Ok, this site is a little addictive: http://www.nutritiondata.com .
You can type in various food categories, and it will then give you not just the standard “Nutrition Facts” label, but also some highly detailed analysis of the quality of the food. Because proteins, carbs, etc. have subtleties beyond the standard label, I think if you play with this site a bid, you’ll be as addicted as I am!
Let me walk you through an example…
I was curious about why so many body builders put pumpkin in their home-made protein bars. So rather than drive to the store, I went to nutritiondata.com and found that they have various options to choose from:
I figured “vegetables and vegetable products” made sense.
And then, drilling down one more level, I checked out “pumpkin, canned, without salt”. Here are a few screen shots (way too long of a page to show you all of them):
But here’s my take away: pumpkin is low fat, decent omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, high dietary fiber, moderate sugar, and a little protein. Because I do a lot of running in addition to weight training, pumpkin is looking like the perfect food to work in around my 8-mile runs.
In contrast, here’s part of the screen for Snickers’ protein performance bar: (http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/snacks/9963/2)
Not surprisingly, it has a ton of sugar. Yeah, it’s got a lot of protein, but this is essentially a candy bar with a scoop of protein powder mixed in. Better than a regular snickers, but something you should consider as a treat outside your regular diet. [If you crave protein bars, make these yourself.]
What do you think of nutritiondata.com? Do you have other sites you’d recommend? Chime in!
Just starting out with weightlifting? Want to get bigger muscles this winter?
Get my full-body lifting routine here: FullBodyAttack!
Continue reading about Nutrition Data – Easy As (Pumpkin) Pie
Loading ...