Salad dressing question

[Heavy B]

Day 2, still starving, still motivated!

OK, I am lazy I will confess. This Atkins diet will def. teach me how to get off my butt and cook! Been cooking a lot these past 2 days (McDonald's misses me already), and now I have a question: I know I should make my own dressing but like I said I'm lazy

I went to the store to get some no carb dressing, and only found 2 canidates. The 1st one was a Neumans Own Italian Light, it said 0 grams of carbs..but 1 gram of sugar..huh. I wasn't sure about that one, the ingredients didn't have any sugar added, I'm guessing it was natural occuring? The dressing I ended up buying was Cardini's Italian dressing, it said 1 gram of carbs per serving but 0 grams of sugar...

Did I make the right choice? Is 1 gram of carbs better than 1 gram of sugar?

I'm so confused.

[Georgiana]

Re: Salad dressing question

still starving

Eat!

to get some no carb dressing

It doesn't need to be "no carb". In fact, unless it's oil... it will have some carbs.

Neumans Own Italian Light

If these are the ingredients:

Water, Red Wine Vinegar, Olive Oil, Vegetable Oil (Soybean and/or Canola), Onion, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Salt, Contains (2%) or Less of Spice, Distilled Vinegar, Garlic, Lemon Juice, Xanthan Gum, Natural Flavor, Turmeric (Color),

then it looks good. The carbs come from vinegar, onion, "spice", garlic, lemon juice and turmeric.

The dressing I ended up buying was Cardini's Italian dressing

I am assuming it's not this one... Cardini's® Italian Dressing - GLUTEN-FREE

Is 1 gram of carbs better than 1 gram of sugar?

Strictly for the purposes of Atkins, it doesn't make any difference. We are counting net carbs. 1 gram of sugar is 1 net carb... and 1 net carb is 1 net carb, regardless of where it comes from.

[Heavy B]

Re: Salad dressing question

I am assuming it's not this one... Cardini's® Italian Dressing - GLUTEN-FREE

No, it wasnt the gluten free one(that one has 7 grams of carbs), it just said Italian dressing(1 gram of carbs).

Strictly for the purposes of Atkins, it doesn't make any difference. We are counting net carbs. 1 gram of sugar is 1 net carb... and 1 net carb is 1 net carb, regardless of where it comes from.

Thanks for the info

[2big4mysize]

Re: Salad dressing question

actually in DANDR Dr Atkins sasy you can have 2 carbs per tablespoon in your dressings as long as there is no sugar in the ingredients. that is where we look for sugar as the sugar in the nutrtional label can be from natural sugars in the veggies herbs and spices.

good job on either salad dressing.

[atkinsgal08]

Re: Salad dressing question

A "rule of thumb" that I've seen work quite well, is that if a product has 2 net carbs or less per serving and sugar is not one of the first 4 ingredients ... then it "might" be ok ... as always, Your Mileage May Vary.

I've never had any trouble with Hidden Valley Ranch.

[poobears1972]

Re: Salad dressing question

I buy the newmans own oil and vinegar (not lite) it's induction friendly and tastes good. Think the oil helps keep things moving along too if you know what I mean

[cajoelle]

Re: Salad dressing question

If a dressing has 2 grams carbs of which 1 gram is sugar would that count as 3 net grams of carbs, or just the two? i.e. is the sugar included in the carb count? And is the sugar, even at 1 gram, allowed on induction? Thank you!!

[dyjack]

Re: Salad dressing question

Newman's Own Oil and Vinegar is fantastic. Absolutely love it for salads at work. I usually make my own at home but occasionally use the Newman's there too.

[Elizellen]

Re: Salad dressing question

If a dressing has 2 grams carbs of which 1 gram is sugar would that count as 3 net grams of carbs, or just the two? i.e. is the sugar included in the carb count? And is the sugar, even at 1 gram, allowed on induction? Thank you!!

The dressing you quoted would be counted as having 2 net grams of carbs.

The sugar might be natural sugar from ingredients which have carbs - like tomatoes, eggs, cream etc - or it might be added sugar, which should be listed in the list of ingredients.
It might be called sugar, sucrose, dextrose, fructose, corn syrup, hfcs, molasses, agave, etc, etc, (so look up any weird names you don't recognise to see if they are another word for sugar).
If you see any sugar listed in the ingredients then it really is not an Atkins-friendly food.

You will however see many posts from people who do use products with 'a little' sugar in it without problems, but your body might not be able to handle it like their's can, so best to look for a different brand with no sugar listed in the ingredients.