Science and Technical Information for Health Professionals

All data used to create the NutriCode bars and the HealthKeeper is based on the Agriculture Handbook No. 8, USDA, Agricultural Research Service, 1996. USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 11 and other nutritional research provided by the USDA.

All exercise calorie expenditure totals are approximations, as exercise intensity and method vary from individual to individual.

Calorie totals in the NutriCode and the Health Register are based on the Atwater Factors. The final calorie total derived from the Atwater Factors was then rounded up or down according to the Federal Drug Administrations' (FDA) standards for calorie rounding used on the Nutrition Facts labels. The Atwater Factors used in the calculation of calories in the NutriCodes are provided in the food description file of the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 11. The basis and derivation of these factors are described in Merrill, A.L. and Watt, B.K. 1973. Energy Value of Foods. Basis and Derivation. Agriculture Handbook No. 74. U.S. Government Printing Office. Washington, DC. 105p.

The NutriCode bar calculations in the HealthKeeper’s Health Register are based on the nutrient value amounts given in the Agriculture Handbook 8 and the General Factors (fat equals 9 calories per gram, carbohydrate and protein equals 4 calories per gram and alcohol equals 7 calories per gram) used in calculating gram amounts on Nutrition Facts labels to determine percentages of nutrients.

Because these 2 different Factors (Atwater Factors for calories and General Factors for bars) were used in creating the NutriCode, the NutriCode bar totals may vary slightly from the NutriCode calorie totals when compared to each other.

NutriCode bar size creation rounding is as follows: 1 full bar is equal to or greater than 87.6% up to and including 112.5% of the standardized bar amounts given in the HealthKeeper manual for each bar type, ¾ bar is equal to or greater than 62.6% up to and including 87.5%, ½ bar is equal to or greater than 37.6% up to and including 62.5%, ¼ bar is equal to or greater than 12.5% up to and including 37.5%. Anything less than 12.5% of a nutrient or less than the FDA's standards for what is considered "dietarily insignificant" for disclosure on the Nutrition Facts labels have no partial bar amounts shown and was considered dietarily insignificant.

In those instances when a food has no bars for a certain nutrient, it means one of several things. The food either has none of that nutrient according to current research, or the amount of that nutrient contained in the food is so small it was considered dietarily or physiologically insignificant.

Warning: the one exception to t his rule is sugar. Reliable research on accurate sugar content in foods is just starting to catch up with the vast body of reliable research available on other nutrients. The largest and most current source of sugar content in foods is provided in the Advanced HealthKeeper, but there are still many foods that have yet to be analyzed. When a food in the HealthKeeper Health Register does not reflect sugar bars, it may be due to a lack of reliable data and research, not necessarily a lack of sugar.

The bar standard amounts for the 4 main calorie bearing bars are 1 bar of fat = 2 grams (x 9 calories=18 calories), 1 bar of carbohydrate or protein=4 grams (x 4 calories=16 calories), 1 bar of alcohol=2 grams (x 7 calories=14 calories.). Although the calories of the 4 main calorie bearing bars aren't exactly the same (18 calories for 1 bar of fat, 14 calories for alcohol and 16 calories for 1 bar of carbohydrate or protein), the calorie amounts are close enough for the user of the NutriCode to easily determine the relative percentages of the food's composition between these 4 important food composition bars.

Our objective for the HealthKeeper was to create practical and scientific consistency and compatibility not only with Nutritional Facts labels, but with most generally accepted and reliable diet, nutrition and health standards as well.

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