Carb counting book, (follow up to carbs in Rhubarb!)

[phoenix]

Reading Kens Post about possible errors in the Gem carb counter, I dusted mine off (I never did like it) and did some checking
I must admit I never understood the relevance of net carbs to a British readership . I supect the original book was aimed or derived from a North American source but repackaged with some UK items added. ( interestingly, it also has a Canadian price as well as a UK one).
On page 52 of the book it actually says (talking about labels on food)
Remember : to calculate net carbs , you can subtract the fibre content per portion from the carbohydrate content.
Unless things have quietly changed (??) with European labels this is not the case. Carbs and fibre are listed separately, our carbs are 'net' carbs, fibre is not included. In the US (and possibly Canada) fibre is listed as part of the total carb content so to get net carbs you quite validly subtract the fibre. If you do this with figures from a UK source, as far as I can see you get a falsely low figure.
(for more explanation) http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/news/net-carbs.htm I spent ages looking for an official source but couldn't find one .....this site agrees with what I've always understood.

3 examples
Quaker Oats per 100gms (source British website)
Carbs 60, fibre 9g
Quaker Oats (source Gem Carb counter)
Carbs 62 Fibre 7 Net carbs 55 (probably wouldn't make much difference give a portion of 30-40g)

wholemeal spaghetti 100 g cooked Source Widdowson
Carbs 23.2, fibre 3.5g
wholemeal spaghetti 100g cooked Source Gem carb Counter
Carbs 23.2, fibre 3.5g net carbs 19.5
(on a portion of 200g cooked weight difference 7 carbs)

Heinz Baked Beans per 100g (source label)
carbs 12.9 fibre 3.7
Baked Beans per 100g (source Widdowson, average 3 brands)
carbs 11. fibre 2.8
Baked Beans (source Gem carb counter (200g given so divided by 2)
carbs 15.3 fibre 6.9 net carb 8.4
( a third more than the actual carbs in Heinz, given an 'average portion of baked beans as 200g, I would underdose by 1u if I used the book figure ...and ate baked beans, horrible things )

 

[cugila]

Hi Phoenix.

All I want is a book or source that gives me the right numbers for the right food and for me to know that it's right ? When you pay good money for something you don't expect discrepancies. Neither do you need to be trawling the net for information. :? Most of the quoted UK sources end up at the same researchers door ? So basically, it is down to one organisation or team that have complied the information to be given out to everybody else. So therefore any mistakes are compounded ?

Great system. :?

Ken.

 

[kegstore]

I now tend to work from the label on individual products, using the quoted carb figure as "net", which seems to work for me in Europe. But some products do not even list fibre which is quite irritating, and no further indication is given as to whether carb is "gross" or "net" on same label. For some products this makes little difference. For others, like pasta, the difference can be quite significant, all it takes for me to go hypo is 1 unit too much insulin. Very frustrating...