Net Carb stuffs

jenmarqueiro

Hey everyone! Just wandering about net carbs . . Im based in the UK and apparently most of our products already separate the fibre and carbs so the carbs don't need working out. However I was looking at Atkins snacks and for example one bar 15.7 total carbs, however 12.6 polys so net carbs is 3.1g . . . Is this what I should be writing down (just the net carbs) or all of it? I need a quick start weight loss so wanted to have a low/lower carb diet. Suggestions?

Thanks all!

yarwell

UK labels state Carbohydrate and it's analysed and is just that. Fibre is analysed and reported separately.

Atkins Inc would say that the 3.1 grams of net carbs is the "impact" of eating that product, as the polyols are not fully digested. There is some truth in this, but it depends on the sugar alcohol - maltitol is about 50% digested, erythritol practically zero. My experience was that the blood sugar effect of an Atkins bar was about half the carbohydrate content, compared to a low-GI bread.

If you want a reliable low carb diet don't use this sort of product - stick to real foods and just control the total carbohydrate intake - meat, fish, egg, cheese with green vegetables.

albertabeefy

... I was looking at Atkins snacks and for example one bar 15.7 total carbs, however 12.6 polys so net carbs is 3.1g . . .

FYI, the "net" carbs ONLY subtracts fiber, nothing else, and even that is something you should be very skeptical of if it's a processed food - especially bars. (Feel free to trust fiber amounts in fresh vegetables and fruit ... those are fairly accurate.)

Anything with sugar alcohols (what you in the UK often refer to as polys) such as sorbital, maltitol, xylotil, etc. will count - at least somewhat - to your overall carbohydrate intake.

For me, I get the same blood sugar spike from 10g of sugar alcohols as I would from 5g of any true sugar. So they're certainly not carb-free.