Calories in Vegetables
Nutrition Facts
Written by Sky Taylor, Diet Bites
Vegetables, Naturally Low in Calories
Raw vegetables are awesome! They hold numerous essential vitamins and minerals required by the body for optimum health. They are most impressive in their raw state, but many of the vitamins and nutrients can survive the cooking process.
Heat tends to reduce or destroy nutrients. Boiling, steaming, grilling - all of these methods will decrease the nutritional values of raw vegetables. Steaming is the better option of the three.
One popular cooking process can introduce a plethora of calories into that otherwise skinny veggie. Frying.... And it's not only the oil used amid the frying process but also the batter. And after the vegetable is fried, we often add dipping sauces which introduce even more calories.
And not just 'calories' but 'special calories' because they contain unhealthy fats in most situations. Cheese sauces, cream cheese based dips and so forth add numerous calories to that otherwise skinny vegetable.
Frying vs Raw Vegetables
Let's look at a few examples.
* One large slice of yellow, purple or white onion that measures 1/4" thick and weighs 38 grams contains a skinny 15 kcals and 0.039 total fat grams. The same amount of fried onion rings contains 15 total fat grams and about 200 kcals - more than a dozen-times the energy values of the raw onion.
* One cup [100 grams] of raw okra contains 33 kcals and 0.19 grams of total fat. One cup of fried okra contains 195 kcals and 9 grams of total fat.
Salt in Raw Vegetables
The sodium content of natural vegetables is close to zero but when they appear on the table that number generally spikes. If it's a table at a fast food or fine dining restaurant, it's practically guaranteed.
When I prepare our meals I generally add minimal or zero salt. My family appreciates being able to add the amount of salt they desire to their plates instead of me making that decision for them. Some may enjoy the natural earthy goodness of vegetables without the added salt; others like to drown their potatoes in sodium.
