Free Veggies question

[ABC123athome]

I've had several members in my class ask about the free veggies list (p51 Member's Guide).

For example, why is a cup of uncooked mushrooms free, whereas 1/2 cup of cooked mushrooms counts as 1 Veg? Their concern is that when you cook a veggie, you are actually cooking out some/most of the nutrients.

[RebaR]

Hey,

the best way I can explain the difference is to ask, have you ever cooked fresh spinach? 1/2 cup cook is a veggie, raw it's a free veggie... well, when I cook it, I start with the bag... looks like a bunch- but when it's steamed, it makes maybe a cup... for me, that is a good example to show why there's a different count in cooked and raw... you could try the same thing with mushrooms...but the spinach makes a good visual.

Reba

[Pat/TX]

ABC123....

I was curious about your question, too, so I contacted Erin DuBroc who is the new Registered Dietician in the National First Place office. I asked her if she could shed any light on your question, and I hope her response to me (below) will help. I think she's going to be a great resource for all of us!

Pat/TX

Erin's email to me:

Hi Pat,

I’m sorry I’m just getting to your email, but usually it does take 1-2 days to research and respond of all the questions I get from people. Thanks for your patience.

This can be a very confusing concept – one I had trouble understanding myself. The original Diabetic Exchange plan doesn’t do it the way it is laid on in the FP plan. In the original plan, ½ of cooked veggies or veggie juice or 1 cup of raw veggies count as an exchange, period the end. There is no separate list of “free veggies”.

However, I think the point is that 1 cup of raw veggies do not provide as many calories as even a half cup of cooked. The reason for this is volume. When spinach is cooked, for example, it shrinks down and more is able to fit into a half cup than what fits in a whole cup raw. According to Nutrition Data’s nutrient ****ysis database (www.nutritiondata.com ) , 1 cup of white raw mushrooms = 15kcals and 2g protein and ½ cup of cooked white mushrooms = 22kcals and 2g protein. This is not because cooking adds calories or miraculously changes the nutrient density of the food, but the physical density does change and as the cooked vegetable becomes more compact, more of it can fit into the ½ cup serving and you thus get more calories. The difference in calories, as you can see with the mushrooms, is only 7kcals, but since 22kcals is closer to 25kcals (the amount allotted for a vegetable exchange), that one is considered worthy of one exchange and other is considered negligible or “free”.

The problem remains that some of the foods in the “free” list really could be considered an exchange. 1 cup raw zucchini, for example, is 20kcals and 2g of protein. This is just barely lower than the 25kcals needed to be considered an exchange. I would go ahead and count it as one. But then again, who really eats 1cup of raw zucchini? J

The majority, however, tend to be substantially less than 25kcals (alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, celery, etc.) That’s why they are in the “free” list.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,
Erin

[RebaR]

Hey cool...she used my spinach example!

Reba

[ABC123athome]

Thanks, Pat.

This will help a lot. I'll pass it along.

-=Jean=-

[swedieris]

I used to tell my groups that it worked like a bank account. Free vegies made a "deposit" into their nutritional account, but did not "debit" their calorie account.

Does this make sense?

Chris in Hart