If you care more about your net carbs than your net worth, you might want to take a step back and reevaluate. This concept started out as a gimmick for food manufacturers to market their products as “low carb,” and now it’s something a lot ketogenic diet promoters advise you to calculate.
But most nutrition experts say you don’t have to worry about how many net carbs you eat per day. So what’s the problem ? Here’s everything you need to know about net carbs.
What are net carbs?
Net carbs are what’s left over when you subtract from the total amount of carbs in a food the types of carbs that aren’t digested by the body.
Net Carbs vs Total Carbs
The difference between net carbs and total carbs comes down to the three basic types of carbohydrates — starches, sugar and fiber — and how each is processed by the body.
Total carbohydrates
It’s the raw amount of carbs in a serving of foods, including the three basic types mentioned above. Whether digestible or indigestible, simple or complexrefined or unrefined, it counts in the total.
net carbs
Some types of carbohydrates are not digested, which means they pass through your system without being converted into usable energy. Net carbs are what’s left after you subtract the carbs your body can’t digest.
For example, “your body handles digesting fiber differently than it handles sugar,” says Krista Maguire, RD, senior director of nutrition at BODi.
“Some of the fiber just passes through your digestive system intact, so it’s less likely to cause a spike in blood sugar.” This is why you don’t count fiber when calculating net carbs.
Are net carbs important?
First of all, carbohydrates are not inherently “bad”.
“Carbs often get a bad rap, but there are carbs that provide valuable nutrients, and then there are carbs that are pretty much just empty calories,” Maguire explains.
That said, he East important to monitor your consumption. Although they are an important source of fuel, carbohydrates are quickly broken down into sugarand any excess can be stored as fat.
The term “net carbs” is a marketing buzzword, which means it is not officially recognized by the FDA or any other health organization. But they can help you identify foods that are more conducive to maintaining normal blood sugar levels, because a “net carb” is any carbohydrate that can be converted to sugar.
How do you calculate net carbs?
No need for a fancy net carb calculator, just take the total carb count and subtract the grams of indigestible carbs. What’s left are the net carbs.
What types of carbs are subtracted from the total?
There are three types of carbs that can be deducted from your total carb intake to lower your “net carb” count.
Fiber
Alimentary fiber passes through your digestive system without being broken down or absorbed. It also feeds the good bacteria in your gut and helps move food through your system more efficiently.
There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble.
Soluble fiber absorbs water, which can help you feel full. Examples include nuts, beans, seeds, oats, and certain fruits and vegetables.
Insoluble fiber, which does not absorb water, can help speed up the passage of food through the digestive tract. Examples include fruit and vegetable skins, brown rice, and cereals.
Since fiber is not digested, using the “net carbs” approach, it can be subtracted from the total number of carbohydrates in a food. Sometimes you can even find a food with no net carbs. This means that the fiber content “negates” all other carbohydrates.
Resistant starch
Resistant starch has been shown increase fat oxidation, so it has garnered a lot of attention as a possible miracle carb for weight loss. And like fiber, your body can’t break it down (it, um, resists digestion), so it doesn’t count towards your carb total.
A popular source of resistant starch is green banana flour. While he has 24 grams of carbs per 30g servingit is often claimed that 60-80% of its carbohydrates come from indigestible carbohydrates including resistant starch, so they’re not thought to have a big impact on blood sugar.
sugar alcohols
Sugar alcohols are made from natural sources such as cornstarch, sugar cane, and whey. (And no, they won’t get you drunk.) You’re probably consuming more than you think; they include common “sugar-free” sweeteners like sorbitol and xylitol.
Unlike fiber and resistant starch, your body do digest sugar alcohols – but they don’t affect your blood sugar as much as real sugar.
While some manufacturers claim that sugar alcohols have no impact on your blood sugar, the University of California San Francisco Diabetes Education Center suggests dividing the difference and counting half the sugar alcohol content.
Here’s where it can get sticky: some manufacturers may still subtract all sugar alcohol content from their promoted carb count. So check nutrition labels carefully. If a product says it’s sugar-free but contains sugar alcohols, it can still affect your blood sugar. And because sugar alcohols can be more difficult for the body to digest, they could cause certain digestive discomforts (gas, bloating, etc.).
Do whole grains have fewer net carbs?
Whole grains retain their outer shells, or brans, which are generally very high in fiber – so yes, whole-grain foods tend to have fewer net carbs than their starchy white counterparts. Of course, the extra fiber doesn’t completely negate the carbs, so you should always watch your portions.
But it’s important to note that net carbs aren’t the only thing to consider when choosing a food. There are many others reasons to eat whole grains.
When grains are refined, they are stripped of their fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other phytonutrients, but all of that good stuff is still found in whole grains.
Whole grains too decompose more slowly than refined carbs, so they’re less likely to spike your blood sugar.
Plus, all that fiber tends to keep trains on time, if you know what we mean.
What are “empty carbs”?
The term “empty carbs” generally refers to carbs that don’t offer much nutritional value. Sugary drinks, white bread, candy, and alcohol fall into this category.
Empty carbs count towards your net carbs, but not all net carbs are empty carbs. Many foods — fruits, vegetables, grains — can have an effect on your blood sugar, but also provide many nutritional benefits.
Which foods are low in net carbs?
The net carb count is not always reliable. Although information on fiber content is readily available from the USDA, it can be difficult to calculate resistant starch content, which can change with a food’s maturity or even how it is prepared and chilled.
Different sources cite different amounts – although oats, legumes and potatoes all contain substantial amounts resistant starch — but here are a few high fiber foods you might consider adding to your diet:
- Lenses. Lentils are an excellent source of vegetable protein. They contain almost 18 grams of protein per cupand 16 grams of fiber.
- Total carbohydrates per cup: 40 grams. Net carbs: 24 grams.
- Artichokes. A cooked artichoke contains 7 grams of fiber.
- Total carbohydrates per artichoke: 14 grams. Net carbs: 7 grams.
- Raspberries. Raspberries are an excellent source of vitamin Cbut they also have enough fiber to cut their net carb count in half.
- Total carbohydrates per cup: 15 grams. Net carbs: 7 grams.
Should I count net carbs?
Maguire says there’s no need to worry about counting net carbs, even if you live with diabetes or try the keto diet. THE American Diabetes Association advise diabetics to watch total carbohydrates in foods and monitor their blood sugar to see how different foods affect it.
Those following a ketogenic diet can only know if they are in ketosis by testing for ketone bodies. “No one officially knows the impact of fiber on ketosis,” Maguire says.
If you’re concerned about your carb intake, talk to a dietitian. Otherwise, forget net carbs.
“Balancing blood sugar doesn’t come from a mathematical equation,” says Maguire. “It’s simple to do by consuming a balanced diet filled with naturally healthy foods that also provide a myriad of benefits besides blood sugar balance.”