Total carb vs bioavailable carbs

A long time ago, when I was beginning to get a handle on carb counting, I
got a formula to determine if the carbs listed on a label were the actual
bioavailable carbs. I believe I got that from someone in this group. What I
remember is you subtract the calories from fat and calories from protein
from the total calories on the label and divde the result by 4. If the
answer was the same as the carbs listed on the label then that was the
total bioavailable carbs. My question is, if indeed I did get the original
information here, what if the result is LESS than the nunber of carbs on
the label? For example, I have some peanuts that state on the label 6 g
carbs. Working the above formula I get an answer of 2.6 after dividing the
calorie difference by 4. Does that mean I should consder the peanuts to
have only 2.6 carbs per serving?

I must point out that on the vast majority of labels the difference between
the carbs listed and the result from the formula is the same.

Thanks,

Mxy

Mxy Ptlyk wrote in
:

A long time ago, when I was beginning to get a handle on carb
counting, I got a formula to determine if the carbs listed on a label
were the actual bioavailable carbs. I believe I got that from someone
in this group. What I remember is you subtract the calories from fat
and calories from protein from the total calories on the label and
divde the result by 4. If the answer was the same as the carbs listed
on the label then that was the total bioavailable carbs. My question
is, if indeed I did get the original information here, what if the
result is LESS than the nunber of carbs on the label? For example, I
have some peanuts that state on the label 6 g carbs. Working the above
formula I get an answer of 2.6 after dividing the calorie difference
by 4. Does that mean I should consder the peanuts to have only 2.6
carbs per serving?

I must point out that on the vast majority of labels the difference
between the carbs listed and the result from the formula is the same.

Thanks,

Mxy

Does anyone have any thoughts/information on this?

Mxy

On 14 Nov 2003 18:33:25 GMT, Mxy Ptlyk wrote:

A long time ago, when I was beginning to get a handle on carb counting, I
got a formula to determine if the carbs listed on a label were the actual
bioavailable carbs. I believe I got that from someone in this group. What I
remember is you subtract the calories from fat and calories from protein
from the total calories on the label and divde the result by 4. If the
answer was the same as the carbs listed on the label then that was the
total bioavailable carbs. My question is, if indeed I did get the original
information here, what if the result is LESS than the nunber of carbs on
the label? For example, I have some peanuts that state on the label 6 g
carbs. Working the above formula I get an answer of 2.6 after dividing the
calorie difference by 4. Does that mean I should consder the peanuts to
have only 2.6 carbs per serving?

I must point out that on the vast majority of labels the difference between
the carbs listed and the result from the formula is the same.

Thanks,

Mxy

It'll happen sometimes, due to rounding errors. I ran into the same issue
yesterday with walnuts:
1/4 cup
calories: 200
fat cal: 180
fat 20 g (20*9 = 180, so the fat cals are correct)
protein 5 g (5*4 = 20, which is all the calories that are left)

This leaves zero for carbs. The label says 4 g carb, 2 g fiber.

I decided in cases like this to take the greater of the calculated value
and the carb-minus-fiber value, or in this case 2 g.

Em