Net Carbs

crob66 · February 2019

Is there a way to track net carbs vs. total carbs? Given that dietary fiber offsets a portion of total carbs it would be nice to if there was a way to show the offset.

cags78 · February 2019

That is my biggest complaint with MyfitnessPal. It doesn't calculate Net Carbs but only total carbs. Throws my macros off. Is there a setting somewhere to change that?

crob66 · February 2019

I've looked and I don't see one anywhere

lemurcat2 · February 2019

crob66 wrote: »

Is there a way to track net carbs vs. total carbs? Given that dietary fiber offsets a portion of total carbs it would be nice to if there was a way to show the offset.

Yes, you can switch out sodium or sugar for fiber and then just subtract the fiber in your head or note it in the notes box.

I did that when experimenting with very low carb, and prefer it to a "net carb" entry, as I think it's important to see fiber anyway. The reason MFP doesn't have a net carb setting where fiber can be automatically subtracted is that it would be seriously inaccurate given that database entries from outside of the US and Canada are already net carb, and so they would be subtracting fiber that was never included. Also, many entries might not have the fiber amount added or have been created to be net carb. If you look at both carbs and fiber there's less risk of using bad entries (although learning to pick the good entries is important).

crob66 · February 2019

That was going to be my work around, thanks for the info

TheConsoleWars · February 2019

There's a simple workaround using a browser extension. The fact that some products may appear inaccurately is a ridiculous argument for not adding the option. Anyone can add any food with any values at any time. MFP is loaded with inaccurate results... allowing the tracking of net carbs should be an option we can opt in to or out of with a disclaimer that "this may not be accurate." but not allowing paying members to do it is ludicrous and is likely why Chronometer will be getting my money next month.

alteredsteve175 · February 2019

Here's a link to an add-in that will show you net carbs in your food diary. I've been using it for over a year. Worked ok for me.

https://perfectketo.com/myfitnesspal-net-carbs/

lemurcat2 · February 2019

IMO Cronometer is a superior tracker for anyone who cares about nutrition and eats primarily whole foods, as their database is much smaller but great if you want the accurate whole foods entries. But those entries come from US and Canadian sources, which makes it different from MFP which has a much more international database.

Cron also shows nutrition information better. I really don't understand why anyone who cared about overall diet quality would not want to see both carbs and fiber, and once both are listed there's no need for a net carb category even for people in the US and Canada*, since it's basically kindergarten level math that can be done in your head without even needing to think about it (this was my experience anyway).

Cron shows carbs and fiber, which makes the fact that it also includes a net carbs entry kind of irrelevant (but like I said, it's a great tracker for other reasons).

*People outside of the US and Canada should be aware that they likely have "net carbs" as their "carbs," and should be very careful about subtracting fiber again. I've seen posts from a number of users in places like the UK who were confused and being told they should subtract fiber from UK packaged entries, which is wrong.

Net Carbs

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