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Meaning of carbohydrate "of which sugars"

Maybe everyone understands but in case they don't the % RI is the % of the official Recommend Intake of the various nutrients shown on the label based on a total of 2000 kcal per day. The powers that be think that only sugars are important rather than total carbohydrates which is why there is a %RI for sugar but not carbs. Low carbers ignore all this and are only concerned with the total carbs in grams per 100g of the product. (in the US net carbs = UK total carbs).
 
%ri is a myth based on what government thinks we should have each day. RI is recommended intake. Totally ignore this.

g/100g is the bit to look at. Carbs especially as for diabetics this is what matters.
Carbs will ALWAYS be higher or equal to sugar in the uk as sugars are a part of carbs. The reverse is not possible.

Per serving is only relevant if YOUR serving is the same size as theirs. Mine rarely are.
 

From what I could tell by the nutrition table, it is not 47% of 16% carbs are sugars. The percentages are the RI percentages. So, 42g carbs per portion is 16% of the Adult RI. Of the 42g carbs, 42g are sugars (i.e., all of the carbs are sugars), and the sugars are 47% of the Adult RI.
https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/product/coca-cola-medium.html
 
@ofwhichsugars
Hello and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful and interesting.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 235,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why

  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 
This topic has evolved a bit into recommended intake / RDA - recommended daily allowance. This is another area under scrutiny as some recommendations are seen as best guesses, I think this chap Frank Tufano makes some good points:

(Disclaimer: Frank doesn't particularly like the Vegan diet. I can't recall him being directly rude, but he interviews a lot of ex-Vegans, which has obvious implications for his beliefs and what he is hinting at. This video does not have him doing an interview, but just in case you wonder off to his other videos and you are a Vegan)
 
Great thread. I am the proud owner of a U classification in O Level Maths (ha! Beat you, @NicoleC1971! ) and I just look at the total carbs/100g on the back of the whatever it is. I tried explaining why you ignore the 'of which' to my mum when she was buying food but didn't get very far!
 
 

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So if I take 100 grams of sugar, of which 100 grams are carbs, it really is only 25 grams of sugar if I put it on teaspoons? My brains give me an error message now.

edit: Why would you put in teaspoons to confuse matters more? And it might be useful to mention that you ONLY divide by 4 if you want to measure your carbs in teaspoons of sugar. Sounds pretty complicated to me if I want to decide how much insulin to take...
 
Antje77 said:
So if I take 100 grams of sugar, of which 100 grams are carbs, it really is only 25 grams of sugar if I put it on teaspoons? My brains give me an error message now.
Click to expand...
Mine too?!
 
I remember now, people can equate visually teaspoons of sugar or sugar cubes easier - more gasps. E.g. a large baked potato is 18 teaspoons of sugar.
 
Mbaker said:
I remember now, people can equate visually teaspoons of sugar or sugar cubes easier - more gasps. E.g. a large baked potato is 18 teaspoons of sugar.
Click to expand...
Just confuses me more. I’ll stick to grams thanks
 
Mbaker said:
I remember now, people can equate visually teaspoons of sugar or sugar cubes easier - more gasps. E.g. a large baked potato is 18 teaspoons of sugar.
Click to expand...
The large baked potato tastes a lot better though
Must be an impressive potato too. According to your reckoning the potato in question here has 18 teaspoons of sugar, equalling (18x4=) 72 grams of carbs. Google says 17 grams of carbs per 100 grams for potato so your potato weighs close to a pound!
 
It's a little worse 19 teaspoons (remember baking adds carbs, I think boiling is the least, and mashing may be middling). Anyway around 2 mins 40 talks about baked potato:

 
Mbaker said:
It's a little worse 19 teaspoons (remember baking adds carbs, I think boiling is the least, and mashing may be middling). Anyway around 2 mins 40 talks about baked potato:

Click to expand...
No. Baking doesn't add carbs, and there is not '19 sugar cubes' in that potato. I think you need to check your sources.
 
How many heaped teaspoons of sugar in a medium bag of small potatoes?

 
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