Foods Lower in Calories

Learn the "friendly" food groups

The way foods are prepared determines how many calories they contain. For example, a plain boiled or baked potato has about 100 calories while that same potato served as hashed browns would have 235 calories.

Some foods or groups of foods, such as the potato, "starchy foods" and "white foods, have gotten the reputation of being fattening. The truth is that since all foods contain calories or food energy, eating too much of any has the potential for leading to excess pounds of fat gained.

Some foods do contain more calories than others. For example, fat provides twice as many calories per gram than either protein or carbohydrate. Foods that contain large amounts of sugars plus fat are also usually considered to be higher in calories.

Vegetables and fruits low calorie foods

Most vegetables and fruits are fairly low in calories because many are high in fiber and water. Since fiber is not digested it has no calories. It takes greater amounts of vegetables and fruits to equal the amount of calories in foods containing large amounts of fat or concentrated sweeteners. Fresh fruits or fruits packed in natural juices or water are also lower in calories than fruits packed in syrups.

Dietetic foods are not always low calorie either. These foods usually contain sweeteners other than sucrose-table sugar. These sweeteners, such as sorbitol, yield as many calories when eaten as table sugar. For instance, dietetic ice cream provides about as many calorie as regular ice cream.

Reduced calorie products

There are also some reduced calorie salad dressings, margarine and cheese that contain fewer calories than regular products because of smaller amounts of fat. You can find out the amount of calories per serving these foods contain by reading the labels.

Nutritionally sound diets for weight control include a variety of foods from the basic food groups—milk and cheese—meat, poultry, fish and beans—vegetables and fruits—and bread and cereal. These basic foods are usually limited on a weight control diet, but all are included because they provide not only calories, but necessary nutrients for good health as well.

The meat group provides such nutrients as protein, iron, B vitamins and zinc. The bread-cereal group gives us carbohydrate, B vitamins and iron and the whole grain varieties provide fiber. The vegetable-fruit group is rich in Vitamins A and C, as well as fiber. The milk-cheese group supplies protein, calcium, riboflavin and Vitamins A and

There's also a food group called the fats, sweets and alcohol group. This group includes items that contain fat, concentrated amounts of sugar or alcohol. We get food energy or calories from this group but few other nutrients. For this reason, this group is usually drastically limited on weight control diets.

For more information on foods lower in calories contact your local county Extension office.