Mod Request-Rip Up My "How To"-Net Carbs
baconslave
Posts: 7,059 Member
Ok, my fellow low-carbers. Here is a very rough draft of a post to go in the Launch Pad about Net Carbs. Let me know what I didn't think of, or address, and please if you have a reliable net carb script you use, please post it and a little about it so I can add it.
TIA
So Which Is It? Total Carbs or Net?
The whole issue of "net" vs "total" carbs is one upon which there is a VERY wide difference of opinion.
The practice of counting “net” carbs works this way. Simply, you take the total carbohydrate count of a food and subtract the dietary fiber and/or the sugar alcohols. The rationale behind this is threefold. First, dietary fiber is widely believed to be indigestible. Dietary fiber is composed of cellulose, and humans, unlike some other creatures, cannot process them. And if this is so, then since it is not digestible, then it doesn't affect blood glucose levels, so it doesn't count. Secondly, sugar alcohols are believed to not be around long enough to affect blood sugar either, so they do not count. Thirdly, some use the motivation of subtracting the fiber to encourage themselves to eat more fiber rich foods. To them, a better choice in carbs means they can eat more carbs.
Plans like Atkins, some ketogenic diets, and others allow for the subtraction of these two elements. However, like with anything, human beings are different. This is where the difference of opinion hinges. Different foods have been shown to have different results in individuals, sometimes in how it affects blood glucose. There have been instances when a high fiber food does indeed cause a blood sugar spike and sugar alcohols linger long enough to do so as well. Some people have also recognized stalls in their weight loss as a result of consuming sugar alcohols in their diets.
As a result of this, many low-carb eaters prefer to count “total” carbs instead. The rationale being: “carbohydrates are carbohydrates.” Also, many view foods made with sugar alcohols as unacceptable in their diet, because they are only found in highly processed foods. Many of this camp prefer to keep “real foods” (aka unprocessed foods) in their diets.
So Who Is Right?
As with so many other topics you encounter in the low-carb communities, it depends on who you ask, and it depends on how your body responds. Do the research on your foods and their ingredients, and choose which method seems right for you. Keep tabs on the affects of your approach on your body, and then make the decision whether or not to stay with your chosen carb-counting method, or decide to change to another.
How Do I Calculate Net Carbs
Quite simply take your total carb count and subtract the dietary fiber and the sugar alcohols (if you decide to incorporate these in your diet.)
How To Count Net Carbs With MFP
There are a few ways to do this.
- Configure your macro columns to position Carbs and Fiber beside one another and subtract them. Unfortunately, there is no "sugar alcohol" column, so you will have to find out this number and subtract it on your own. I personally recommend using your Food Notes to keep track of these as well as for recording your Net Carb total should you choose this method.
- Or you can use a script. There are many different scripts we can recommend, but there is no guarantee they will work properly on your browser, or continue to work after browsers are updated. There may be a bit of trial and error involved.
The following scripts have been recommended by some of the LCD members:*Remember, you must install the Tampermonkey or Greasemonkey extensions to your browser FIRST before your script will work.
- https://github.com/Surye/mfp-keto-userscript (this is the one with the graph and net carbs calculation)
- http://karoshiethos.com/2013/08/13/javascript-bookmarklet-for-enhanced-macro-goals-in-myfitnesspal/ (this is the one that improves the macro goals in settings)*
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Replies
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I like it!0
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It is well written and easy to understand. It's an important topic and easily answers questions a new low carber may have.0
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It might be nice to add that there is no way to configure MFP to automatically subtract sugar alcohols, primarily because there is no way to input or show them. Also, a lot of the Frankenfood, low-carb products are entered with the title (net carbs) and the script will double count them. So, you'll sometimes end up with negative net carbs for an item or even a day. So, if you're going to eat those foods, you need to do some of your calculations outside of MFP, and be aware of how to adjust the MFP totals.0
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It might be nice to add that there is no way to configure MFP to automatically subtract sugar alcohols, primarily because there is no way to input or show them. Also, a lot of the Frankenfood, low-carb products are entered with the title (net carbs) and the script will double count them. So, you'll sometimes end up with negative net carbs for an item or even a day. So, if you're going to eat those foods, you need to do some of your calculations outside of MFP, and be aware of how to adjust the MFP totals.
Will they ever allow for sugar alcohol subtraction? Why do they really only count nutrients for a low fat diet??? How hard could it be for them to add this option?
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Good work, and thanks for highlighting the link scripts. I'm not sure if the one I use is one of the two, but must check it out if it's not.
The only thing I would add to what you wrote, is that on some nutritional information the fibre has already been subtracted from the carbs, and on others it hasn't. It never says whether it has or not, and often I find myself tallying up the calories from the stated protein, fat and carb quantities and comparing it to the stated calorie count (as it seems the manufacturers who subtract the fibre from the carb count do not modify the stated calorie value to reflect that).
Some say this is a cultural practice, US vs European practice, but I have not found any consistent rhyme or reason to be able to state unequically whether this is the case, and usually end up resorting to a little mental math to figure it out for myself on a case by case basis.
I actually wish someone would create a little script, that tallies the calorie values of the protein, fat and stated carb values and sees if the figure is close enough to the stated calorie value, to see if some unstated shenanigans with subtracting the fibre content from the carb value has not occurred.
Hope this makes sense
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It might be nice to add that there is no way to configure MFP to automatically subtract sugar alcohols, primarily because there is no way to input or show them. Also, a lot of the Frankenfood, low-carb products are entered with the title (net carbs) and the script will double count them. So, you'll sometimes end up with negative net carbs for an item or even a day. So, if you're going to eat those foods, you need to do some of your calculations outside of MFP, and be aware of how to adjust the MFP totals.iloseityes wrote: »Good work, and thanks for highlighting the link scripts. I'm not sure if the one I use is one of the two, but must check it out if it's not.
The only thing I would add to what you wrote, is that on some nutritional information the fibre has already been subtracted from the carbs, and on others it hasn't. It never says whether it has or not, and often I find myself tallying up the calories from the stated protein, fat and carb quantities and comparing it to the stated calorie count (as it seems the manufacturers who subtract the fibre from the carb count do not modify the stated calorie value to reflect that).
Some say this is a cultural practice, US vs European practice, but I have not found any consistent rhyme or reason to be able to state unequically whether this is the case, and usually end up resorting to a little mental math to figure it out for myself on a case by case basis.
I actually wish someone would create a little script, that tallies the calorie values of the protein, fat and stated carb values and sees if the figure is close enough to the stated calorie value, to see if some unstated shenanigans with subtracting the fibre content from the carb value has not occurred.
Hope this makes sense
Thanks. I will work on that this afternoon.
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Ok here's the addendum. Did I get it right?Warning: Watch the Food Entries
Regardless of which method you choose, you should check the available food entries. They are user entered, so there may be mistakes. Some could just be human error. Other entries are entered by people who don't care about carbs, so they won't enter them at all or will not bother to see if they are accurate. Other entries will say “Net Carbs” with the dietary fiber already subtracted. Still others will be net carb entries, but not designated as such. When adding a new food, you should always quickly jump over to another site and confirm the food data. Once confirmed, at least that food will not be a worry.
When using a Net Carb entry, be wary that it will interfere with your Net Carb script. Those entries will misreport your carb numbers. Also, foods containing sugar alcohols will not be accurately handled by your script. As yet, MFP doesn't deal with them at all. You will need to keep track of them yourself, and I recommend tallying them in your Food Notes, where you can note your actual Net Carb count.0 -
Great article for newbies like me0
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Alrighty. It's ready. Putting it up on the Launch Pad, so if you see it in the feed you can disregard if you've already read it. On to the next project.
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Nicely done. You're awesome at making things concise and understandable.0
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Great job of explaining this. Thank you. (*)0
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baconslave wrote: »Ok here's the addendum. Did I get it right?Warning: Watch the Food Entries
Regardless of which method you choose, you should check the available food entries. They are user entered, so there may be mistakes. Some could just be human error. Other entries are entered by people who don't care about carbs, so they won't enter them at all or will not bother to see if they are accurate. Other entries will say “Net Carbs” with the dietary fiber already subtracted. Still others will be net carb entries, but not designated as such. When adding a new food, you should always quickly jump over to another site and confirm the food data. Once confirmed, at least that food will not be a worry.
When using a Net Carb entry, be wary that it will interfere with your Net Carb script. Those entries will misreport your carb numbers. Also, foods containing sugar alcohols will not be accurately handled by your script. As yet, MFP doesn't deal with them at all. You will need to keep track of them yourself, and I recommend tallying them in your Food Notes, where you can note your actual Net Carb count.
Your addendum seems to cover it alright I think
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This discussion has been closed.