Calculating the energy values of foods: towards new empirical formulae based on diets with varied intakes of unavailable complex carbohydrates.

Abstract

A statistical analysis has been made by generalised linear regression of the relationship between the availability of digestible energy (DE) and the intakes of dietary gross energy (E) and of dietary 'fibre' or unavailable complex carbohydrate (U), for published observations on 43 human diets with varied intakes and sources of U (2-93 g daily) and varied intakes of E (7598-15104 kJ or 1816-3610 kcal daily). Simple formulae were devised also for the availability of metabolizable energy (ME) assuming urinary energy losses of 30 kJ or 7 kcal/g nitrogen (N) intake. For the calculation of DE and ME in mixed human diets with accuracy greater than obtained with previously published methods, the following linear formulae are proposed and their limitations discussed: DE (kJ) = 0.96E(kJ)-9U(g) ME (kJ) = 0.96E(kJ)-9U(g)-30N(g) DE (kcal) = 0.96E(kcal)-2U(g) ME (kcal) = 0.96E(kcal)-2U(g)-7N(g) The equations devised are used to identify atypical observations on faecal energy excretion, and their possible causes are considered. In particular diets high in whole-grain cereal cause faecal energy losses greater than predicted by these equations which is possibly explained by more carbohydrate reaching the colon than expected from current compositional analytical methods.