When it comes to calories from carbohydrates, to make things easier, we need to break down carbohydrates into 3 different types, regular carbohydrates, fiber,
and sugar alcohols. Each of these provide different caloric amounts. Here is an example nutrition facts label. For a 1 serving size, we see for total carbohydrates,
it lists 17 grams. This 17 grams of total carbohydrates includes regular carbohydrates, fiber and sugar alcohols. To find the number of regular carbohydrates,
we need to deduct the 6 grams of fiber, and the 6 grams of sugar alcohols that the label lists. Regular carbohydrates provide 4 calories per gram.
So, the formula to calculate the number of calories from regular carbohydrates is, calories from regular carbohydrates equals, the quantity, total grams of carbohydrates
minus the grams of fiber, minus the grams of sugar alcohols, times 4. From our example nutrition label we have, 17 grams, minus 6 grams, minus 6 grams,
which equals 5 grams, so 5 grams of regular carbohydrates. 5 grams of regular carbohydrates times 4 calories per gram equals 20 calories.
So, we have 20 calories from regular carbohydrates. Now for fiber. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that is not digestible in the way other carbohydrates are digested.
And, there are 2 types of fiber, soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber does not provide any calories, however, soluble fiber is broken down by bacteria
in the large intestine and does provide some calories. Soluble fiber provides about 2 calories per gram. In most cases on nutrition labels, the total amount of fiber is listed,
not the amount of soluble and insoluble fiber. So, it is usually a good idea to just assign 2 calories per gram of fiber, to be safe. On our example label it lists the fiber at
6 grams, so, we just multiply that 6 grams times 2 calories per gram, which equals 12 calories from fiber. Now for sugar alcohols. Sugar alcohols are a type of carbohydrate
that contain 0 to 3 calories per gram, depending on the type of sugar alcohol. To make it easier to calculate, just estimate 2 calories per gram for sugar alcohols.
On our example label it lists the sugar alcohols at 6 grams, so, we just multiply that 6 grams times 2 calories per gram, which equals 12 calories from sugar alcohols.
And one note, sugar alcohols are not required to be listed on food labels unless a statement is made on the package labeling about the health effects of sugar alcohols
or sugar. If there is no listing for sugar alcohols then just ignore calculating them. Now we can add up the total calories from all of the carbohydrates.
We have 20 calories from regular carbohydrates, plus 12 calories from fiber, plus 12 calories from sugar alcohols, which gives us a total of 44 total calories
from carbohydrates. The complete formula for total calories from carbohydrates is, total calories from carbs equals the quantity, total grams of carbohydrates
minus the grams of fiber, minus the grams of sugar alcohols times 4, plus the grams of fiber times 2 plus the grams of sugar alcohols times 2.
And one other note. The data listed on the nutrition label is always for a serving size. If our example label was for say for chocolate candies and the serving size
was 2 pieces at 25 grams, and we ate 3 pieces, we would have to adjust for that. To do that we would divide the number of pieces we ate by the serving size, which is 1.5,
then multiply that number of 1.5 by the calories we calculated for 1 serving size, which I have done on the screen. And here are the calculations for total calories from
carbohydrates for consuming 1 piece and 4 pieces. The main point is to always look at the serving size, and make the appropriate calculations for the calories.
Alright my friends, hopefully you got something out of this video, I do have more videos right there for you, till next time, I am outta here.