Calories in an Egg

October 24, 2008

Most of us have eaten eggs all our lives. But we didn’t always pay attention to the calories in an egg. And especially the difference between the calories in an egg white and the calories in an egg yolk. Let’s have a look at the actual calories numbers:

• calories in an egg white (large egg)- 16 calories (protein: 3.60gr, fat: 0.06gr)
• calories in an egg yolk (large egg) - 54 calories (protein: 2.70gr, fat: 4.51gr)

As you can see, it is the fat content that is responsible for the big difference.

But assuming you eat the egg as a whole (white and yolk), the calories in an egg can still differ according to the size of the egg:

• 1 small egg (fresh, 38 gr) - 54 calories
• 1 medium egg (fresh, 44 gr) - 63 calories
• 1 large egg (fresh, 50 gr) - 72 calories
• 1 extra large egg (fresh, 56 gr) - 80 calories

Don’t forget that if you eat more than one egg, or you are trying to reach a weekly or monthly goal, the calories in an egg add up, so it is still important to track the size of the egg and its calories.

And last - the cooking method always affects the calorie content. And the calories in an egg is another example. There are 90 calories in an egg that was fried, compared with 78 calories in an egg that was hard boiled or 71 calories in an egg that was poached.

Calories in Strawberries

October 3, 2008

Surprisingly enough the calories in starwberries are not extremely high. One could expect this sweet and juicy fruit to be very high in sugar and calories, but the truth is that the amount of calories in strawberries are lower than a few other types of fruit.

Can you guess the number of calories in a single strawberry?

Can you believe it can be as few as 2 calories?!?! OK, that’s for a pretty small strawberry. But even if we take large strawberries, it’s only 10 calories per strawberry.

OK, that doesn’t mean you can start a strawberries feast or eating them endlessly. We are still talking about calories. And the calories in strawberries, like any other calories, add up! So eat a few, or pile them in a cup - that should be a prefect and relatively low calorie dessert.

But I bet you are looking for the specific figures for calories in strawberries. So here there are:

• 100 gr (3.5 oz) of strawberries - 32 calories
• 1 cup of whole strawberries (144 gr) - 46 calories
• 1 cup of sliced strawberries (166 gr) - 53 calories

One of the reasons strawberries are low in calories is their water percentage. 90% of the strawberries content is actually water, so you’re not consuming a lot of calories. Another thing that helps is the low sugar percentage - again, compared with other fruits. Apples for example have 10% sugar, but strawberries have less than 5%. So although around 60% of the calories in strawberries come from sugar, it is still a low number of calories.

So as you can see, 1 cup of strawberries can be a great option for a dessert or a snack. Remember to keep the number of calories in strawberries low by not adding extra sugar or cream. Enjoy your treat in its natural tasty way.

Calories in Corn

September 20, 2008

Corn always reminds me of my childhood. But unlike a child when you are a grown up you should think about the calories in corn as well, not just its good taste. So let’s check out a bit of the nutrition values of corn.

A lot of us are eating corn from a can and that makes it easier to check the calories in corn because it says so on the can! Typically there are 60 to 80 calories in 3.5 oz of corn which comes in a can. It depends whether it is a vaccum pack, cream style, drained etc. Check the label and if the can is not drained make sure you check for values that do not include the liquids.

The best corn is of course corn on cob. There are a few types of corn on cob, but if we take a standard ear weighing around 2oz, cook, boil and drain it, you are looking at around 60 calories.

But watch out! 60 calories in corn on a cob refers only the corn. Add butter or anything else and you are looking at a lot more calories!

But someone reminded me that ever popcorn is corn, isn’t it? So how how many calories in popcorn vs calories in corn? If you eat it like a small snack, let’s say a cup of popcorn (already popped!) you’ll consume only 30-40 calories. Be ware of eating too much popcorn. 3.5 oz of popcorn has 387 calories for air popped corn and 429 calories in corn that was popped in a microwave.