Net carbs question

kikimuse

In order to calculate your daily net carbs-- it's not as simple as carbs - fiber. For example you can't eat a bagel for breakfast and eat chia pudding for dinner and then subtract the chia fiber from your bagel. Net carbs is per food item, not per the whole day. Right? Gosh, I wish mfp would add a net carbs feature!!

kz_dc

I set my default diary view to show fiber as one of the inputs. That makes it easier to see the net carbs in each item. You're right that it is per item, not total per day. I find it's not too difficult for me to just keep track in my head when I can look at the fiber next to the carbs for each item. I've never heard of chia pudding. Will check it out. Am always looking to get more fiber in. I'm always way low on fiber on my low-carb diet. I know I should eat more broccoli and such but I end up just taking a couple of bites and pushing the rest around.

Yi5hedr3

It's per item.

kikimuse

I thought so. Makes it hard to look at you daily net carbs. You're tempted to just subtract the totals but you can't really do that.

yarwell

Don't see why not, American labels have "Total carbohydrate" which includes indigestible "Fiber" so if you subtract the days Fiber from the day's Total Carbohydrates then you are left with the digestible carbohydrates.

NB This only applies to American labels certainly not to EU labels or S Africa / Aus as far as I know.

briteyes

I've always just subtracted the day's total fiber from the day's total carbs and been just fine; but now I'm trying to fine tune my carb consumption and found myself wondering the same thing.

Yi5hedr3

Yes. Net carbs is a bit bogus though. Many advise against considering them. Much fiber IS actually digested and converted to sugars.

canary_girl

When I used to pay close attention to net carbs I just subtracted fibers from carbs at the end of the day. But, at the time I was very meticulous and wouldn't have eaten more fiber just to negate a carb heavy item.

Now my stomach hurts if I eat high carb items since I restricted them for so long. So I don't pay attention and eat what I want.

ZeroDelta

If you're diabetic then...

"The term "net carbs" does not have a legal definition, and it's not used by the FDA or the American Diabetes Association. When you see it on a label, you should read the nutrition facts and ingredients list for more information. If you are not on intensive insulin management and do not count carbs, you don't need to do anything. If you are on intensive insulin management, count carbs, and manage your diabetes with carb-to-insulin ratios, you can:

1. Check the product's sugar alcohol content. If it is greater than 5 grams, subtract half the grams of sugar alcohols from the total carbohydrates and count this as the "available carbohydrate" for insulin adjustment purposes. However, if erythritol is the only sugar alcohol listed, subtract all of the grams of sugar alcohol.

2. Check the fiber content. Total fiber in foods comprises many different types of natural fiber and manufactured ingredients. They may vary in whether they are digested and how they affect blood glucose. If insoluble fiber is listed on the nutrition facts panel under "Total Carbohydrate," subtract all of the insoluble fiber from the total carbohydrates and from the total fiber grams. If the fiber quantity is still greater than 5 grams, subtract half the grams of dietary fiber from the total carbohydrates, and use the result as the available carbs for insulin adjustment purposes."

Quoted from "Diabetes Forecast."

SamandaIndia

I figure that what I eat at a meal is a mix of different foods. By the time it hits my stomach my body will not know they were seperate products. Net carbs for me is just total carb minus fibre.