Bell Peppers Confusing Me

[reneel]

If you go to Nutrition facts, calories in food, labels, nutritional information and analysis – NutritionData.com and enter pepper, sweet, green, raw as your search, then do the same with red and yellow, I am confused! I get, for half of a medium, net carbs of 2 for green, 2.5 for red and 5 for yellow! I thought red was riper than yellow, so shouldn't it have more carbs, not fewer?

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by reneel

If you go to Nutrition facts, calories in food, labels, nutritional information and analysis – NutritionData.com and enter pepper, sweet, green, raw as your search, then do the same with red and yellow, I am confused! I get, for half of a medium, net carbs of 2 for green, 2.5 for red and 5 for yellow! I thought red was riper than yellow, so shouldn't it have more carbs, not fewer?

I don't know if "riper" is the word for it, they just come in different colors. But anyway, it could be my English...

The carbs. You're comparing different quantities. In 100 g of yellow pepper, you have 5.4 net carbs and 27 calories. In 100 g of red pepper you have 4.2 net carbs and 31 calories.

[reneel]

Originally Posted by Georgiana

I don't know if "riper" is the word for it, they just come in different colors. But anyway, it could be my English...

The carbs. You're comparing different quantities. In 100 g of yellow pepper, you have 5.4 net carbs and 27 calories. In 100 g of red pepper you have 4.2 net carbs and 31 calories.

I'm pretty sure it is ripeness....but now I see the problem. You're right. Different quantities. In the drop-down for green and red, it lets you choose medium or large and for orange, it only lets you select large! So, I automatically chose it without realizing I was comparing two different size peppers.. Thanks!

[mitzimarie]

A little something about Bell Peppers...

From The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth by Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.

"They come in a wide variety of shapes and colors, with yellow, red, orange, and green being the most common, though I've seen some really nice-looking purple ones around as well. If you look carefully, you may even be able to spot a rarer black variety.

Both chile peppers and sweet peppers belong to the capsicum family, which is Latin for "box". The major difference between the two is that chiles contain fiery capsaicin and are used mainly as a spice. The sweet ones lack capsaicin and are mainly used as vegetables. The riper the pepper, the greater its nutrition and the better its flavor. In general, the thinner the skin the more "peppery" the taste; the thick-skinned ones are sweeter. Many peppers start life as a green vegetable and when they fully mature, change colors. Red is the sweetest of the bells and is actually a fully ripened green pepper with a milder flavor."

About nutrition facts - I eat a lot of green, yellow, and red peppers, and I was never able to find a place that listed the counts for all 3 colors. I was an avid Fitday user, and they didn't have all 3 either. They did have yellow, so I found the counts for red and green from another source, and added them as custom foods. As a matter of fact, I have most of my foods entered as custom foods on Fitday... even a lot of veggies. We have a source on this board, that is fantastic for nutrition facts. It also indicates how many grams/ounces of each food makes a cup, as well as which Rung the food belongs to. Here is the link: http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...readsheet.html (Nutritional Spreadsheet) Once you get in there, click on "NUTRITIONAL SPREADSHEET". I have printed this list, and use it all of the time.

I am happy to hear this veggie talk. I'll be heading up the Semi Annual Veggie Challenge sometime in May - I hope to see you there!

[Georgiana]

Thanks for the info on peppers, Mitzi.