If you are following a dietary protocol that requires counting carbohydrates (and you should be!), your first question probably is, Should I count total carbs or net carbs? And what is the difference?
In the United States, properly labeled packaged food shows Total Carbohydrates as a main category with possible sub-categories of Dietary Fiber, Sugar, and Sugar Alcohols. “For nutrition labeling in the EU and Mexico, carbohydrate is defined as ‘available carbohydrate,’ which does not include the fiber component.” What does all that even mean?!?
The ADA bases the recommendation for daily carbs on net carbs, which is total carbs minus fiber carbs and sugar alcohols.
Some diabetes coaches recommend a compromise by subtracting fiber carbs only when eating a whole food and the fiber carbs are part of the whole food, and they calculate total carbs for any processed food (packaged in a box, bag, jar, or can). Often the food manufacturer adds fiber carbs to the food (exogenesis carbs) and the fiber carbs are not part of the actual food. We can’t always trust the food manufacturer to be honest about the fiber carb content. “The commonly held advice to subtract ‘fiber’ from the total amount of carbohydrate on the label to arrive at ‘net carbs’ can lead to an [underestimate] of nutrient intake, as well as possibly an [underestimate] of the effect of the food on blood glucose and insulin release when those foods are processed into other foods by grinding and/or heating.”
Michaella Thornton of Diabetes Daily says, “Counting ‘net carbs’ may work for some people, but it is not a way of counting carbs certified diabetes educators (CDEs) or other health professionals are likely to endorse nor a legal term but rather a food-industry marketing phrase.”
One author and health podcaster recommends counting total carbs no matter what! In a podcast, he reveals the origin of the net carb calculations. What follows is the complete transcript of the podcast on September 9, 2017:
“I often see debate online over this idea of counting net carbs vs. total carbohydrates when on a low-carb/ketogenic diet. But do you know where the net carb concept actually came from? Most people don’t and I didn’t either until I shared a stage with Dr. Michael Eades of PROTEIN POWER fame in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2015 where this low-carb stalwart issued a public mea culpa for what he described as his ‘ding’ on the keto community.
“His original intent was for subtracting fiber from real foods like raspberries to allow greater flexibility in food choices as well as making better food quality picks for low-carbers. But what it turned into was a marketing opportunity for companies to push junk food under the guise of it being lower carb. Whether it’s net carbs, ‘effective’ carbs, or however else they try to push it on the public, the only way to be intellectually honest about your own personal carb tolerance level is to count all carbohydrates.
“If you can have more, it just means your carb tolerance is higher. Congratulations and celebrate that! And yes, I’m well aware fiber doesn’t raise blood sugar and insulin levels as quickly as other carbohydrates, but here’s the thing—there’s still a response in your blood sugar and insulin levels even if it’s not as big. So let’s not pretend it was the net carbs that got you the results in your approach. Your body was simply able to handle those carbs efficiently.
“But the flip side of that is people with insulin resistance (and that’s most people these days) who think they’re eating low-carb because they’re ‘only’ having 30g net carbs when the actual carb count is 50g total carbs. And then they blame the diet for not working when they were just overloading their body with too many carbs. This is why I encourage people to actually test for nutritional ketosis and blood sugar so you know what those carbs are doing in your body, not some net carbs math game that will lead to frustration and failure in the end.
“Kudos to Dr. Michael Eades for recognizing the mistake he made with all the honorable motivation for helping people be more savvy in their low-carb lifestyle. Unfortunately, this Pandora’s Box is so wide open it’s never getting shut again. But now that you know the genesis of the whole net carbs scam, you can completely avoid it moving forward.”
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