357
Me_irl (thelemmy.club)
submitted 3 weeks ago by to c/me_irl@lemmy.world
62 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 11 points 3 weeks ago (1 child)

Huh, do tell. I thought the whole point of nutritional labels is that they estimate the kcal intake from heuristically determined values for the contained fats, carbs, and proteins, i.e., we get 4kcal per gram of carbs and proteins and 9kcal per gram of fat.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    Iirc they estimate the kcal by blasting it with fire and seeing how much comes out. Or something similar. They don’t really get into how well the human body digests and uses it.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 3 weeks ago

    No, that is incorrect.

    Nutrition labels take the into account how well macros are absorbed and even the calories burned to digest them (protein and carbs technically contain the same amount of calories, but protein is counted as less on the nutritional label because digesting protein burns calories).

    If we still measured calories by burning food, then the calories on food with lots of fiber would be wildly inaccurate

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent