What are 'net carbs'?

[Guna108]

Hi. I bought the book Carbs and Cals, but several of the carbs have different values according to different websites. Where is the most accurate place to find out how many carbs are in a type of food? Also, do you count the total carbs shown on the nutrition panel on the packaging or do you subtract the fibre or sugar carbs from it to get the amount of carbs?

 

[Goonergal]

Hi @Guna108

Carb values can vary by brand. Best place to check is on the packaging (if there is any). Otherwise supermarket websites are a good source of information.

In the UK carbs are displayed minus fibre, so on items bought in the UK just count the total carbs.

In the USA (possibly other places too) you need to deduct the fibre from the total carbs, hence the term ‘net carbs’.

Ignore the ‘of which sugars’ figure.

 

[HSSS]

Total carbs are what are listed in the US. It includes carbs and fibER. In the UK our labels separate out the fibRE. The USA need to deduct fibER from their carb figures to get net carbs. In the UK we already have net carbs listed and don’t need to do any maths.

Most UK people (and those in here) and some US only count net carbs because fibre isn’t absorbed and to count that too unnecessarily restricts choice.

Pay no attention to the line that says “of which sugars”. They are already included in the carbs count and it’s carbs that count not just sugars.

As to variations on websites it might be the net/gross difference. It might be user error. It might be different varieties of a food or ingredients or perhaps different quantities being compared. Cups/portions/100g etc. Carbs and calories is well used in here. I’d be cautious of the above discrepancies online but I’ve always used websites as I don’t have the book.

 

[Guna108]

Hi @Guna108

Carb values can vary by brand. Best place to check is on the packaging (if there is any). Otherwise supermarket websites are a good source of information.

In the UK carbs are displayed minus fibre, so on items bought in the UK just count the total carbs.

In the USA (possibly other places too) you need to deduct the fibre from the total carbs, hence the term ‘net carbs’.

Ignore the ‘of which sugars’ figure.

@Goonergal . Thanks from a fellow Gooner. I am just trying to plan meals for when I come off my vlcd (3 shakes a day). The other night I looked up asparagus and on the 6 sites I checked each one had a different value for the carbs and calories too.

 

[Goonergal]

@Goonergal . Thanks from a fellow Gooner. I am just trying to plan meals for when I come off my vlcd (3 shakes a day). The other night I looked up asparagus and on the 6 sites I checked each one had a different value for the carbs and calories too.

Always good to meet another Gooner. I tend not to trust sites like fatsecret as they often rely on user input information. I’d rather use the supermarket sites or something like dietdoctor. I input all my own values into my food tracker.