Atkins bar - confused

Bubba1922

I often have an Atkins bar for convenience for my evening meal when I am working - also I like the taste (Meal Chocolate Peanut butter bar) (60 grs).

On the box it says 3 grms Net Carbs per bar - but when I enter it in my diary from the database it says 23 grms carbs. I entered all the data myself in case there was an error and it says 23 grms (same as the entry already on MFP). What is it? 3 grms or 23? - if 23 grms per bar it is not worth it.

Thank you.

Replies

carlsoda

It's 3 NET grams meaning all the fiber and sugar alcohols have been subtracted from the total carb grams. If you're counting net grams just reenter the data and put the net grams under carbs. I've done that for the Atkins products I used to eat.

kpk54

How to Calculate Net Carbs

In order to calculate Net Carbs of any whole food item, it's a simple calculation based on the Nutrition Facts panel:

Total Carbohydrates - (Minus) Dietary Fiber = (Equals) Net Carbs

For low carb products sweetened with sugar alcohols (ie: glycerin, maltitol, etc), refer to the Nutrition Facts panel of the product:

Total Carbohydrates - (Minus) Dietary Fiber - (Minus) Sugar alcohol = Net carbs

This reflects the fact that Dietary Fiber doesn't impact blood sugar levels. Sugar alcohols also have a negligible impact on blood sugar, they too are subtracted from total carbs to yield the Net Carb count.

I copied the info above ^^ from the Atkins site. Atkins tends to use a lot of sugar alcohols in their sweet products. MFP doesn't have a category for sugar alcohols. I'm guessing if you look at the package for the bar you will see that the total carbs minus the fiber minus the sugar alcohols will equal the net carb indicated on the package.

ravensdiet15

Be careful with those bars, they can stall weight loss.

baconslave

So total carbs are 23g.
Fiber is 9g. So subtracting fiber takes it down to 14g.
11g are sugar alcohols. Some sugar alcohols can be subtracted completely (like erythritol), but this bar uses maltitol which is partially processed during digestion. You may possibly be able subtract half of them. If it doesn't make your blood sugar go berserk. So that takes it down to 8.5g.

ETA: There ARE some net carb entries in MFP as the 3 net carbs. I personally would use my calculation, as maltitol isn't to be trusted. YMMV.

anglyn1

I agree with all of the above.

You say you often have the bars so I wonder are you losing weight? Keeping blood sugar stable? Basically everyone has different reactions to things. If these aren't stalling your progress then they are probably ok for you and safe to use the net carb calculation. Especially if you aren't eating more than one a day. Basically how your body is reacting is the most important guideline to consider!

baconslave

anglyn1 wrote: »

I agree with all of the above.

You say you often have the bars so I wonder are you losing weight? Keeping blood sugar stable? Basically everyone has different reactions to things. If these aren't stalling your progress then they are probably ok for you and safe to use the net carb calculation. Especially if you aren't eating more than one a day. Basically how your body is reacting is the most important guideline to consider!

Right. If you feel well, are losing weight, and your blood sugar is stable...use the 3. But if you start having trouble, that would be the first place I'd look for a culprit. And like I said, I'd just be safe and use the 8.5g. But that's me and my body.

cstehansen

I would stress what @baconslave says about YMMV as many people's BG reacts to sugar alcohols as much as it does to sugar itself. I found this out the hard way and after research found I was not the only one. Therefore if you are diabetic or pre-diabetic, or have any other BG concerns, I would suggest you check how these affect your readings.

Sunny_Bunny_

Something else to consider.
Even if blood sugar doesn't appear to react or react very much, doesn't mean that insulin doesn't have a larger response. In the case of insulin resistance, your blood sugar may react as if you didn't eat sugar because you got a big insulin response that kept it from spiking. But it's the presence of insulin that stops fat metabolism. Not blood sugar.

Bubba1922

Thank you all for your replies - much clearer now. I am eating two bars a week and losing 2 lbs a week which is fine for me ( another 40 lbs to go) - as I do not want to lose too quickly and look like a candle (loose skins). When I finish my supply of Atkins, I will endeavour to not buy them again as I want to get away from processed foods.

Sarahb29

@Bubba1922 Some things in the MFP database have "net carbs" but then cause wonky errors with the MFP macro/net carb addon for Google Chrome (if you are using it, if not this doesn't apply to you). Since I'm using the addon I look for "minus" as in, minus sugar alcohols. So my search might be "carb smart ice cream minus" or "kirkland protein bar cookie dough minus".