Do we count fiber as carbs on MFP food diary?

RobP1192
RobP1192 Posts: 310 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
The MFP Food Diary records your macro's when you input what you eat, and it will list the fiber along with the carbohydrates. Does fiber get subtracted from the carbs? Should MFP do it automatically?

Looking for clarity, thanks!

Replies

  • suelegal
    suelegal Posts: 1,281 Member
    Of course. Fiber is found in grains and vegetables, both of which are carbs. No, MFP doesn't subtract automatically and it's up to you whether you deduct or not. Low carbers generally do because fiber doesn't impact your insulin load in the same way as the rest of the carb group does.
  • Joehenny
    Joehenny Posts: 1,222 Member
    The MFP Food Diary records your macro's when you input what you eat, and it will list the fiber along with the carbohydrates. Does fiber get subtracted from the carbs? Should MFP do it automatically?

    Looking for clarity, thanks!

    It counts it separately. I track my fiber in my diary and noticed it. It kind of goes right along with the regular carbs.
  • suelegal
    suelegal Posts: 1,281 Member
    Joe, it's still a carb. You can follow it, but the fiber gms are also part of you carb total for each day.
  • RobP1192
    RobP1192 Posts: 310 Member
    So with all that in mind, let's say i eat something with 20g carbs, but 7g of fiber. If i'm tracking my macro's, am i counting it as 20g or 13g (20g - 7g) of my daily carb intake?
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    So with all that in mind, let's say i eat something with 20g carbs, but 7g of fiber. If i'm tracking my macro's, am i counting it as 20g or 13g (20g - 7g) of my daily carb intake?
    I just subtract it in my head when looking at my total for the day. There's a script you can run on MFP to make it do it for you.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    So with all that in mind, let's say i eat something with 20g carbs, but 7g of fiber. If i'm tracking my macro's, am i counting it as 20g or 13g (20g - 7g) of my daily carb intake?

    You're over thinking this. They just list the fiber in addition to the carbs, just like if you tracked sugar. They don't remove fiber (or sugar) from the macro total, they are just breaking it down for you.

    Simplest explaination:

    The macro number is the total number of carbs from the food you ate.
  • Shari325
    Shari325 Posts: 196 Member
    There's a script you can run on MFP to make it do it for you.

    I'd like more information on this.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    http://cavemanketo.com/configuring-mfp/

    http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/124645

    in some places (like the UK) carbohydrates on labels does not include fibre which is analysed and listed separately. I guess it all depends how the numbers have been entered into MFP.
  • Shari325
    Shari325 Posts: 196 Member
    Way cool!
    Thanks for the link, Yarwell.
  • suelegal
    suelegal Posts: 1,281 Member
    So with all that in mind, let's say i eat something with 20g carbs, but 7g of fiber. If i'm tracking my macro's, am i counting it as 20g or 13g (20g - 7g) of my daily carb intake?

    You can subtract the fiber carbsfrom your total daily, since they don't affect your insulin load, which is what I do.
  • Joyfulpiano
    Joyfulpiano Posts: 3 Member
    I realize this post is 10 years old ;)

    I tried the links posted by yarwell to try and have MFP deduct the fibre to show me net carbs.

    Are there any current links/updates that will work for this? Thanks!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,934 Member
    Subtracting the fiber to show net carbs is a premium feature, not available in free MFP.

    Note that the MFP is crowd sourced - foods are entered by regular MFP users like you and me; and that the user population is international. In some countries, food labels show net carbs, but in other countries, labels show total carbs including fiber. Users enter foods from the labels they're looking at, typically, so you can't assume that the carb number in the database is not carbs vs. includes fiber.

    If you really care about carbs, you'll want to verify any food database entry when you first use it. (After first use, any you use regularly will stay in your recent/frequent foods list and come up first when you start to log them.)

    Since I'm not diabetic or insulin resistant - wasn't even when obese - and my appetite isn't triggered by eating carbs, I pretty much ignore my carb intake, just go for reasonable calories, plus enough protein/fats and plenty of varied, colorful veggies and fruits.

    That can work fine for weight loss and general nutrition in someone who isn't some way carb sensitive . . . but if you need to monitor and manage carbs closely, you'll want to vet your database selections, and maybe spring for the cost of premium if you want it to do the net-carb math for you.

    Best wishes!

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