Poll: Total Carbs Vs Net Carbs

(Teri) #42

If I counted total I’d never get enough fiber. And this is coming from a chronically constipated person who didn’t become regular until starting keto (I know, tmi)… but I have to get 20-25 grams of fiber a day or nothing is gonna move. And I will be miserable. So my goal is to only have food with carbs if fiber is included.
If I count net I have no problem getting that, and still staying in ketosis. It may be different for everyone, but fiber doesn’t affect my ketone levels, but it certainly affects my comfort.

(Chris) #43

Incidentally, fiber was the culprit for my 33 year constipation. Getting rid of it completely fixed my digestion.

(less is more, more or less) #44

The siren song of “counting total is too limiting” is powerfully persuasive, but misleading.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #45

Are you getting enough salt? We need 5 grams daily of sodium for optimal health, which translates to 12.5 g or 2-1/2 U.S. teaspoons of table salt.

I find that when I keep my salt intake up, I don’t get constipated. Dr. Phinney explains how this works in one of his recent lectures, but though salt may help my digestion, it doesn’t help my memory, alas! . . . :grin:

(Teri) #47

I found that my issue wasn’t the fiber, it was not getting enough water. I started drinking around 12–15 glasses a day and bam, everything started working properly. But I don’t drink anything else except one cup of BPC and a glass of cashew milk daily, and that’s for the calcium and vitamin D. Otherwise I’m fine with just water. I don’t do sugar free drinks or anything like that. Of course I pee constantly, but at least I know I’m hydrated and now I have no bathroom issues.

(Teri) #48

I was constipated before keto. Not anymore. And I’m not sure about my salt intake pre-keto… but I get plenty now. At the beginning of my keto journey I was getting too much even. I was salting everything because I was worried about my electrolytes, then I realized just how much overboard I was going. Now I’m good and have my salt, water, and fiber intakes all leveled out and will go to the bathroom 2 times a day at least. I used to go once a week at times. Seriously. Keto changed my digestive system in that regard 100%, although it obviously changed it in many, many ways.

(KCKO, KCFO) #49

When tracking, I do net carbs, but I also do not buy into the sugar alcohol doesn’t count, why wouldn’t it. I just sub fiber counts to get to net carbs. Majority of my carbs are green things anyway. Others come from yogurt and high fiber veggies like cauliflower and broccoli. No high starchy veggies. And no grains anymore. So nuts round out my carbs.

Worked for me along with fasting, 1.5 yrs into maintenance this month.

(Running from stupidity) #50

Because it doesn’t metabolise, much like fibre?

(less is more, more or less) #51

This is my n=1 and not an extrinsic explanation. These fungible unicorn carbs are but trojan horses that lead to overeating. Even if these items, alone, don’t metabolize, that’s insufficient towards understanding how they keep our trap door open.

The fiber or sugar alcohol carb is the sidecar on the overeating express.

Thanks to this discussion I have a new proposition for the “netters.” Count total but increase the total you allow. It’s honestly what you’re doing, anyhow.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #52

Not for me. In my head the discussion goes like this, “No you can’t have delicious sweets but you CAN make your own fake sweet” (with above mentioned unicorns) and this STOPS me from jumping on the carb train, not encourages it. Again. Me, not everyone.

#53

I answered in favour of Total Carbs, I think theres maybe 2-3 carbs in the two eggs I eat for breakfast, none in the meat I eat for dinner. Feel free to correct.

(Justin Jordan) #54

That depends entirely on the sugar alcohol (and maybe the individual) - erythiritol seems to have genuinely no effect on me, but every other sugar alcohol affects my blood sugar in the long term exactly like the equivalent amount of carbs would.

I say in the long term - they tend to show no reaction at two or four hours, but my fasting the next morning rises. That said, there’s some I haven’t tried. The same thing tends to apply to fancy engineered fibers.

(Matthew Kiel) #55

Like a worst-case scenario… I totally understand this approach. I think it will be different for everyone as far as carb-restriction effectiveness goes. It might also be very useful when considering fiber in your diet. Some say we don’t really need any (or much). So this would be an easy way of keeping that in check as well, without specifically counting/tracking it. :wink:

(Matthew Kiel) #56

Not sure exactly how much fiber helps digestion, especially in a carb-poor diet, but there is an episode that talks about it and links to a book: 2ketodudes, episode 40

I know that fiber helped me (along with fish oil) dramatically drop my cholesterol levels, but i was not keto then - just SAD. Now, i eat hardly any fiber at all (too few veggies in general, some would say) and go about once a day or two - especially when fasting lots. I used to be like clockwork, 3 times a day. I’m okay with this change, personally.

Good luck figuring it out for your body! :smiley:

(Yogi Cat) #57

This is a great question. I was counting just net calories but after watching Dr Berry’s video I will pay only attention to the total carbs. Except for the :broccoli: :smile: