Question about Net Carbs
 

I'm starting a low carb diet for the first time and have a question about net carbs. For example, Love Crunch Granola nutrition label says:
(Granola isn't something I plan on eating on this diet, it's just an example)

Per serving
18g total carbs
2g dietary fiber
6g sugar

My question is, where are the carbs that are not accounted for? The sugar and fiber=8g carbs, so where are the other 10g? I read something about Sugar Alcohol being subtracted from net carbs but am confused about what is what.

Also, when I'm adding up my carbs for the day, do I only add up sugar carbs? For example, 1 serving of this Love Crunch Granola would only count for 6g of carbs?

It's a lot safer to count total carbs, because you don't really know how much of the fiber is soluble. So in your example, there are 18g carbs.

I'm guessing the sugar is probably added sugar, so the rest of the carbs come from the other ingredients, like oats.

Here is some more confusion and perhaps clarification for you:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=475058

Personally I DO use calculated net carbs but rarely need to read food labels as most of what I eat doesn't have one. If the food does have a label (living in the USA) I subtract fiber from total carbs listed. If something says it has less than 1g carbs per serving or 0g carbs per serving I usually +1 since I know it can't be zero (like huy fong chili paste or someting).

clear as mud ;)

edit: this is what I use if I'm trying to figure out what a new food might have for carbs. https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list I also have a kitchen scale that I use to measure vegetables when cooking. I'm getting pretty good at estimating but still check myself daily.

Make the math easier and think of everything in 100g units. I made myself a "cheat sheet" that I used when I first got going that was helpful. you could make one too with vegetables you like to use.

As Bonnie wrote, it is safer and easier to just count total carbs. Atkins (with a T) does use net carbs, which is OK for real food vegetables, but the company extended that to fibers and sugar alcohols which some people do metabolize (subtracting sugar alcohols only works for a label to sell products). Since you don't have a book, this page is a good introduction to a general LC diet, https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb

Carbohydrates can be simple sugars or complex carbs like starches (in this case grains like oats) and fiber. Don't be confused by that sugar number on a label or nutrition tracker...to your body all carbs become sugar. So you add up all carbs for the day.

Are you in the US? Plan to use a nutrition tracker ? (You don't have to make LC complicated but you seem to be leaning that way) if so, a tracker like MyFitnessPal will give you a total carb count, and a separate fiber and sugar count for the day. You can custom the goals for a LC diet.

I count net carbs and have had great success. I am normally around 20 to 25 per day and have been for the three months I've been eating this way. BUT, like Thud, I don't eat anything that's packaged. My carbs are coming primarily from vegetables and that's where Dr. Atkins intended them to come from (at least at the beginning). Even in later stages when you begin to add some higher carb foods back (if you do), the intent is to stick with natural foods (cheese, nuts, etc.), not packaged junk.

The quick answer is that sugars are carbs with a particular chemical makeup, the rest of the carbs that are not fiber are sugars that are joined together in a slightly different chemical shape.

But in any case, granola is NOT something you want to be eating on a LC way of eating. Janet's suggestion of dietdoctor.com is excellent.

If you are using the Atkins website, I strongly suggest that you go to the other, as the Atkins website is NOT Dr Atkins' program, but one that is strongly slanted toward getting you to eat and become addicted to the frankenfood products that they sell.

Except that in the case of 'sugar' it's likely that at least 50% of it is fructose (if it is all added sugar) whereas starchy carbs become glucose in your body. An exception is something like greek yogurt with no added sugar, in which case any sugar content stated on the label should be lactose.

For me the most important thing about the sugar number on a food label is that it is a red flag warning me …. Be careful for herein probably lies fructose. And if in doubt I check the list of ingredients.

this was very helpful to me cause this is day 5 induction..thanks a lot

good info is worth its weight!

I count net carbs. For me it works fine, and since I do it all the time the consistency is there.

What Are Net Carbs?