Carbs and Net carbs?

[alexisb86]

I am sure I could find this somewhere on here but I really don't have the time right now.

What is the difference between carbs and net carbs?
Do I count carbs or net carbs as my daily carb intake?
Why is this important and how does this effect my diet?

Thanks in advance!

I did read the book but didn't understand half of it. Tried to but I am kind of slow so I need it point blank to me without all the health terms I don't understand. Thanks!!!

[kate58]

Re: Carbs and Net carbs?

What is the difference between carbs and net carbs?

There are basically two types of carbs - those which your body can digest and those which it can't. The type it can't digest is mostly fibre. The total carb content of a food is all the carbs in it. The net carbs is just the digestible ones.

When the carb content of food is listed on labels or in various online sources, it is listed including the fibre. The fibre is listed separately. If you subtract the fibre from the total carbs you get the net carbs.

Do I count carbs or net carbs as my daily carb intake?

Just the net carbs.

Why is this important and how does this effect my diet?

It's important because on Atkins you are restricting your carbs. Bringing it right back to basics this is because carbs in the diet drive up the insulin level in your blood and that causes fat to be deposited - carbs make you fat. When you eat less carbs your body burns fat as a fuel and you lose weight.

Knowing the net carbs is important becaus these are what you count towards your 20g of carbs daily while on induction. You also need the fibre - it keeps you regular for one thing - but those carbs don't count towards your 20g total.

I hope that makes it a little clearer.

[bythree]

Re: Carbs and Net carbs?

Everytime you look at a label to check carbs just remember take the carb total minus fiber and that's your net carbs which is what you count as your carbs for the day.
Carbs - Fiber = Net Carbs

[alexisb86]

Re: Carbs and Net carbs?

Thank you very much! That's does make it clearer!

[alexisb86]

Re: Carbs and Net carbs?

One more question- Is it bad to have a bunch of carbs not just net carbs? Like I ate veggies today and right now my carb count is like 27 and i have 12 grams of fiber so my net carbs would be 15 right? so i have five carbs left for today basically? So with that 12 grams of fiber is that bad, to many carbs that are becoming fat on me? So confused.

[sheddingflab]

Re: Carbs and Net carbs?

Hi Alexis! Your allowed carbs for the day does not include fiber. You can have all the fiber carbs you want, as they do not affect blood sugar. So if you ate 27 total carbs, and 12 of those carb grams were fiber, you would subtract 12 from 27 and this gives you your "net carb" count of 12. That means you still would have room for 8 more net carbs. So if you ate a small zuchinni, which contains about 6 grams of carbs, 3 of which are fiber, that would only add 3 "net carbs", bringing you up to 15 net carbs for the day, with room still for 5 more. Any of the carbs you are counting in your veggies, make sure you subtract the fiber, because it doesn't count!

[Desertthorn]

Re: Carbs and Net carbs?

You got it kiddo, we only count Net carbs, those after the fiber has been deducted. EXCEPT in the case of sugar alcohols and they are very tricky to count. If you eat anything with sugar alcohols the best bet is to count them all as you really can't believe the label

[alexisb86]

Re: Carbs and Net carbs?

Thanks I totally understand this now!!! THANK YOU!!!

[alexisb86]

Re: Carbs and Net carbs?

I found another culprit of mine- garlic powder- I was taking spices for granted- didnt think about them- another thing i know i read in the book but forgot- that's been adding on a lot of carbs. I will not be doing that anymore. THANK GOODNESS FOR FITDAY!!!

[Summer-Caitlin]

Re: Carbs and Net carbs?

Just curious and hopefully someone will know the answer but for people in the UK...on the backs of packets I will use a Hot Pepperami as an example it states Carbohydrates 0.6g of which sugars TRACE. Fibre is seperate of 0.3g. Now do I minus the fibre and what do I count towards my total carb intake for the day? Is it the 0.6g or 0.6g minus the Fibre or is it the TRACE?

If anyone could help out I would be really grateful.

Thanks