Net carbs or actual carbs?

#1

I am trying to get this keto thing figured out! 6 weeks in and I realize that I didn’t research it nearly as well as I should have. I thought it was just cutting back on carbs and eating all the meat and fat I wanted…so, now that I got that part figured out I’m confused about the carb count. I was counting each carb, until the other day I saw where you subtract the fiber and go with net carbs. Yay!! Now I can eat a Quest bar without guilt! But then, I see where that idea isn’t true. So which is correct?

(Chris W) #2

Which every you would like, some people believe that total carb is the limit some people believe only in net. The limit is low enough either way that you should not have an issue remaining in ketosis if you are below it daily.
Personally I only deduct fiber from my leafy greens, things like peanut butter I do not.

#3

Net carbs is what is typically counted - though for some folks that are extra sensitive they may go with total carbs. Keto carb count is usually under 20 net carbs per day; moderate protein, high fat to make up the rest whilst eating to satiety.

(Chris W) #4

Also you can get yourself into trouble if you eat all the protein and fat you want, I recommend you eat to your protein macro levels for the first 4-6 weeks.
Fat eat until full, for the first few weeks, trying to make the macro. After being keto adapted you should target your macro pretty closely, until fat adaption. With fat I don’t recommend being lower than maintaining your weight. Barring any metabolic dysfunction that would take about 8 weeks to get to fat adaption.

#5

Thanks for the feedback. I just jumped in without much thought. It’s a learning experience, hoping to get “fat adapted” soon!

(Chris W) #6

Its a while down the road, I recommend you listen to the dudes podcasts, the first 10 or so are very helpful( got hooked after 3-4 of them) I recommend you listen to all of them the info is amazing. There are a few basic rules of thumb to this WOE(way of eating) but that 20g is pretty much the top one on everyone’s list.

(Angelica Lopez) #7

You subtract the fiber ones because they do not affect your blood sugar. Since you are new to keto, Quest bars aren’t really the best idea. They contain a lot of sugar alcohols. I know a lot of people do keto at different levels, so I’m not saying you are necessarily wrong for eating them, but I feel it is most effective when the we first kill our sweet tooth by abstaining from our cravings for a while.

(Rob) #8

There’s plenty to feel guilty about since nothing in it bears any relationship to a whole food but net carbs may not be the issue. Having said that, the way Quest bars ‘game’ the carb count (cheap sugar alcohols and weird protein isolates) may well not work for everyone’s metabolism since what works in a lab doesn’t necessarily work for all people. Eat 'em if you have to but they are not a good keto food.

#9

Where are you?

In the UK the fibre is already subtracted on the nutrition label, so we just count the total carbs without having to factor the fibre in.

In the US, the labels include fibre in the carbs, so the fibre needs to be subtracted to get the amount of carbs that count (as it were).

I would expect other countries to have their own variations on this too.

Because I have a Very Small Brain, I always freeze like a rabbit in the headlights whenever someone says ‘Net’ anything. I have never felt confident that I understand the term, despite being lectured at tedious length on the subject by various school teachers, my husband, and colleagues. Whatever info they impart just dribbles out of my ears, and I default to ‘eek! ‘net’ - that is something I get wrong 100% of the time, isn’t it?’.
So I avoid the term wherever possible. :sunglasses:
Call me a Netphobe, is you like, but for heaven’s sake don’t lecture me on it.