Question re carbs and fibre?

ForbiddenFruit

I only started having fibre show on my diary when one of you really helpful people mentioned it on my 'Low car enough?' post yesterday.

When you're looking at your carb figure are you supposed to take the fibre figure away from it to see what your carbs really are?

So far today I'm on:-

Totals 881 20 55 77 6 8
Your Daily Goal 1,328 33 59 166 25 45
Remaining 447 12 4 88 18 37
Calories Carbs Fat Protein Fiber Sugar

Does this actually mean I'm on 14g for carbs (20 minus 6 fibre)?

morrowsarah

If you want to go by net carbs then yes it's 14. Some people go by total carbs and some people go by net carbs. I've seen posts say they lose using both strategies. I try to stick to 30 total carbs which is usually less than 20 net.

sammyliftsandeats

Here is a script to track net carbs using MFP (Web only):

https://github.com/Surye/mfp-keto-userscript

ForbiddenFruit

Thank you both!

So, having added a few more items after running that script, I'm on 24 net carbs on my finished day. That's not bad is it?

sammyliftsandeats

@ForbiddenFruit - not bad at all. In fact, very good. My limit is 25g net carbs per day. Of course, everyone has individual goals and preferences but brava!

Sarahb29

I show the fiber column just to see fiber content, I don't aim to have that much fiber. Then I subtract my total fiber from my total carbs to get my net carbs. On a perfect day I'd get 20 or less, but realistically I have days where I go over. Some people are fine with 50 or less.

Sarahb29

ForbiddenFruit wrote: »

Thank you both!

So, having added a few more items after running that script, I'm on 24 net carbs on my finished day. That's not bad is it?

24 net carbs sounds right!

Sarahb29

samanthaluangphixay wrote: »

Here is a script to track net carbs using MFP (Web only):

https://github.com/Surye/mfp-keto-userscript

I just installed this, I had completely forgotten about it. This is amazing!!

sammyliftsandeats

@Sarahb29 - the only problem is that it doesn't subtract sugar alcohols and if the fibre column is higher than the total carb column - it will give a negative number.

That's why I've taken to making my own entries for things like the OhYeah One protein bars and Quest bars

Sarahb29

samanthaluangphixay wrote: »

@Sarahb29 - the only problem is that it doesn't subtract sugar alcohols and if the fibre column is higher than the total carb column - it will give a negative number.

That's why I've taken to making my own entries for things like the OhYeah One protein bars and Quest bars

@samanthaluangphixay I noticed that, and I don't think MFP even lets you enter in sugar alcohols separate from the carbs/sugar option, I'm not sure on that though. I went a few days back and picked entries that specifically said "minus sugar alcohols", so if those were yours, thanks! Haha.

BUZZIEST

I haven't seen where you can enter sugar alcohols in MFP so I make my own food item with the net carbs, if I can't find one that someone else has already created.

RowdysLady

Sarahb29 wrote: »

samanthaluangphixay wrote: »

Here is a script to track net carbs using MFP (Web only):

https://github.com/Surye/mfp-keto-userscript

I just installed this, I had completely forgotten about it. This is amazing!!

Love it!

Sunny_Bunny_

I wouldn't subtract sugar alcohols anyway. The person that started the whole "net carb" method was Michael Eads in his book Protein Power. He introduced the idea of net carbs as a method to encourage people to eat more leafy vegetables because they could eat more food each day without it adding much to their carb allowance and not just be more meat. He has been quoted saying that he hates the way the Atkins and other food companies have used the net carbs as a way to create "low carb junk foods" by also not counting sugar alcohols and by stuffing them with fiber solely for the purpose of lowering the net carb total.

RalfLott

Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »

He has been quoted saying that he hates the way the Atkins and other food companies have used the net carbs as a way to create "low carb junk foods" by also not counting sugar alcohols and by stuffing them with fiber solely for the purpose of lowering the net carb total.

Hmm. If the complaint is that adding fiber lowers net carbs/lb., I'm not sure I see a problem. Wouldn't it stand to reason that you'd consume fewer total non-fiber calories if your food is weighted down with psyllium husks? (And if you don't want more fiber, you at least have fair warning...)

ailsadell

The way I read the research is that we need fibre in our guts so we can keep foods in long enough to absorb the vitamins and minerals from them, apart from the fact it aids the transition of foods through our body. If we take in enough fibre from vegetables rather then grains we would not need to take extra vitamins in tablet form. Sometimes, I get worried when I see people eating protein and fats only through the course of a day and can't believe this would be healthy in terms of getting all our essential goodnes from food alone...

Sunny_Bunny_

Read The Fiber Menace and you may have a slightly different feeling about it.
It's certainly another one of those things that's very individual and I mostly think it's related to gut microbiota problems, but fiber can actually do more harm than good for some people. I do much better with as absolutely little as possible.
Anyway, that wasn't even the point of what I was saying. It's just how the whole idea of using a net carb count was introduced as a way of creating some wiggle room so that people could eat more green vegetables, but the way the food companies and now consumers too, have been using it to fit artificial sweeteners and fibrous wheat and grain food products in wasn't the creators intention.

KenSmith108

or

Dragonwolf

samanthaluangphixay wrote: »

@Sarahb29 - the only problem is that it doesn't subtract sugar alcohols and if the fibre column is higher than the total carb column - it will give a negative number.

That's why I've taken to making my own entries for things like the OhYeah One protein bars and Quest bars

There's no entry for sugar alcohols in MFP's nutrition data, so there's no data for that script to use to do math. Likewise, if the fiber is higher than the carb amount, then net carbs are being taken into account already. There should be a link to a variation of that script that doesn't calculate net carbs in the Launch Pad, which is good if your entries already account for net carbs.

DietPrada

Just be careful. This is a dangerous trap that can lead to failure and frustration. Have you ever seen an entry in your diary that shows more fiber than total carbs? or the sugar plus fiber on the label does not equal total carbs? This method is only as accurate as the database entry you're using. Do you know for a fact that fiber hasn't already been subtracted? For everything, for your whole day? Very very rarely do the numbers for everything add up. I was in fact kicked from a group because someone on there was trying to tell everyone her cake or muffins or whatever where 0 carb (or in fact -9g carb) because her recipe showed 9g carbs and 18g of fiber. I could not make her understand that this was impossible, that total carbs = fiber + sugar and could NOT be less than either of those things, or in fact both of them together.

Also, on sugar alcohols. A lot of people are sensitive to them. To be safe you should assume that half of the amount is absorbed as sugar. I would not subtract the whole amount and call it 0 carb.

And you don't need fiber. Unless you have some specific digestive issue, it's not a requirement at all. It just makes you poo more. I don't eat vegetables, or fakin bakin (almond flour etc), my diet is predominantly meat, and fat (eggs, avocado, cream cheese, mayo etc) - very little fiber and I have no issues going to the bathroom. Nor do I suffer any vitamin deficiencies.