Baked Potato
 

Ok I got a question about baked potatoes. I was looking for caloric info for a potato I bought at the store. It's one of those already washed and ready to "bake". Well I was looking and saw that there is a huge discrepency in calories between a "raw" potato and a "baked" potato. I mean, can baking something (I just put it in the microwave) really add calories somehow? I used both www.calorieking.com and www.calorie-count.com and both have the calories for a baked potato of the same size being much higher than a raw potato. What's the deal?

Maybe they're factoring in common toppings for a typical baked potato: butter, sour cream, etc.?

This may be some completely fuzzy science on my part...

I may be completely off...

When you heat something up, you have to add calories to it to do so. Because a baked potato has been heated up, it has had calories added to it. I think it takes 1 calorie to raise 1ml of water 1*C, so that may be where the answer lies.

But don't take my word for it...

Penguins are designed for surviving in the cold, not figuring out calorie counts

Not add calories to heat something, but expend. Ergo, the microwave is expending calories to heat whatever is in it. Well, not calories but energy.

Its been a few years since chemistry class :)

Just took a look at the sites you're talking about- it has to do with the default serving sizes of the potatos being different. Make sure when you're comparing an unbaked potato with a baked potato the same serving sizes are selected, and you'll see that there is no calorie difference.

The potato loses water weight when it's cooked. So the caloric value per gram of weight goes up. (Per the USDA database, 93 cal/100 g baked or 77 cal/100 g raw). But the caloric value per unit potato stays about the same (278 cal cooked vs. 284 cal raw for a 3" large potato).

ok so if my potato said it weighed 8 ounces on the package then how many calories did it have when I ate it? Should I use the caloric information for uncooked because I have its uncooked weight?

Use the weight of the uncooked potatoe then use the calories for an uncooked potatoe. Or use the weight of the cooked potatoe and then the calories of a cooked potatoe. If anything cooking can reduce calories by breaking bonds in the food (like burning it). The calories you get are from breaking the chemical bonds of the food.

Yup, I would. 227 grams / 100 grams x 77 calories = 175 calories. Why the calorie counting? You restricting? It's awesome that you're making the effort to cook in the dorms, but baked potato is a so-so option, because its light and floury starch gives it a high glycemic index: it will hit your bloodsugar in a rush and be gone as quickly, leaving you hungry again. :\

yeah that's what I thought. Water weight hadn't occurred to me though. Thanks guys for all the help!

African or European baked potato?

Russett <---- dunno where that's from

[QUOTE=cheebahmunkey]Russett <---- dunno where that's from[/"QUOTE]

"AAAAGGGHHHH!" screams cheebahmunkey, as he goes flying into the abyss.

[QUOTE=jnbacon]**********

Laden or unladen?

This discussion has devolved into Monty Python riffing.

http://arago4.tn.utwente.nl/stonedea...il/ra/23-06.ra [requires RealPlayer]

oh I totally forgot about that. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Ditch the white potato

Eat the yam, sweet potato far healthier

how's that? And no I'm not gonna ditch the white potato. The two have completely different tastes.

He too is referring to glycemic index: you sort of get more bang for your buck with potatoes other than big ol' bakers, and sweet potatoes are actually one of the lowest GI, IIRC. Plus you get beta carotene. But it's your gullet. ;)

what I was saying is that I eat both and really see no reason to stop eating white baked potatoes. I like their taste along with the taste of sweet potatoes.

And let's not forget the difference between yams (african origin) and sweet potatos (south american origin). I don't think there is an indigenous european potato. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-23-a.html

And the relative Glycemic Indexes of potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams (and lots of other foods - click here).

Vegetables

· Parsnips 97
· Potato – baked 85
· Potato – instant 83
· Pumpkin 75
· French fries 75
· Potato – fresh – mashed 73
· Rutabaga 72
· Carrot 71
· Beets 64
· New Potato 62
· Sweet corn 55
· Sweet potato 54
· Yam 51
· Tomato 38
· Green vegetables low
· Bean sprouts low
· Cauliflower low
· Eggplant low
· Peppers low
· Squash low
· Onions low
· Water chestnuts low



Incidentally, you see a wide range of GI values in different tables for baked potatoes, from in the 80's to over 100.