Calculating Food Mass for Carb Counting: Tips for Diabetics on the Go

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In summary, the conversation discusses the difficulty of finding the mass and carb count of foods when eating out, as not all restaurants provide nutritional information. The suggestion is made to use a scale, but since this is not practical, alternative methods such as finding the density or using Archimedes' principle are discussed. Ultimately, it is suggested to follow guidelines for estimating the carb count when dining out.
  • #1
Nerdydude101
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So i am a diabetic and i often need to find the amount of carbs in something, but because foods come in inconsistent sizes carb counts are usually configured my mass, however when i am out i don't readily have a scale on my person, so i am trying to find a way to find the mass of a food without using such a tool. At first i thought of working backwards from the density formula to find mass but i would need a density and not all kinds of the same food have the same density, so is there either a way to find the density of something without using p=m/v or is there some other way i could go about finding the mass? Anything is appreciated!
 
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  • #2
I can't really think of any practical methods...

By submerging your food in water and applying archimedes' principle, you can find it's mass, but you'd need a method for determining it's apparent mass under water.

As I said, not very practical...
 
  • #3
It's not clear which foods you are concerned about. Are you talking about eating a meal in a restaurant?

Most prepackaged foods in the US are supposed to be labeled with sufficient information to inform the consumer about the total net weight, the number of servings in the package, the amount of sugars or carbs per serving, etc.

In restaurants, this dietary information is supposed to be provided to the customer, either using a chart which is displayed or upon request.

http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/consumers/eating-health/healthy-restaurant-eating

If you want to find the mass of your food, use a scale and weigh it directly. The value of the density of the food is typically not known a priori and must be calculated, using the mass of the food and the volume it occupies.
 
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  • #4
Not all restraunts are required to provide nutritional information, if they are not major chains or are small business (such as family run small town restraunts and such) so there is no give information, and that's what I'm talking about, the places where you do not know the information, and as I stated in the question I do not carry around a scale with me so I can't simply use the scale to measure the mass, I am looking for another way to find the amount mass of something or the density or if possible to directly find the carbs (which I know is harder) and without destroying the food
 
  • #5

1. What is the difference between density and mass?

Density is a measure of how much mass is packed into a given volume, while mass is a measure of the amount of matter in an object. In other words, density describes how tightly packed the particles are in an object, while mass is the actual quantity of those particles.

2. How do I calculate density?

Density is calculated by dividing the mass of an object by its volume. The formula is: density = mass / volume. It is typically measured in units of grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm3) or kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m3).

3. Can density be negative?

No, density cannot be negative. It is a physical property of matter and can only have positive values. However, the density of a substance can be less than 1 if it is less dense than water, which has a density of 1 g/cm3.

4. How do I measure the density of irregularly shaped objects?

To measure the density of an irregularly shaped object, you can use the water displacement method. Fill a graduated cylinder with water and record the volume. Then, carefully lower the object into the water and record the new volume. The difference between the two volumes is the volume of the object. Then, use the formula density = mass / volume to calculate the density.

5. Why is density an important measurement in science?

Density is an important measurement in science because it can provide valuable information about the physical properties and composition of matter. It can also be used to identify substances and determine their purity. Additionally, density is a key factor in understanding the behavior of materials in various environments, such as in chemical reactions and physical processes.

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