How many calories are in pho?
The short answer here: It depends.
Vietnamese families have enjoyed pho for centuries, according to Nguyen Every family has a unique recipe, and there are variations in the ways that they present it. It wasn’t designed to be a calorie-counting meal or to be on a diet. ”.
That being said, she notes that the number of calories in phos varies based on the size of the bowl you eat, the amount of noodles you add, and the protein you use (such as shrimp versus a fatter cut of beef). Additionally, the amount of calories you consume depends on whether you prepare the pho at home, order it from a restaurant, or eat a prepackaged version.
Here’s what you get in one cup of your average homemade beef pho, according to the USDA Nutrient Database:
- Calories: 215
- Fat: 5.47 g
- Carbs: 25.2 g
- Fiber: 1.22 g
- Protein: 15 g
- Sugar: 1.93 g
- Sodium: 1200 mg
And in one serving of packaged vegetable pho from Snapdragon:
- Calories: 210
- Fat: 1.5 g
- Carbs: 45 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 1240 mg
Of course, a typical restaurant serving of pho will probably include more than one cup, but It’s important to remember that a lot of recipes have added sugar and a lot of sodium.
Determining Beef Pho Nutrition
Any time of year, a large bowl of broth with noodles, veggies, and thinly sliced beef will warm you up and satisfy your hunger. Certain renditions of beef pho employ extremely thinly sliced beef, which requires minimal cooking time in the broth before consumption.
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The primary components of beef pho consist of beef, noodles, broth, and veggies like garlic, onions, and bean sprouts. These three are the most often used ingredients, though there are variations in recipes. You can also use white meat, such as chicken, or tofu for a vegetarian substitute in place of beef.
According to the USDA, the total beef pho calories in one cup are around 215. It also provides15 grams of protein, 25 grams of carbohydrates and 5 grams of fat. The majority of the calories in this dish comes from beef, as well as fat. The noodles account for most of the carbs.
Read more: 12 Slimming Soups
Remember that these calorie counts are based on a single cup of pho as a serving size if you’re counting calories. Since it’s rare for a restaurant to serve just one cup, you might be eating two, three, or even more cups in one bowl. That means your meal could easily have over 600 calories.
Health Concerns and Beef Pho
Red meat, which adds protein and fat to the dish along with other nutrients like B-vitamins, is a key component of the nutrition of beef phos. The relative healthfulness of red meat protein in comparison to other proteins, like those from dairy or poultry, is debatable.
A September 2016 study published in the Journals of Internal Medicine concluded that high consumption of red meat may lead to a higher risk of health problems like type II diabetes, heart disease, certain types of cancer and stroke. Researchers considered the consumption of over 100 grams of unprocessed red meat per day to be high.
According to an article from Harvard Health Publishing, upping your intake of red meat may lead to premature death. Going above 3 ounces of red meat per day is all it takes to increase your risk of early death — most likely from the saturated fat, cholesterol and iron. The Cleveland Clinic recommends limiting saturated fat to improve your blood lipids and keep your heart healthy.
If you already consume too much salt in your diet, you might also want to avoid the beef pho. One cup of beef pho contains 1,200 milligrams of sodium, according to the USDA. Consuming more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium daily is deemed excessive, as per a review published in the New England Journal of Medicine in August 2016. Since most pho soup bowls are two or three cups in size, you’ll easily exceed this amount.
There are health benefits associated with low sodium intakes. As mentioned in the review above, a daily average decrease in sodium of 529 to 1,010 milligrams can cause a one-unit drop in blood pressure. 3 to 4. 2 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).
