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Subject: Weight of meat before/after cooking

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Becky User is Offline
Posts:142
Zoner
Zoner

05/17/2007 9:22 PM
I'm new to the forum, but not to the Zone. I've lost 30lb before, but gained it back when I got married to a food addict. I got divorced, and I'm trying to get back to the Zone. I've already gotten started and lost 15lb, but need to lose a lot more, about 60lbs. My question is, do you measure meat before or after you cook it? I've found that if I measure 3 oz. of raw chicken, that when I cook it, it then shrinks and becomes 2 oz. So should I cook 4 oz? The same thing happens to fish and beef. I want to eat the right amount of protein, but it just seems that meat is destined to shrink when its cooked, and I'm not sure how to deal with it.

Thanks,
Becky
Queen User is Offline
Posts:128
Zoner
Zoner

05/18/2007 8:48 AM
Since Dr. Sears talks about using the hand to eye method for times when you eat out at restaurants in his Sherlock Zone articles, I am supposing you should measure the food after you cook it... Rarely have I been to a restaurant that serves raw food (Excluding sushi and some seafood places) but yes, I'd go with the cooked measurement...
Sue K User is Online
Posts:8674
Zone Expert
Zone Expert

05/18/2007 9:16 AM
For those who prefer to weigh their protein, it's my understandiing, from the Zone books, that the weights given in the Food Block Guide are for raw meats, poultry, and fish, except in the cases of the items which are obviously pre-cooked, such as deli-style meat.

sue

Lost 100 lbs 14 yrs ago, off BP meds, thanks to the Zone diet and Zone fish oil!


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Sue K User is Online
Posts:8674
Zone Expert
Zone Expert

05/21/2007 2:47 PM
Hi,

According to Barry Sears, protein is supposed to be weighed prior to cooking. Here's a link to his opinion, which I've also pasted in below:

http://www.drsears.com/askdrsearsdetailopen.member?askDrSearsID=844



<<

Q. "Measuring protein"

Dear Dr. Sears,

Conservation of matter aside, some protein loses mass as water and fat are rendered from it upon cooking. Are your protein block masses pre- or post-cooking?

Regards, Jason


A. Dear Jason,

Measure your protein before it's cooked. >>>

sue

Lost 100 lbs 14 yrs ago, off BP meds, thanks to the Zone diet and Zone fish oil!


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Queen User is Offline
Posts:128
Zoner
Zoner

05/21/2007 3:17 PM
Sue, that article is from 2002... Dr. Sears has updated information for this since then. As soon as I find the article (Because I know it's there) I will post it for you but honestly it does make sence what Rochelle says. The meat looses alot of its properties once cooked.
Sue K User is Online
Posts:8674
Zone Expert
Zone Expert

05/21/2007 7:57 PM
Yvette, I'd love to see the article to which you refer. I'm unable to find it. Do you know when this change was made? It certainly slipped past me. Would that mean all the recipes which call for cooking chicken, ground beef, and pork, found in The Anti-Inflammation Zone", Barry's most recently published Zone book of two years ago, are incorrect in regard to protein amounts? Wow. Would that also hold true for fish and seafood?

It's unclear to me how the loss of fat and water as the meat cooks would alter the number of grams of protein contained in the meat. Could you or someone else explain the process by which protein would be lost in cooking? Thanks.


sue

Lost 100 lbs 14 yrs ago, off BP meds, thanks to the Zone diet and Zone fish oil!


To view my before/after pics and meal photos scroll over this picture and click when the link appears.

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Queen User is Offline
Posts:128
Zoner
Zoner

05/22/2007 8:05 AM
I'm looking for it but I can't come across it now...Until then, you're right, let's measure the meat uncooked. I mean there's much more to back up uncooked meat than there is when it's cooked.
Thanx Sue!
Sue K User is Online
Posts:8674
Zone Expert
Zone Expert

05/22/2007 8:26 AM
Thanks Yvette. Since my current P/C ratio has been working well to keep me feeling in the Zone, as well as to give me fasting insulin test results averaging between 6 and 7 for a number of years now, I have no plans to make any immediate changes to it.

sue

Lost 100 lbs 14 yrs ago, off BP meds, thanks to the Zone diet and Zone fish oil!


To view my before/after pics and meal photos scroll over this picture and click when the link appears.

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Cranberrycat User is Offline
Posts:5313
Zone Expert
Zone Expert

05/22/2007 6:25 PM
I, too, will be very interested to hear the verdict on this issue!

I have never heard of meat losing a lot of its properties once cooked. It may "lose weight" but I believe that the amount of protein is retained.


Cranberrycat

We don't own the earth; we borrow it from our children.


Becky User is Offline
Posts:142
Zoner
Zoner

05/22/2007 8:57 PM
Wow, thanks so much for all the replies and research. That does make sense, now that I think about it. The protein wouldn't just *poof* and disappear, but it does shrink somehow, in the cooking process. What is being lost in the cooking process? Water, fat...? Great forum and members.
Cranberrycat User is Offline
Posts:5313
Zone Expert
Zone Expert

05/22/2007 10:00 PM
Yes, water and fat are lost. Just think of when you cook up some ground meat, there is usually fat and water that cooks out of the meat and ends up in the pan.

Glad to have you with us in our forum!

Cranberrycat

We don't own the earth; we borrow it from our children.


Sue K User is Online
Posts:8674
Zone Expert
Zone Expert

05/23/2007 6:44 AM
To add to Jenny's info, the explanation I read for the reason why ground meat, beef for example, is 1.5 oz per block rather than the typical 1 oz to a block when not ground, is the extra 0.5 oz in needed due to the weight of the additional fat it usually contains. In other words, 1 oz of ground meat usually contains more fat and less protein than one oz of the typical lean Zone favorable meat choice.

sue

Lost 100 lbs 14 yrs ago, off BP meds, thanks to the Zone diet and Zone fish oil!


To view my before/after pics and meal photos scroll over this picture and click when the link appears.

Zone Dinner Party (link)
Barbara User is Offline
Posts:32
Aspiring
Aspiring

07/31/2008 10:21 AM
That much is true.
My zone doctor here in Monterrey, Mexico told me that when I eat beef I shouldn't have extra fat since it already has what is needed in block terms. He also told me to measure it raw.

XOXO.
joanna User is Offline
Posts:45
Aspiring
Aspiring

09/05/2009 11:37 AM
I have been researching this topic because I wanted to know, and found out that the shrinkage is due to water and the protein count and calories are not altered. This would apply to poultry, fish, or meats. I located the answer on a bodybuilding forum. I could not find an answer in any links on this website or in any of Dr. Sears books.
Think about it - if we sweat profusely and "appear" to lose a few pounds in the sauna or heat, we (still) actually weigh the same as before the heat. The loss is exclusively shrinkage from excess water.
Link to answer I found:
http://training.fitness.com/nutrition/calories-raw-vs-cooked-meat-35917.html
Ryan User is Offline
Posts:6
Newbie
Newbie

09/09/2009 4:00 PM
Sigh, this is all so frustrating lol. I've been debating this for a good year now and and eventually chose the cooked weight. While I agree that the protein /caloric values are not altered once cooked, if a piece of meat weighs an ounce more when frozen, it would suggest that it's not pure protein. The cooked version would be the purest form of protein, free of the stuff that cooks out. Since I'm always on the go with school/athletics/socializing I've been cooking up a batch of chicken each week and keeping it refridgerated for easy use, needless to say I don't weigh each piece before cooking it, so I suppose if you are in fact supposed to weigh before cooking then I will just measure out a bit less on the scale.
Cranberrycat User is Offline
Posts:5313
Zone Expert
Zone Expert

09/09/2009 4:29 PM
It is a lot more simple than weighing and measuring.

I weigh mine raw, because if I add meat to a soup or stew, it may be pretty difficult to weigh a cooked serving.

I use the nutritional label, most of the time it will suggest how many grams of protein per the given # of ounces. For instance, if it is a pound of ground beef, it may suggest that there are 21 grams of protein in a 4 oz serving. Since there are 4 4-oz servings in that pound, I just eyeball it and divide it up into the correct portions. Then, it won't matter how much it shrinks up after it cooks.

Cranberrycat

We don't own the earth; we borrow it from our children.


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Dr. Barry Sears, PhD.Dr. Barry Sears is a leading authority on the dietary control of hormonal response. A former research scientist at the Boston University School of Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Sears has dedicated his research efforts over the past 30 years to the study of lipids. He holds 13 U.S. Patents in the areas of intravenous drug delivery systems and hormonal regulation for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

A turning point in his research occurred in 1982. That year, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded for discoveries of the role that specialized hormones, known as eicosanoids, play in the development of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, auto-immune diseases, and cancer. Since eicosanoids are only generated from dietary fat, Dr. Sears reasoned that one could apply intravenous drug delivery principles to nutrition in order to control these exceptionally powerful hormonal responses with laser-like precision. In essence, his approach treats food as if it were a drug.

This area of his research led to various patents in the area of hormonal control by essentially using food as an oral drug delivery system to modulate eicosanoids especially for cardiovascular, diabetic, and neurological patients.

The impact of Dr. Sears’ revolutionary work in the dietary control of hormonal response began with the publication of his landmark book, The Zone. Since its publication in June 1995, The Zone has sold more than 2,000,000 hardcover copies, and became a #1 best seller on the New York Times book list. In addition, The Zone has been translated into 22 languages indicating a worldwide response to Dr. Sears’ research. His second book, Mastering the Zone, published in 1997, also became a New York Times bestseller with hardcover sales in excess of 500,000 copies to date. His third book, Zone Perfect Meals in Minutes, published in 1997, quickly became one of the best-selling cookbooks of 1997 and an another New York Times bestseller. The Anti-Aging Zone was published in 1999 and provides the molecular insights into how the Zone Diet can reverse the aging process. The Omega Rx Zone, published in 2002, explores the molecular foundation of chronic disease and how high-dose fish oil can dramatically reverse it. His latest book The Anti-Inflammation Zone discusses how to combat silent inflammation in order to reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and many other inflammatory conditions—and how to reverse these conditions if they are already present. To date more than 5 million hardcover copies of his Zone books have been sold in the United States.

His research has elevated food from more than simply a source of calories to being recognized as an exceptionally powerful drug. Because of his revolutionary research, Dr. Sears has been a frequent guest on many national programs such as 20/20, Today, Good Morning America, CBS Morning News, CNN, and MSNBC.

Dr. Sears continues his ongoing research as President of Zone Labs, a biotechnology company in Danvers, MA as well as the President of the non-profit Inflammation Research Foundation in Marblehead, MA. In addition to continuing research on the hormonal effects of food, Dr. Sears has expanded his research in developing innovative dietary approaches to treating cancer and neurological conditions, as well as his on-going work in treating cardiovascular diease and type 2 diabetes.

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