Hi,

This may seem like a silly question. When we talk about keeping the caarbs to a certain level do we mean `All Carbs` or just `Sugar Carbs`?

For example. On a tin of Baked Beans the label reads...
Carbohydrate 40.5, of which sugars 12.2.

Which of these two figures should I use?

Up until now I have always used the 40.5, but a few friends tell me I should be going by the 12.2.

Ant advice helpfull.

P.S. I will not be eating the beans, just used as an example.

Hello and welcome to the board!

You need the number of all carbs. Personally I wouldn't eat anything with sugar carbs! You can subtract the number of fiber carbs.

Up at the top of the page in the orange bar, you'll find useful information under "low carb tips."

Good luck to you!

Hi, Phil,

Glad to hear you'll be eating more than beans!

I'm new to this myself, but as I understand the Atkins method of counting carbs, you take the total carbs from the label and subtract out the fiber carbs to come up with a net carb value to count.

If you're following a plan other than Atkins, their counting method may be different. (I'm not very familiar with the others.)

Also, some plans emphasize avoiding the sugars as much as possible. I'm doing the Atkins plan, and I wouldn't even think about baked beans right now, not just because of the beans but because the sauce usually has lots of added sugar.

What helped me was getting hold of the Atkins book and reading it cover to cover. You might want to invest in a book discussing the details of whatever low-carb plan you've chosen.

Good luck!

Thank you both for your help.

I`m off to but the book again, I did have it but lent it out never to be seen again.

Thanks again.

Don't ya hate when that happens!