Looking for a website or thread that explains carbs. I see on packages it will say 5 g net carbs. I look at the nutrition facts and it shows 18 g carbs. Under that it will have sugars and fibers listed. I am guessing that these somehow are subtracted to come up with net carbs. I am still pre-op but want to make sure I understand how to figure these. I know my luck I will be thinking I am getting 25 g a carb a day but actually getting 75g. I know nothing about carbs with the DS except usually causes gas and weight gain. LOL. Thanks
Google it. Not to be a mean girl, but it will probably stick with you longer if you read about it. Basic nutrition should be a part of every WLS patient's research. See if you can find a college text book on introduction to nutrition.
This is a pretty good site if you ignore the numbers: http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/carbs.html Here's an explanation of net carbs: http://www.atkins.com/Science/Articles---Library/Carbohydrates/What-are-Net-Carbs-.aspx Some people go by this and some people just count carbs. @southernlady , Liz, I'm pretty sure just counts all carbs. I've never counted carbs- I only count protein and then try to keep my carbs on the lower end.
^^Shannon is correct, I do NOT count net carbs.. To me, it's voodoo math. http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2010/aug/what-are-net-carbs.html I was counting carbs since 1997 when I discovered I was diabetic. When the "net" carb craze started, I looked at it and more importantly tested it against my glucose meter. Turns out, I had to count fiber and sugar alcohols in my insulin dosing or get all screwed up. It is FAR easier just to count all of them. So while some DS'er's count just net in their quest to stay under 50 (or whatever number they've decided on). I stay under 120 almost all the time, and try to stay under 100. It works for me. Confused yet?
Simplest method: Ignore all the fancy bullshit about numbers and look at "carbohydrate" and count that. The End.
I have never tried to understand the net carb thing but I think as long as you are consistent it doesn't matter. like, under X many total or under Y net - just pick one and always do it that way. then see how it goes (how you feel, etc).. seems like total would be easier than net.
Read the Atkins books. Look at induction. You should stay on this most of the time. It's mostly meat, cheese, and eggs with low carb veggies like green beans. This is what you do to maximize the weight loss window. Grains, sugars, white foods are bad. You avoid them like crazy. Starchy foods are bad. The idea is to get your body into ketosis. Force it to burn it's own fat and convert fat to sugar(glycogenesis). You can find out if you are successful by getting some ketosticks at the pharmacy. They are expensive and you can get twice as much by cutting them in half lengthwise. You want ketones in your urine and the darker purple, the better. Test once a day in the morning and you want them to be purple. If they don't turn purple you are getting carbs somewhere. Processed foods are full of extra sugars. There's lots you can eat, you just have to be careful what you eat! So what's a ketone? First you have to understand how the body stores fat. Molecular fat is stored as ATP, adenosine tri phosphate. Ketone bodies are what holds, bonds, the three phosphates. When your body has to use your own fat for fuel, it takes one of the phosphates, the ATP becomes ADP(adenosine di phosphate) and the ketone body is excreted in your urine. Clear as mud, right?
Yes Atkins is where I had seen the "net carbs". I had seen some protein bars that had 5 net carbs on the front but then saw in the nutrition facts that carbs were listed as 18g so that is when I got confused. The Atkins link that @shann and @stanh gave me explained what I was questioning. I am going to do what @Elizabeth N. said just find carbohydrate and count it. Thanks for stirring the mud puddle @Munchkin. Just teasing that is really great info. I will pick up some of the ketosticks for sure.
OMG, @Munchkin , I had no idea you were such a Smarty Pants. When I need something explained, I'm going to be calling on YOU. I'm a hard learner, and I understood everything you said.
They're not purely a marketing tool. The idea of net carbs vs total carbs is that only net carbs are available to be used by your body as fuel, and can therefore affect whether you go into ketosis or not. Fibre and sugar alcohols pass through your body unchanged (although for some people, sugar alcohols can hamper weight loss, according to Atkins).
Sugar alcohols and excess fiber (separately as well as together) give me some serious shits. So I read carb labels for "net" carbs as a warning system .
I do too...if it's above 6 sugar alcohols, I don't bother. And 6 are bad enough. Need to stay below 5 for an entire DAY!
