Can anyone just simplify how to read a food package for carbs. On the back of most packaging it’ll say “per 100g”. So how many grams of carbs for the “per 100g” would be low carb foods to go for ???? If that makes sense??
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Carbohydrate & Food Labels
- Thread starter Connie79
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HSSS
Expert
Well a true low carb item would be under 10g imo and a very low carb under 5g /100g. BUT, it depends how much of it you’ll eat. If you are only having a small amount you can go a bit higher. If it’s half your plate stay low. So there’s a difference between a low carb item and a low carb diet.
It’s worth counting the carbs in your portion size even if only for a week or two to get an idea how many your typical foods contain. Add that to a meter reading before and after eating it and you’ll have a great idea what foods and how much work for you.
It’s worth counting the carbs in your portion size even if only for a week or two to get an idea how many your typical foods contain. Add that to a meter reading before and after eating it and you’ll have a great idea what foods and how much work for you.
HSSS
Expert
And in the uk as a type 2 or pre diabetic ignore the “of which sugars” part and focus on the carbs. Sugar is only really relevant for understanding how much of the carb glucose hit will hit fast as opposed to a bit slower and more relevant for type 1 possibly.
Fibre is already separated out in Europe and Australia. Don’t get confused with USA recipes and articles which have fibre included and you need to deduct it yourself. (Note the spelling diff as a big clue which you’re looking at).
Fibre is already separated out in Europe and Australia. Don’t get confused with USA recipes and articles which have fibre included and you need to deduct it yourself. (Note the spelling diff as a big clue which you’re looking at).
HSSS
Expert
Try measuring out a fixed amount in a jug (and count the carbs in it) and see how many cups that makes you.
Or measure how much you use in each cuppa
if it’s too many for you you could try a fake milk (check carbs and ingredients) have it black or switch to a different tea. When I’m being strict keto I use herbal teas etc because I don’t expect them to have milk (or sweetener/sugar) the way I do breakfast/builders tea
That'll work. I weigh the milk I use in my coffee rather than measure by volume but it's such a small amount the difference is probably negligible, depending on how much you have, whether you go by volume or weight (carbs will be in weight either way). I don't measure the milk in every single coffee I make but usually do it once a week to keep my eyeball judgements "calibrated"
Edit: I see you drink "lots" so maybe a jug is the better way to go
That’s great thank you. At the moment my carbs are coming from veg. And I am having half a plate of veg. So I’ll look into that. Thank you.
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It’s not really as simple as rejecting anything with more than Xgr per 100gr, because it will depend on the portion size etc.
For instance, we’re I fixated by, say, Cranberry Sauce (I’m not. It is vile, but never mind that bit. ), Asda tells me it has 37gr carb per 100gr, but that would be more than a third of the jar.
We’re I to have a spoonful as a condiment to a meal, that’d be far less than 100gr, and therefor fewer grams of carb.
For such an example, it would depend how much I’d have and how often, and whether I enjoyed it enough.
Yes that’s very true. I was more trying to find out which foods I can readily buy by a quick glance at that to give me an idea then obviously as I’ve found out it’s portion size lol. Maybe I’m eating too many vegetables. I take it protein has no carbs in? Fish? Meat? Cheese? And butter? But WOW this is such a learning curve. Trying to retrain my brain for this low carb high fat diet rather than an old Slimmingworld diet where you could pile your plate high with veg. Not the case when I’m trying to revise pre diabetes.
Thank you for your replies.
Starting to track what I eat and my BG 2 hrs after to give me an idea of where I need to cut back etc x
HSSS
Expert
Have you read this taken from my signature below. It might get you started more easily.
Intro to T2 and low carb. https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html
All the things I wish I’d been told earlier https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/th...ish-i’d-been-told-at-type-2-diagnosis.173817/
foods are rarely entirely carb/protein/fat. There’s usually at least a tiny trace of each in most things but often not enough to be concerned over. And it doesn’t have to be huge amounts of fat if you are wearing lots in your body. Just it’s not low fat. High is a relative term depending on your starting point and outlooki. Adjust the fat to keep you full though as hunger often means misery or gorging on junk.
Stick to real food that has as few extra things added as possible to the way it grew (plant or animal). Read the ingredient list. Do you recognise the contents as food or are they chemicals?
Think about what your protein is coated in (breadcrumbs, sauces etc) or what’s been added to it (breadcrumbs again, flours, sugar even).
Real cheeses will be fine for carbs in almost all cases, just watch added fruits maybe.
Butter is good. Avoid oils like vegetable and any seed based ones. Highly Processed and full of inflammatory omega 6’s and being blamed for a lot of the metabolic issues we have. Stick to butter, ghee, olive and coconut oil etc
HSSS
Expert
Carbs on milk bottles are listed per 100ml volume not 100g weight of milk. (4.8g per 100ml for semi skimmed which for me is quite a few cups of tea). Admittedly probably not a lot difference weight or volume as it’s a liquid close to water.
It does pay to check the labels though for things that have a fluid like consistency (sauces etc) as some are weight and some volume and sometimes it matters more. Eg ice cream is one that springs to mind (not that there’s many store sold ones worth considering even a small amount of)
HSSS
Expert
Which veg? They are not all equal.
Low-Carb Vegetables – Visual Guide to the Best and Worst — Diet Doctor
What are the best and the worst low-carb vegetables? There is a simple rule, vegetables growing above ground are low carb and can be eaten freely.
www.dietdoctor.com
I’ll have a look thanks.
I’m eating now
Bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, chicken, 5% beef mince, heck sausages, brocolli, cauliflower, asparagus (although I’m not keen), carrots, Brussels, Greek style or Greek yoghurt, raspberries and blackberries and babybel light cheese ????? Using no added sugar orange squash though too and a drop of semi skimmed milk in my coffee once a day. I’ve switched from fry light to olive oil for the good fats and a snack of mixed nuts if I fancy. But that’s about it so far. X
HSSS
Expert
That looks great.
Carrots are the only thing that might be an issue. They aren’t awful but some people do react more to them than others do. I’d recommend a bit of caution. No need for 5% mince. The fat that comes with it is fine and it’s cheaper and more filling to have a higher %. I use a lot of cabbage shredded and fried quickly in butter/ghee with spices/herbs added. Most green veg with the exception of peas are pretty good. Be careful of cashews and pistachios as they are higher carb nuts And easy to keep eating by the handful.
Ahh excellent. Thank you. Think I have a rough idea which way to go now. Thank you so much x
