So Which Is It? Total Carbs or Net Carbs?
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baconslave
Posts: 6,952 Member
Total or Net?
The whole issue of "net" vs "total" carbs is one upon which there is a VERY wide difference of opinion.
The practice of counting “net” carbs works this way. Simply, you take the total carbohydrate count of a food and subtract the dietary fiber and/or the sugar alcohols. The rationale behind this is threefold. First, dietary fiber is widely believed to be indigestible. Dietary fiber is composed of cellulose, and humans, unlike some other creatures, cannot process them. And if this is so, then since it is not digestible, then it doesn't affect blood glucose levels, so it doesn't count. Secondly, sugar alcohols are believed to not be around long enough to affect blood sugar either, so they do not count. Thirdly, some use the motivation of subtracting the fiber to encourage themselves to eat more fiber rich foods. To them, a better choice in carbs means they can eat more carbs.
Plans like Atkins, some ketogenic diets, and others allow for the subtraction of these two elements. However, like with anything, human beings are different. This is where the difference of opinion hinges. Different foods have been shown to have different results in individuals, sometimes in how it affects blood glucose. There have been instances when a high fiber food does indeed cause a blood sugar spike and sugar alcohols linger long enough to do so as well. Some people have also recognized stalls in their weight loss as a result of consuming sugar alcohols in their diets.
As a result of this, many low-carb eaters prefer to count “total” carbs instead. The rationale being: “carbohydrates are carbohydrates.” Also, many view foods made with sugar alcohols as unacceptable in their diet, because they are only found in highly processed foods. Many of this camp prefer to keep “real foods” (aka unprocessed foods) in their diets.
So Who Is Right?
As with so many other topics you encounter in the low-carb communities, it depends on who you ask, and it depends on how your body responds. Do the research on your foods and their ingredients, and choose which method seems right for you. Keep tabs on the affects of your approach on your body, and then make the decision whether or not to stay with your chosen carb-counting method, or decide to change to another.
How Do I Calculate Net Carbs
Quite simply take your total carb count and subtract the dietary fiber and the sugar alcohols (if you decide to incorporate these in your diet.)
How To Count Net Carbs With MFP
There are a few ways to do this.
Warning: Watch the Food Entries
Regardless of which method you choose, you should double-check the available food entries. They are user entered, so there may be mistakes. Some could just be human error. Other entries are entered by people who don't care about carbs, so they won't enter them at all or will not bother to see if they are accurate. Other entries will say “Net Carbs” with the dietary fiber already subtracted. Still others will be net carb entries, but not designated as such. When adding a new food, you should always quickly jump over to another site and confirm the food data. Once confirmed, at least that food will not be a worry.
When using a Net Carb entry, be wary that it will interfere with your Net Carb script. Those entries will misreport your carb numbers. Also, foods containing sugar alcohols will not be accurately handled by your script. As yet, MFP doesn't deal with them at all. You will need to keep track of them yourself, and I recommend tallying them in your Food Notes, where you can note your actual Net Carb count.
The whole issue of "net" vs "total" carbs is one upon which there is a VERY wide difference of opinion.
The practice of counting “net” carbs works this way. Simply, you take the total carbohydrate count of a food and subtract the dietary fiber and/or the sugar alcohols. The rationale behind this is threefold. First, dietary fiber is widely believed to be indigestible. Dietary fiber is composed of cellulose, and humans, unlike some other creatures, cannot process them. And if this is so, then since it is not digestible, then it doesn't affect blood glucose levels, so it doesn't count. Secondly, sugar alcohols are believed to not be around long enough to affect blood sugar either, so they do not count. Thirdly, some use the motivation of subtracting the fiber to encourage themselves to eat more fiber rich foods. To them, a better choice in carbs means they can eat more carbs.
Plans like Atkins, some ketogenic diets, and others allow for the subtraction of these two elements. However, like with anything, human beings are different. This is where the difference of opinion hinges. Different foods have been shown to have different results in individuals, sometimes in how it affects blood glucose. There have been instances when a high fiber food does indeed cause a blood sugar spike and sugar alcohols linger long enough to do so as well. Some people have also recognized stalls in their weight loss as a result of consuming sugar alcohols in their diets.
As a result of this, many low-carb eaters prefer to count “total” carbs instead. The rationale being: “carbohydrates are carbohydrates.” Also, many view foods made with sugar alcohols as unacceptable in their diet, because they are only found in highly processed foods. Many of this camp prefer to keep “real foods” (aka unprocessed foods) in their diets.
So Who Is Right?
As with so many other topics you encounter in the low-carb communities, it depends on who you ask, and it depends on how your body responds. Do the research on your foods and their ingredients, and choose which method seems right for you. Keep tabs on the affects of your approach on your body, and then make the decision whether or not to stay with your chosen carb-counting method, or decide to change to another.
How Do I Calculate Net Carbs
Quite simply take your total carb count and subtract the dietary fiber and the sugar alcohols (if you decide to incorporate these in your diet.)
How To Count Net Carbs With MFP
There are a few ways to do this.
- Configure your macro columns to position Carbs and Fiber beside one another and subtract them. Unfortunately, there is no "sugar alcohol" column, so you will have to find out this number and subtract it on your own. I personally recommend using your Food Notes to keep track of these as well as for recording your Net Carb total should you choose this method.
- Or you can use a script. There are couple different scripts we can recommend, but there is no guarantee they will work properly on your browser, or continue to work after browsers are updated. There may be a bit of trial and error involved.
The following scripts have been recommended by some of the LCD members:- https://github.com/Surye/mfp-keto-userscript (this is the one with the graph and net carbs calculation)
- http://karoshiethos.com/2013/08/13/javascript-bookmarklet-for-enhanced-macro-goals-in-myfitnesspal/ (this is the one that improves the macro goals in settings)*
Warning: Watch the Food Entries
Regardless of which method you choose, you should double-check the available food entries. They are user entered, so there may be mistakes. Some could just be human error. Other entries are entered by people who don't care about carbs, so they won't enter them at all or will not bother to see if they are accurate. Other entries will say “Net Carbs” with the dietary fiber already subtracted. Still others will be net carb entries, but not designated as such. When adding a new food, you should always quickly jump over to another site and confirm the food data. Once confirmed, at least that food will not be a worry.
When using a Net Carb entry, be wary that it will interfere with your Net Carb script. Those entries will misreport your carb numbers. Also, foods containing sugar alcohols will not be accurately handled by your script. As yet, MFP doesn't deal with them at all. You will need to keep track of them yourself, and I recommend tallying them in your Food Notes, where you can note your actual Net Carb count.
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