Raw vs Cooked Food Nutrition: Why the Numbers Differ
Why 100 g of cooked rice, pasta or meat has different calories and nutrients than 100 g raw, and how FoodFactly keeps the two apart.
This guide is awaiting editorial review.
Cooking changes the weight of food. Rice and pasta absorb water, so 100 g of cooked rice contains far less dry rice, and therefore fewer calories, than 100 g of raw rice. Meat and fish lose water when cooked, so 100 g of cooked chicken contains more protein and calories than 100 g of raw chicken.
Cooking can also change the nutrients themselves. Heat-sensitive vitamins such as vitamin C and some B vitamins partly break down, and some minerals leach into cooking water. Frying adds fat from the oil.
How FoodFactly handles it
- Every food carries a preparation state: raw, cooked, dried, frozen, canned or a packaged product. The state appears next to the name on every page.
- Raw and cooked versions are separate records with their own measured values. FoodFactly never converts raw values into cooked ones.
- Comparisons and "similar foods" lists prefer foods in the same state, so a raw food is not ranked against a cooked one.
When you weigh food, check whether you are weighing it raw or cooked and pick the matching record.
Updated . General information, not medical advice. See the editorial policy.