A free public health service from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) helps Americans improve their diets for better health. The USDA Nutrient Database is updated and refined along with the latest nutrition findings, and lists much more than the number of calories in foods. Information on the nutritional breakdown of foods in the American diet is searchable according to your interest.
Number of Calories
Dieters will find the number of calories per serving of a food on either the Nutrient List or the Individual Food Report. If you'd like to see how many calories a variety of foods has, select Energy (which is the scientific term for calories) from the Nutrient List. This lets you compare, for instance, one apple (number of calories: 72) with one cup yogurt (138). If you'd prefer to see how many calories one food, such as a fried chicken breast (436) has, select its food report under Poultry.
Percentage of Fat
If you are looking to control your weight, both the total fat and the percentage of calories in your diet that come from fat are important to know. The USDA Nutrient Database lets you select "Fat" from the nutrient list. If you sort foods by content, you'll get a list from highest content to lowest, to apply to your diet. One cup of semisweet chocolate chips tops the list (50 g of fat); a medium order of french fries is in the middle (23 g) and water has none (0 g).
Carbohydrate Content
Diabetics and those on low-carb diets rely on a daily carbohydrate count to stay healthy. You can select "Carbohydrates" from the USDA nutrition data list and get an alphabetical breakdown of foods. By adding up the carbs in your breakfast, you can determine how many are OK in your lunch and dinner. For example, one cup of Wheaties cereal (24 g carbohydrates) plus one banana (27 g) and ½ cup nonfat milk (12 g) equal 64 grams, leaving 236 of the USDA recommended daily limit (300 g) for healthy individuals. Your diet may require different amounts.
Vitamins and Minerals
Select individual vitamins and minerals, such as Vitamin C or calcium, from the nutrient list to get nutrition data on their values in a variety of foods. This lets you compare how much vitamin C is in one cup of carrots (6 mg) or a 3 oz. pork chop (1 mg)---or how much calcium is in one potato (30 mg) vs. one serving of tofu (163 mg).
Individual Food Composition
If you want to learn about all the vitamins and minerals in a particular food, choose its nutrition data from the category list of Individual Food Reports. This provides a table for easy analysis of a food's nutritional content, including calories, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients.
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