Net Carb Formula: Managing Weight Through Diet

It’s important to track your carbohydrate intake if you have diabetes, are trying to lose weight, or are following a special diet such as the ketogenic diet. But when it comes to the impact carbohydrates have on your body, it may be more appropriate to focus on your net carbohydrates. Net carbs equal total grams of carbohydrates minus grams of fiber and sugar alcohol.

Because fiber is not digested, it is believed that it does not have the same effect on the body as other grams of carbohydrate. Therefore, net carbohydrates are considered a more accurate carbohydrate count when calculating daily macronutrients.

This article will review the difference between total and net carbs and how to calculate net carbs.

First of all, How Are Net and Total Carbohydrates Different?

Total carbohydrates are the total grams of carbohydrates you consume in a day. You can find grams of carbohydrates in servings of food on nutrition labels or estimates of the amount of carbohydrates in foods such as fruits and vegetables from online calorie counters.

While simple carbohydrates are digested quickly and raise your blood sugar rapidly, complex carbohydrates are digested more slowly and raise blood sugar gradually.

Although carbohydrate-rich foods contain fiber, fiber cannot be digested and does not raise blood sugar. Therefore, fiber grams can be subtracted from your total carbs to determine your net carbs. This is the amount of carbohydrates that have an effect on your blood sugar.

The amount of net carbohydrates you consume in a day will vary from person to person, depending on your gender, weight, activity level, and health goals. Finding your daily macronutrient ratios can help you estimate your daily net carbohydrate intake.

Calculating Net Carbs in Food

Net carbohydrates in a food are calculated by subtracting the grams of indigestible carbohydrates. This mainly includes fiber, but sugar alcohols can also affect your net carb count.

What to Remove

Net carbs are calculated by subtracting the grams of fiber you consume in a day from your total carbohydrate amount. For example, if you consume a food that contains 20 grams of carbohydrates and 5 grams of fiber, subtracting 5 from 20 gives you 15 net carbohydrates.

Factors to consider

Sugar alcohols are compounds found in processed foods that taste sweet but have a different molecular structure than sugar. Sugar alcohols only slightly increase blood sugar or do not raise blood sugar at all.

Examples of sugar alcohols include:

• sorbitol
• xylitol
• mannitol
• isomalt
• maltitol
• lacticol

Because sugar alcohols are difficult for your body to digest, consuming too much sugar alcohol can cause digestive problems such as gas, cramps, and diarrhea. Ideally, it is best not to consume sugar alcohols.

Why Do People Calculate Net Carbs?

For people with diabetes treated with insulin, it is important to have the most accurate carbohydrate count to better control your blood sugar. Calculating net carbs can help you understand the impact of foods on blood sugar. Complex carbohydrates that contain fiber are digested more slowly than simple carbohydrates and may help you regulate your blood sugar more effectively.

If you’re on a low-carb or keto diet, your carbs are limited, so calculating your net carbs can help you determine a more accurate daily intake.

The keto diet generally limits daily carbohydrate intake to less than 50 grams, so understanding the impact of fiber on the total carbohydrate count can give you extra room to consume over 50 grams of carbohydrates in your diet if carbohydrates are removed from fiber.

The Verdict on Net Carbs: Are They Worth Counting?

Since there is no official consensus or regulatory definition of net carbohydrates by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), net carbohydrate calculations may not always be accurate. If you have a condition that requires you to strictly monitor your carbohydrate count, such as diabetes, it is best to work with a qualified healthcare professional to create the diet plan that works best for you.

Summary

Net carbs are calculated by subtracting grams of fiber from the total grams of carbohydrates consumed in a day. Because fiber is not digested, it has no effect on blood sugar and is subtracted from total carbohydrates to determine the amount of carbohydrates that have an effect on blood sugar.

Sugar alcohols can also have an impact on net carbohydrates because they are difficult to digest. There is no legal definition or parameter when calculating net carbs; Therefore, if you need to keep a close eye on carbohydrates for medical reasons, it is best to work with a healthcare professional to monitor your diet.