carb shopping help

[ac02ire]

hi all,
just wondering when shopping for food should i be counting carbs by the total carbs on the food items label of that carb of which sugars part of the label? this has me confused a little to be safe ive been going off the actual carb amount and not the carbs of which sugars part of the label can somebody guide me?

[Bucknuts]

Re: carb shopping help

hi all,
just wondering when shopping for food should i be counting carbs by the total carbs on the food items label of that carb of which sugars part of the label? this has me confused a little to be safe ive been going off the actual carb amount and not the carbs of which sugars part of the label can somebody guide me?

Total carbs - fiber content = net carbs is how I have always done it. Some also do not count sugar alcohols either but I have seen studies that suggest sugar alcohols do impact blood sugar, plus I don't tolerate them very well.

[not2late]

Re: carb shopping help

Also some foods have natural sugars, for example, broccoli has natural sugar and it might be listed on the nutritional information as "sugars". You need to read the ingredients too. IF you see sugar (dextrose, sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, maple syrup, cane sugar, etc.), avoid the food.

[kate58]

Re: carb shopping help

ac02ire, I see you are in Dublin - welcome fellow Irish person!!

Our labels are a little different than those in the USA. In the USA, the total carb content given on packaging includes the fibre content, so you subtract the fibre. On our packs the subtraction is already done, so you need to count the actual carb content given on the pack.

The 'of which sugars' bit tells you what proportion of the total carbs come from sugar. As Megs said, lots of food have natural sugars, which are not generally an issue if the total carbs are ok, but you need to check the ingredients to make sure there is no added sugar.

Since you are in Ireland, I'll just throw in a few tips for good and convenient low carb foods to look out for. A great one is Cully & Sully Mushroom Soup, it's as good as the best homemade soup, has a high fat content as it contains cream and a whole pack is less than 5 carbs and is very filling indeed - it's lunch for me all by itself.

Superquinn sausages are quite low carb, including the chicken ones. Paul Rankin Breakfast Sausages are not too bad either, but only occasionally. You'll find them in Dunnes.

Lidl is a great source of good stuff - cheese, cream and butter, frozen fish (especially the prawns), tinned tuna and eggs are cheap there, and their full fat mayo is good value, nice and low carb. And of course they have good veg, it's the only place I can get oriental radish, which is a great replacement for carrot and they have the best and cheapest avocados. Read the packages on things like bacon/salami etc very carefully though, many have added sugar. Lidl also do the BEST nuts when you get to that rung.

[ac02ire]

Re: carb shopping help

hi kate,
thanks for the information im off to superquinn for some soup for lunch, that information is worth its weight in gold

just one last question say for example on a label of mushy peas in superquinn, it may say carbs are 23grams but it also has a sub heading underneath saying of which sugars and could be say 10grams do i stick to the 23grams or do i go by the 10grams of which sugars?

[kate58]

Re: carb shopping help

No, you'd go by the total carbs.

Forget about peas anyway, they are not allowed until the legumes rung and are pretty high carb. I've not eaten peas since I began and have no plans to - I have better uses for my carbs!!

I counted the soup as 1 cup of salad veg when on induction by the way, that's an approximation, but is my best guess. Which leaves you with 1 cup of salad veg and 1 cup of other veg for the rest of the day.

The other Cully & Sully soups are too high carb for me at least until pre-maintenance, but the mushroom is a gem!

Enjoy your lunch!!

[ac02ire]

Re: carb shopping help

cheeers kate thank you very much