The "4-4-9" Method of Calculating Calorie Ratios

The "4-4-9" Method of Calculating Calorie Ratios - CyberSoft provides six fields of information that it calculated from existing nutrient data. These calculated fields include % Calories from Protein, % Calories from Carbohydrates, % Calories from Fat, " Calories from Protein, Calories from Carbohydrates, and Calories from Fat. Many diet software packages uses these values to derive the PCF Ratio that is displayed in all recipes, nutrient intakes, and Meal Plans. These important numbers are derived in a variety of ways, depending on the type of nutrient data involved. Because the 4-4-9 method is an official AOAC method of calculating calories, most laboratory analyses still report calories using this simple - but crude - method. This popular method of estimating calories assumes that one gram of protein contains 4 calories, that one gram of carbohydrate contains 4 calories, and that one gram of fat contains 9 calories. In beverages or foods containing alcohol, it is assumed that each gram of alcohol provides 7 calories. By knowing the total calories in the food and the total calories from the calorie sources contained in the food, it is a fairly straight-forward calculation to determine the "Calories from" and the "% Calories from" values. The 4-4-9 method is - in theory - a workable method of calculating "% Calories from" values. However, when applied to published data from commercial food manufacturers, this method often results in percentages that do not equal 100%. (In fact, all to often, the calculated values are very far removed from 100%.) A somewhat more reliable method is the compensated 4-4-9 method, which was pioneered by CyberSoft, Inc. in 1995.

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