = 2 extra calories.

    What counts as "extra" temperature? Like, what's the baseline on which one would expect the USDA calorie count for blueberries was calculated?
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,346 Member
    OP, don't drive yourself too crazy with this. Blueberries that were harvested a couple days earlier than others will have less calories than the later harvest, ones that grew in even slightly higher temperature environments will also be slightly higher... unless you know the absolute minutiae of the temperature at which the berries grew through the whole process, the extra cals from microwaving won't make a bit of difference, and really wouldn't be accurate in any event, as there is up to a 20% margin of error in any recorded calorie count.
  • vkahlenberg
    vkahlenberg Posts: 21 Member
    edited February 2016
    FWIW, perhaps an interesting read on the subject for the unfamiliar (come to your own conclusion; there's plenty of room for more research): http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2011/12/08/why-calorie-counts-are-wrong-cooked-food-provides-a-lot-more-energy/#.Vs1yAa2-3n4
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    I also find this interesting-thanks OP. However, I agree that the change in calories is minimal and won't sabotage your weight loss. Good on you for wanting to be accurate--we need more people like you.
  • Izzwoz
    Izzwoz Posts: 348 Member
    So heating blueberries adds calories? How? Does the microwave add sugar? I think it might just be a matter of "concentrating" the calories rather than adding any. Experiment A: So if you take 100 gr of raw berries, microwave them and weigh them again - do they now weigh less? Do they contain the same amount of sugar? Does sugar evaporate? Is life too short? Weigh your berries, log them, eat them - any which way you like. :-)
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    Izzwoz wrote: »
    So heating blueberries adds calories? How? Does the microwave add sugar? I think it might just be a matter of "concentrating" the calories rather than adding any. Experiment A: So if you take 100 gr of raw berries, microwave them and weigh them again - do they now weigh less? Do they contain the same amount of sugar? Does sugar evaporate? Is life too short? Weigh your berries, log them, eat them - any which way you like. :-)

    That's what I'm wondering. Is it dehydration altering the weight or does the heating change the structure or chemical composition.
  • Lov3lif3
    Lov3lif3 Posts: 68 Member
    I like heating berries to have with yogurt and I will add the extra 2 per 100g. It may to miniscule but so is thinking a tsp of sugar isn't worth adding. I'm hoping to Change my way of eating by counting each calorie to lose weight.. after all it's because of my "not counting" the off thing here and there.. Why I am here and over weight.!
    So... A Fresh look and all that.. thanks for all your comments.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    0.001 calories per gram per degree C of extra temperature is the number of calories to add for heating, approximately.

    100g of blueberries at 40 C compared to 20C = 2 extra calories.

    What counts as "extra" temperature? Like, what's the baseline on which one would expect the USDA calorie count for blueberries was calculated?

    Above room temperature or whatever base temperature USDA use.

    I don't know the convention in nutrition, but in Thermodynamics generally either 0 or 25 C tend to be common.
    "Atwater and Rosa (63) defined the Calorie at 20°C and noted that it was slightly larger than the 18°C unit employed by Armsby (64)." according to http://jn.nutrition.org/content/136/12/2957.full
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    I have learned something new today! who'd have thought heated fruit = a few more cals....
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