What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

Some foods have significantly more Calories than others but what does the difference actually look like. Each of the photographs below represents 200 Calories of the particular type of food; the images are sorted from low to high calorie density. When you consider that an entire plate of broccoli contains the same number of Calories as a small spoonful of peanut butter, you might think twice the next time you decide what to eat. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average adult needs to consume about 2000 - 2500 Calories to maintain their weight. In other words, you have a fixed amount of Calories to "spend" each day; based on the following pictures, which would you eat?

Pictures of 200 Calories of Various Foods

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Celery
1425 grams = 200 Calories

Mini Peppers
740 grams = 200 Calories

Broccoli
588 grams = 200 Calories

Baby Carrots
570 grams = 200 Calories

Honeydew Melon
553 grams = 200 Calories

Coca Cola
496 ml = 200 Calories

Red Onions
475 grams = 200 Calories

Apples
385 grams = 200 Calories

Canned Green Peas
357 grams = 200 Calories

Whole Milk
333 ml = 200 Calories

Kiwi Fruit
328 grams = 200 Calories

Canned Sweet Corn
308 grams = 200 Calories

Grapes
290 grams = 200 Calories

Ketchup
226 grams = 200 Calories

Sliced Smoked Turkey
204 grams = 200 Calories

Balsamic Vinegar
200 ml = 200 Calories

Lowfat Strawberry Yogurt
196 grams = 200 Calories

Canned Chili con Carne
189 grams = 200 Calories

Canned Black Beans
186 grams = 200 Calories

Canned Pork and Beans
186 grams = 200 Calories

Eggs
150 grams = 200 Calories

Cooked Pasta
145 grams = 200 Calories

Avocado
125 grams = 200 Calories

Canned Tuna Packed in Oil
102 grams = 200 Calories

Fiber One Cereal
100 grams = 200 Calories

Flax Bread
90 grams = 200 Calories

Dried Apricots
83 grams = 200 Calories

Jack in the Box Cheeseburger
75 grams = 200 Calories

Jack in the Box French Fries
73 grams = 200 Calories

Jack in the Box Chicken Sandwich
72 grams = 200 Calories

French Sandwich Roll
72 grams = 200 Calories

Blueberry Muffin
72 grams = 200 Calories

Sesame Seed Bagel
70 grams = 200 Calories

Tootsie Pops
68 grams = 200 Calories

Hot Dogs
66 grams = 200 Calories

Wheat Dinner Rolls
66 grams = 200 Calories

Corn Bran Cereal
60 grams = 200 Calories

Bailey's Irish Cream
60 ml = 200 Calories

Smarties Candy
57 grams = 200 Calories

Uncooked Pasta
56 grams = 200 Calories

Blackberry Pie
56 grams = 200 Calories

Cranberry Vanilla Crunch Cereal
55 grams = 200 Calories

Cornmeal
55 grams = 200 Calories

Wheat Flour
55 grams = 200 Calories

Peanut Butter Power Bar
54 grams = 200 Calories

Puffed Rice Cereal
54 grams = 200 Calories

Jelly Belly Jelly Beans
54 grams = 200 Calories

Puffed Wheat Cereal
53 grams = 200 Calories

Brown Sugar
53 grams = 200 Calories

Glazed Doughnut
52 grams = 200 Calories

Salted Pretzels
52 grams = 200 Calories

Medium Cheddar Cheese
51 grams = 200 Calories

Fruit Loops Cereal
51 grams = 200 Calories

Gummy Bears
51 grams = 200 Calories

Splenda Artifical Sweetener
50 grams = 200 Calories

Salted Saltines Crackers
50 grams = 200 Calories

Werther's Originals Candy
50 grams = 200 Calories

Snickers Chocolate Bar
41 grams = 200 Calories

Doritos
41 grams = 200 Calories

Marshmallow Treat
40 grams = 200 Calories

M&M Candy
40 grams = 200 Calories

Peanut Butter Crackers
39 grams = 200 Calories

Cheetos
38 grams = 200 Calories

Potato Chips
37 grams = 200 Calories

Hershey Kisses
36 grams = 200 Calories

Sliced and Toasted Almonds
35 grams = 200 Calories

Fried Bacon
34 grams = 200 Calories

Peanut Butter
34 grams = 200 Calories

Salted Mixed Nuts
33 grams = 200 Calories

Butter
28 grams = 200 Calories

Canola Oil
23 grams = 200 Calories

Answers to some questions and other notes:

Why 200 Calories? We could have chosen any amount of Calories for this project, but we wanted something that gave tangible volumes for the entire range of items. We felt that 100 Calories of butter or oil would have yielded diminutive portion sizes; on the other hand 500 Calories of celery would have been virtually incomprehensible.

How did you choose which foods to include in the project? Many of the items we chose just happend to be in the wiseGEEK pantry; we chose the others because we wanted to display foods in a wide variety of categories. We stayed away from prepared foods such as funnel cake and spanakopita because their Caloric content is closely tied to the particular recipe used; we also avoided some more obscure foods such as mangosteen and jackfruit.

The sorting can be misleading because items with liquid tend to appear less Calorie dense; thats why you will find coke amongst the vegetables and cooked pasta significantly higher than uncooked pasta.

All pictures were taken with the same camera (Nikon D70 digital camera) and with the same setup; in other words, the portion sizes displayed are all relative to each other.

The plate is 10.25" (26cm) in diameter and the bowl is 6.25" (16cm)

This article deals with Calories only. Don't forget that there are other considerations when choosing which foods to eat, such as nutritive value and diversity of your food choices.

The capital "C" in "Calories" throughout this article denotes dietary as opposed to physics calories.