Does anyone have any information on the dietary effect of lactic acid as a food.
Specifically, does it have calories, how many per gram?
The reason I'd like to know is that I count calories religiously and make a fermented milk product called kefir. It's similar to yoghurt but far more fermented to the point of extreme acidity. I've seen numbers like 98% conversion of lactose to lactic acid.
How would you compute the calories if all the carbs (at 4 calories per gram) are converted completely to lactic acid.
I've even written to the USDA, but I get no answer from them.
I've been using the figure zero calories and thus 8 ounces of kefir made from 2% milk at 130 calories would be reduced to 82 calories by subtracting 48 calories (12 grams sugar x 4 calories/gram)...
Does this sound reasonable?
(My worry is that lactic acid is a component in the Krebs cycle and maybe convertible to energy???)
All opinions gratefully accepted!
