# Calculating nutrition



## rdskf (Nov 11, 2010)

hey ppl can u tell m some reliable techniques, softwares or anything that'll help m calculate nutritional value of my recipes or any other recipes before trying them....


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## Andy M. (Nov 11, 2010)

Most recipe software packages will calculate the nutritional value of the ingredients in a recipe.  To get an accurate reading, you have to be careful of how you enter ingredients.


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## rdskf (Nov 11, 2010)

well can u suggest some softwares 2 m then


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## Andy M. (Nov 11, 2010)

I am familiar with Master Cook.  Others will chime in with other recommendations.


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## DMerry (Nov 11, 2010)

I chiming in with suggesting the "Living Cookbook" that I found on line.  I find it easy to use both for entering the recipes and linking the ingredients to the provided database, then when requested the program calculates nutritional values for me.


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## mcnerd (Nov 11, 2010)

I also recommend "Living Cookbook" for storing recipes and calculating their nutritional values.

If you are interested only in individual food item values, try the information at http://www.calorieking.com


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## carmen.cane (Mar 2, 2011)

I have never considered calculating the calories of cooked food, I always prefer to eat food uncooked. Especially when I'm on a diet. This way I know exactly how many calories I consume daily. I find your suggestions very useful and I will surely consider them.


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## Andy M. (Mar 2, 2011)

You really have to be careful when using nutrition calculators to determine the number of calories (and other info) in a serving of a recipe.  It's important how you enter the ingredients in a recipe.

For example, a recipe calls for '1 Lb. Ground Beef'.  It's most likely the nutrition calculator will give you the number of calories in a pound of raw ground beef.  What you really need to know is the number of calories after a pound of raw ground beef has been cooked!  That will be a lot less after the fat and juices have been cooked off.

So now you need to know 'If I start with a pound of raw ground beef, how much will the cooked drained beef weigh?', so you can enter that amount into your recipe.  That will work if you know the weight and your nutrition calculator has an item for '1 pound of raw ground beef, cooked and drained'.

The USDA has an online/downloadable Nutrition Database that helps you with this.  It will give you info on a pound of raw ground beef by fat percentages, how much it will weigh after it's cooked, etc.  Armed with this info, you can use cookbook software to give you what you need.

 Here's their website.

Nutrient Data Laboratory - Food Composition Products


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## PrincessFiona60 (Mar 2, 2011)

Andy M. said:


> You really have to be careful when using nutrition calculators to determine the number of calories (and other info) in a serving of a recipe. It's important how you enter the ingredients in a recipe.
> 
> For example, a recipe calls for '1 Lb. Ground Beef'. It's most likely the nutrition calculator will give you the number of calories in a pound of raw ground beef. What you really need to know is the number of calories after a pound of raw ground beef has been cooked! That will be a lot less after the fat and juices have been cooked off.
> 
> ...


 
Thanks, Andy!  I knew this was out there somewhere!


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## carmen.cane (Mar 2, 2011)

Andy M. said:


> You really have to be careful when using nutrition calculators to determine the number of calories (and other info) in a serving of a recipe.  It's important how you enter the ingredients in a recipe.
> 
> For example, a recipe calls for '1 Lb. Ground Beef'.  It's most likely the nutrition calculator will give you the number of calories in a pound of raw ground beef.  What you really need to know is the number of calories after a pound of raw ground beef has been cooked!  That will be a lot less after the fat and juices have been cooked off.
> 
> ...



Hi! Thank You for the explanations. It seems a little bit complicated, but I'm sure that once you cook and calculate 2 or 3 recipes it will be a lot easier. It's important to know what recipes are healthier so you can select and organize them for your own and personalized diet.


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