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NET CARBS
Net carbs represent the carbs that affect your blood sugar and are therefore counted. They are calculated thusly:
NET Carbs = Total Carbs - Fiber grams- (sugar alcohols*)
Fiber is a type of carbohydrate (see Ch. 8 DANDR 2002 for a complete explanation of fiber) which has little effect on blood sugar, so it is subtracted from the Total carb amount.
Sugar alcohols, or polyols, are a controversial topic in low carbing. They are artificial sweeteners that mimic the baking qualities of sugar. They supposedly have little effect on the blood sugar too, which leads some low carb product manufacturers to subtract these substances from the Total carbs. However, some low carbers experience weight loss stalls or slow downs when using these products. Not to mention sugar alcohols are notorious for causing diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and gassy discomfort.
Due to the effects on weight loss, some low carbers will either subtract ½ of the sugar alcohol amount from the Total carbs or won't subtract it at all.
Here at ADBB, we've had too many members who have experienced weight loss difficulties using products containing sugar alcohols, so we do not recommend their use during the 14 day Induction period. If you want to experiment with these foods to see how they affect your weight loss progress, then do so at your own risk and after the 14 days because the 14 days are very important (see Chapter 13 DANDR 2002)
READING LABELS
Many newbies to Atkins will read the nutritional info box to a label, look at the carbs, look at the fiber, figure out the Net Carbs, then decide to buy the product. There's a pitfall to this. Many products contain added sugar. Some of these products are things you might never imagine would contain added sugar like deli roast beef or chicken!So get into the habit of reading the entire label, including the ingredients.
SUGAR AND STARCH/GRAINs
Look out for sugar and starches in the ingredients. Starches can be called flour, corn flour, masa, cornstarch, potato flour, potato starch, bread crumbs, etc. Basically, if it sounds like a grain or grain product, put it back on the shelf.
Sugar has similar profile. It can be called a lot of things, including:
Barley Sugar
Brown Rice Syrup
Corn sweetener
Corn Syrup
Corn syrup solids
Dextrin
Dextrose
Fruit juice concentrate (juice concentrate)
Fructose
Galactose
Glucose
High fructose corn syrup
Honey
Invert sugar
Lactose
Levulose
Maltose
Malt
Malt syrup
Maple syrup
Modified corn starch
Molasses
Sorghum
Sucrose
Sugar (all including, brown, raw, turbinado, powdered, table, caster, fine, etc.)
Also be aware that some specifically marketed low carbohydrate products can contain ingredients that are not allowed during Induction, including fruit, nuts and seeds, legumes (soybeans, peanuts), and grains. IF the product contains these things, then they are not acceptable for Induction no matter the carb count or the manufacturer (See Induction Rule # 4).
THE NUTRITIONAL LABEL
In the US, all nutritional labels have at least a listed serving size, total calories, fat grams, carbohydrate grams, fiber grams, protein grams, sodium content. For the most part, the nutritional information is accurate for the listed serving size. If you exceed the listed serving size, the values on the nutritional info will increase too. An example of this is hot pepper sauce, like Tabasco. The serving size listed on the bottle is 1 teaspoon (5 ml). Calories are 0, fat is 0, carbs are 0, protein is 0. If you use 2 teaspoons, the carbs do not remain 0. Why? Because hot pepper sauce is made from peppers, which contain carbohydrate, so if it's made with something that contains carbs, it will contain carbs too.
The US labelling laws allow products that contain 0.1 to 0.499999 carb grams to be labelled as 0 carbs and products with 0.5 to 0.9 carb grams to be labelled as less than 1 carb. So what's a low carber to do? The typical advise is to count products labelled 0 carbs as 0.5 net carbs and products labelled less than 1 carb as 1 net carb. That way, you'll be accounting for the carbs that US manufacturers can legally ignore.
To complicate matters a bit more is the fact that in the US, carbohydrate labelling is not strictly regulated. So manufacturers can round up or round down the carb grams listed in the nutritional info. This makes figuring Net Carbs tricky.
There is a rather popular brand of flax seed meal that claims a 2 tablespoon serving has 4 total carbs and 4 fiber grams. According to the Net Carb formula, that product will have 0 net carbs per 2 tablespoon serving! Not true. This is an example of the manufacturer rounding up the fiber grams. So this product should be counted at the most as 1 net carb per 2 tablespoon serving.
This playing with the carb numbers is what low carbers call "Hidden Carbs". There are numerous "Hidden Carb Calculators" on-line. Do an internet search to find one.
Q & A
Q: My mayonnaise jar says 0 carbs but the ingredients list sugar. Help!
A: Read the ingredients list again. Ingredients are listed in a descending order. In other words the ingredients listed at the top of the list are in a greater concentration than the ingredients at the bottomof the list. So, if the sugar is listed towards the bottom, it's okay to use. But be sure to count the carbs.
Q:I just looked at my can of green beans. The label says it has 2 grams of sugar! What's up with that?
A: Vegetables and fruits contain sugar naturally. What you are looking for is added sugar. So read the ingredients, if you see sugar in the list, put the can back on the shelf. If you don't see sugar on the ingredient list, enjoy your green beans.
Q: I just bought a can of imported tomatoes. The label says 3 grams carbs, 1 gram fiber. I checked it against another can of US tomatoes and that can says 4 grams carbs, 1 gram fiber. Does the imported tomatoes have less carbs???
A: Unfortunately no. International and European labelling laws are different. The total carbs listed in most International and European labels are Net Carbs no further subtraction necessary. If you're in doubt, use a Hidden Carb Calculator.
Net carbs represent the carbs that affect your blood sugar and are therefore counted. They are calculated thusly:
NET Carbs = Total Carbs - Fiber grams- (sugar alcohols*)
Fiber is a type of carbohydrate (see Ch. 8 DANDR 2002 for a complete explanation of fiber) which has little effect on blood sugar, so it is subtracted from the Total carb amount.
Sugar alcohols, or polyols, are a controversial topic in low carbing. They are artificial sweeteners that mimic the baking qualities of sugar. They supposedly have little effect on the blood sugar too, which leads some low carb product manufacturers to subtract these substances from the Total carbs. However, some low carbers experience weight loss stalls or slow downs when using these products. Not to mention sugar alcohols are notorious for causing diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and gassy discomfort.
Due to the effects on weight loss, some low carbers will either subtract ½ of the sugar alcohol amount from the Total carbs or won't subtract it at all.
Here at ADBB, we've had too many members who have experienced weight loss difficulties using products containing sugar alcohols, so we do not recommend their use during the 14 day Induction period. If you want to experiment with these foods to see how they affect your weight loss progress, then do so at your own risk and after the 14 days because the 14 days are very important (see Chapter 13 DANDR 2002)
READING LABELS
Many newbies to Atkins will read the nutritional info box to a label, look at the carbs, look at the fiber, figure out the Net Carbs, then decide to buy the product. There's a pitfall to this. Many products contain added sugar. Some of these products are things you might never imagine would contain added sugar like deli roast beef or chicken!So get into the habit of reading the entire label, including the ingredients.
SUGAR AND STARCH/GRAINs
Look out for sugar and starches in the ingredients. Starches can be called flour, corn flour, masa, cornstarch, potato flour, potato starch, bread crumbs, etc. Basically, if it sounds like a grain or grain product, put it back on the shelf.
Sugar has similar profile. It can be called a lot of things, including:
Barley Sugar
Brown Rice Syrup
Corn sweetener
Corn Syrup
Corn syrup solids
Dextrin
Dextrose
Fruit juice concentrate (juice concentrate)
Fructose
Galactose
Glucose
High fructose corn syrup
Honey
Invert sugar
Lactose
Levulose
Maltose
Malt
Malt syrup
Maple syrup
Modified corn starch
Molasses
Sorghum
Sucrose
Sugar (all including, brown, raw, turbinado, powdered, table, caster, fine, etc.)
Also be aware that some specifically marketed low carbohydrate products can contain ingredients that are not allowed during Induction, including fruit, nuts and seeds, legumes (soybeans, peanuts), and grains. IF the product contains these things, then they are not acceptable for Induction no matter the carb count or the manufacturer (See Induction Rule # 4).
THE NUTRITIONAL LABEL
In the US, all nutritional labels have at least a listed serving size, total calories, fat grams, carbohydrate grams, fiber grams, protein grams, sodium content. For the most part, the nutritional information is accurate for the listed serving size. If you exceed the listed serving size, the values on the nutritional info will increase too. An example of this is hot pepper sauce, like Tabasco. The serving size listed on the bottle is 1 teaspoon (5 ml). Calories are 0, fat is 0, carbs are 0, protein is 0. If you use 2 teaspoons, the carbs do not remain 0. Why? Because hot pepper sauce is made from peppers, which contain carbohydrate, so if it's made with something that contains carbs, it will contain carbs too.
The US labelling laws allow products that contain 0.1 to 0.499999 carb grams to be labelled as 0 carbs and products with 0.5 to 0.9 carb grams to be labelled as less than 1 carb. So what's a low carber to do? The typical advise is to count products labelled 0 carbs as 0.5 net carbs and products labelled less than 1 carb as 1 net carb. That way, you'll be accounting for the carbs that US manufacturers can legally ignore.
To complicate matters a bit more is the fact that in the US, carbohydrate labelling is not strictly regulated. So manufacturers can round up or round down the carb grams listed in the nutritional info. This makes figuring Net Carbs tricky.
There is a rather popular brand of flax seed meal that claims a 2 tablespoon serving has 4 total carbs and 4 fiber grams. According to the Net Carb formula, that product will have 0 net carbs per 2 tablespoon serving! Not true. This is an example of the manufacturer rounding up the fiber grams. So this product should be counted at the most as 1 net carb per 2 tablespoon serving.
This playing with the carb numbers is what low carbers call "Hidden Carbs". There are numerous "Hidden Carb Calculators" on-line. Do an internet search to find one.
Q & A
Q: My mayonnaise jar says 0 carbs but the ingredients list sugar. Help!
A: Read the ingredients list again. Ingredients are listed in a descending order. In other words the ingredients listed at the top of the list are in a greater concentration than the ingredients at the bottomof the list. So, if the sugar is listed towards the bottom, it's okay to use. But be sure to count the carbs.
Product A ingredients: Eggs, soybean oil, salt, sugar, spices.
Sugar is listed at the bottomof the list, so the product is "okay"to use.
Product B ingredients: Eggs, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, corn oil, salt.
2 sugars are listed at the top of the list. Put this product back on the shelf!
Sugar is listed at the bottomof the list, so the product is "okay"to use.
Product B ingredients: Eggs, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, corn oil, salt.
2 sugars are listed at the top of the list. Put this product back on the shelf!
A: Vegetables and fruits contain sugar naturally. What you are looking for is added sugar. So read the ingredients, if you see sugar in the list, put the can back on the shelf. If you don't see sugar on the ingredient list, enjoy your green beans.
Q: I just bought a can of imported tomatoes. The label says 3 grams carbs, 1 gram fiber. I checked it against another can of US tomatoes and that can says 4 grams carbs, 1 gram fiber. Does the imported tomatoes have less carbs???
A: Unfortunately no. International and European labelling laws are different. The total carbs listed in most International and European labels are Net Carbs no further subtraction necessary. If you're in doubt, use a Hidden Carb Calculator.
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