Counting Carbs


(Omar Agha) #1

Hi All,

Great forum, glad I found so many knowledgable people.

I’m in the uk and I use myfitnesspal to track my macros, which I got from ruled.ne

Regarding carbs, fibre and net carbs, on myfitnesspal it doesnt (I think) track net carbs, is it a simple case of deducting the total fibre from the carbs, to get my net on a daily basis ?

Now I scan most of the food via bar codes but again (I think) UK carb count on labels is already net ?

So any UK based Keto’er using Myfitnesspal, I’d be keen to hear from you.

Cheers


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

I would compare the amounts on the nutrition label of a couple of products with the equivalent MFP listings, just to be sure. My understanding is that the database is different for some of these apps, depending on which country you’re in. You really don’t want to be subtracting fiber from a number that’s already had it subtracted!


(Running from stupidity) #3

Or move to a better app.


(Robert C) #4

Always count total carbs for anything manufactured. Games are played on those labels. For things without labels (brocoli, beef etc.) use net carbs from a trusted source.


#5

“Net carbs” have gotten complicated these days. Three things to be concerned about:

  • Fiber. Most forms are not digestible, so they can generally be subtracted out.
  • Sugar alcohols vary in digestibility. Some, like erythritol, can be subtracted out completely. Others, like Xylitol and Maltitol, still have over 2 calories per gram, so should really only be half-subtracted.
  • Allulose. It’s a sugar, but has nearly no digestible component (1/10th that of sugar). But because it’s listed on nutritional labels as part of the carbohydrates, there’s no way to subtract it out. But most products using Allulose will state the net carbs on their packaging.

Also, be aware that most countries outside of the USA already subtract out non-digestible carbohydrates on their labels, so you would do no subtracting. That’s why you can sometimes find nutritional labels where there are more fiber grams than carbohydrate grams.