Does the Difference in Preparing Food Make Any Difference in Calorie Intake?

Doctors and health experts always emphasize the importance of a nutritious diet. However, they fail to mention that the foods we consume have different calories when cooked and when consumed raw. For instance, raw skinless breast meat contains 136 calories, while when it is fried the calorific value increases to 312 calories and the roasted version has 220 calories. Doctor2Care, a platform for online consultation with doctors, takes a look at the difference in preparing food and how the calories can change because of it.

Cooking with Butter or Oil?

Without a doubt cooking with butter or oil increases the calories of any food. Fats and oils contain a lot of calories, so if you seek to lose weight, opt to have food without the addition of fats and oils. However, not all foods can be had raw, they need to be cooked, so you can opt for better cooking methods like baking or boiling.

Baking or Boiling of Food

When food is boiled or baked, the water and fats will be released. This will make the food healthier.

When food is boiled in water, it loses a lot of nutrients depending on the time it is cooked. If it is cooked for a long time, it will lose a lot more nutrients than if it is boiled for less time. By nutrients, we mean the vitamins and minerals contained in the food.

Trying to Lose Weight? Opt for Raw Foods

If you are keen to lose weight, remember that raw food takes more energy to digest than cooked food. Cooking externalizes part of the digestion process. Our body does not have to work hard to break the food down, especially meat. Hence, it makes it easy for calories to be absorbed by the body. So when eating cooked foods, you tend to gain more calories than you did if they were raw.

That means you can gain more weight from cooked broccoli, carrots, etc. than from the raw versions. However, if you opt to slather your salads in ranch sauce, that’s increases calories as well.

Conclusion

In conclusion, seniors and elders should be careful of the foods they consume. Since there is a difference in the calories of raw and cooked foods, you need to be careful of how you prepare foods. Doctor2Care, a platform for online consultation with doctors sums up what we have learnt in the above blog.

• Boiled and baked foods are better for lower calories intake.
• Fried foods have a lot of calories because of the addition of butter and oil.
• Raw foods are great for losing weight.

So choose wisely how you prepare your food in your old age!