Best website to confirm calories

weali
weali Posts: 37 Member
edited December 3 in Health and Weight Loss
trying to add iceberg lettuce to one of my meals but I'm getting conflicting calorie counts.
caloriecount.com says there is 7 calories per cup
calorieking.com says there is 8 calories per cup (usda website agrees with this one)
but the biggest discrepancy I've found is with a website called fatsecret.com that shows 32 calories per cup...

I think I've figured part of the weight measurement discrepancy out because 1 cup shredded would weigh differently than 1 cup chopped and some of the websites break it down to that but in general what websites do yall use to confirm the calories?

Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    USDA
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods?qlookup=Ran&fgcd=&manu=&SYNCHRONIZER_TOKEN=d0eb9243-a4ff-4848-a273-ab0b0f1b128d&SYNCHRONIZER_URI=/ndb/search

    This is best for whole foods. I use Wal Mart or HEB for packaged foods. I would stick to weight measurements.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,645 Member
    The USDA website. Also, you don't want to measure lettuce by volume.
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
    weigh it, don't measure by cups
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    You need to be weighing it, NOT measuring it.

    In any case, just be glad that this particular item is low in calories. It's when you're adding higher calorie foods that it can REALLY add up.
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,120 Member
    I verify using the USDA (or Self's NutritionData). I know CalorieKing uses USDA-based entries, so I would trust that site more than CalorieCount (do they also use USDA entries?)
  • weali
    weali Posts: 37 Member
    edited July 2016
    PaulaWallaDingDong wrote: »
    The USDA website. Also, you don't want to measure lettuce by volume.

    Is that what ounces are? I try to use that as my base for everything and have my scale set to that. Grams came from the USDA site--they had 2 different entries for lettuce by the cup so I thought the grams would be more accurate
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,645 Member
    edited July 2016
    weali wrote: »
    PaulaWallaDingDong wrote: »
    The USDA website. Also, you don't want to measure lettuce by volume.

    Is that what ounces are? I try to use that as my base for everything and have my scale set to that. Grams came from the USDA site--they had 2 different entries for lettuce by the cup so I thought the grams would be more accurate

    Ounces can be volume (eg: 1 cup = 8 ounces) or weight (eg: 1 pound = 16 ounces). Grams are weight, which is what you want. If weighing in ounces, make sure the database entry you're looking at is using weight ounces and not volume ounces (but definitely not cups). By using weight, it doesn't matter whether the lettuce is chopped, torn, shredded, or whatever.
  • weali
    weali Posts: 37 Member
    PaulaWallaDingDong wrote: »
    weali wrote: »
    PaulaWallaDingDong wrote: »
    The USDA website. Also, you don't want to measure lettuce by volume.

    Is that what ounces are? I try to use that as my base for everything and have my scale set to that. Grams came from the USDA site--they had 2 different entries for lettuce by the cup so I thought the grams would be more accurate

    Ounces can be volume (eg: 1 cup = 8 ounces) or weight (eg: 1 pound = 16 ounces). Grams are weight, which is what you want. If weighing in ounces, make sure the database entry you're looking at is using weight ounces and not volume ounces (but definitely not cups). By using weight, it doesn't matter whether the lettuce is chopped, torn, shredded, or whatever.

    Yeah it definitely drives me nuts when a food item only has fluid ounces under its measurements (part of my frustration trying to find an entry with the right ounce listed)...I always figured the same rule applied weighing food as it does in cooking (use dry measuring cups for dry ingredients and the liquid measuring cup for wet ingredients)

    Thank you so much for the help :smiley:
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