Net carbs ...

CelebrityStatus

Do you count your total carbs as just that ... total carbs ... or do you subtract your carbs from fibre to get your total?

I aim for under 50g of carbs per day, but someone told me that I can take out the carbs from fibre . For example, today so far, I have 39 carbs, but 13 of those are fibre.

Do you count your carbs at 39 or at 26?

Why or why not?

albertabeefy

I use the "net carbs" as my overall result ONLY for things I'm sure of such as veggies, fruit and well-documented grain items.

My own rules are:

#1
Never trust "net carb" marketing claims on a product. It's likely WAY off. (Examples of this are Julian bakery products, Quest bars and others. If it's a processed food item, their fiber claims can be greatly exaggerated.)

#2
Don't subtract sugar alcohols (sorbital, maltitol, etc.) from your carb amounts UNLESS you've tested blood glucose levels several times and notice NO rise in glucose levels from them. Myself, I subtract 1/2 the sugar alcohol amounts as my rise in glucose levels is roughly 1/2 from sugar alcohols as it is from sugar or HFCS.

#3
It's generally safe to subtract fiber amounts from veggies and fruit in the MFP database, IF they are MFP entries - without the " * " symbol.

Miamiuu

If its carbs to me then I avoid it. I just measure total carbs cus i dont have the time to measure things like fiber and Im losing weight anyway.

ALNoog

I do total carbs... I never use any of the products at all... Bars, meals, shakes and such...

My carbs are 25g a day BUT if I end up at something like 28 and it's veggie carbs I just let it go... But that very rarely happens.

Leonidas_meets_Spartacus

I do net carbs on the days when I eat lots of nuts, chia seeds and veggies. I usually keep my carbs under 50 or 60 and net carbs under 25-30. Don't be scared to eat nuts and veggies, not the starchy kind.

CelebrityStatus

Thanks for the opinions guys ... I just find that it's insanely hard to stay under carbs unless I eat almost no fruit or veggies ... I don't eat pasta/rice/bread/protein bars/etc etc, and don't eat much processed food either. But if I have a grapefruit in the morning, that's 1/2 my total carbs for the day... so if I had a salad at lunch, then I'm over my carbs by noon, and really didn't eat anything "bad".

kristafb

I haven't been eating any fruit at all yet and i keep my veggies to green stuff like spinach, broccoli, romaine, etc. I plan on keeping my fruit to berries, which are low carb, when i do start eating them.

albertabeefy

Thanks for the opinions guys ... I just find that it's insanely hard to stay under carbs unless I eat almost no fruit or veggies ... I don't eat pasta/rice/bread/protein bars/etc etc, and don't eat much processed food either. But if I have a grapefruit in the morning, that's 1/2 my total carbs for the day... so if I had a salad at lunch, then I'm over my carbs by noon, and really didn't eat anything "bad".

I avoid most fruit. FYI there are no vitamins/nutrients in fruit that you can't find in vegetables - and the veggies have MUCH lower carbohydrate content

For fruit I stick to small quantities of higher-fiber/lower-GI fruits such as berries and cherries. A 1/3c of raspberries has 5g of carbohydrate and 1/2 of it is fiber. Add to that some heavy cream and a dash of sugar-free sweetener and you've very nice low-carb treat...

Keto_T

I use net carb as well: Total carbs - fiber -sugar alcohol= net carbs. European labeling already subtracts fiber from the total carbs but I dont know about Canadian labeling.

aeb09

I try to keep my total carbs to my 5% macro goal (which is currently 18g) but I feel okay if I eat between 19-23g total because they all come from veggies and lean meats. I am netting under 15g daily, so I guess you can say I keep track of both and try to stay as close to my goals as possible.