Carb count question

[Mumba]

I'm brand new - just bought the book today!
I have a question about carb counts.
If a label looks something like this:
Total Carbs 10
Protein 5
Sugars 5

Is the net carb count 10? or 5?
Are the sugars already counted in the Total Carbs?
I was a little confused as I was reading the "label reading section".
Thanks!

[moose61]

Hi Mumba, and welcome!

The label you're looking at would be 10 net carbs. If it was 10 total carbs, 4 grams fiber and 3 grams sugar alcohols, it would be 3 net grams. Total minus fiber minus sugar alcohols gives you net carbs.

[shawn116]

Hi Mumba 

Welcome to the FTS forum      Don't worry it won't be long and you will be a pro at reading those and spotting the hidden sugar.  Assuming there is no fiber in your example there would be 10 net carbs

The only counts that you need to worry with are the total carbohydrates - any fiber - any sugar alcohol  (not to be confused with just sugar.  Usually sugar alcohol won't be listed if there isn't any in the product.)

Here are a few examples of labels you may find.
The first example is of Golden flax meal.  Total carbohydrates = 4g - 4g fiber = 0g net carbs  (notice there are no sugar alcohols in this)

The next example is of some sugar free candy.  Total carbohydrate = 8g - 6g fiber - 1g sugar alcohol = 1g net carbs per serving.  (also note the there are two servings in this package)

So total carbs - fiber = net carbs     OR  total carbs - fiber - sugar alcohol = net carbs

I hope this helps    Again welcome to the family     

[Andrea]

Welcome to the forum, Mumba.  Come and visit us as often as you can.  We love new friends.

[Doug Varrieur]

Hi Mumba, welcome to the family! You received great answers. Visit and post often! 

[umpa]

Welcome Mumba! I am Umpa,Dougs wife if I can help you please ask.I have a column on the homepage called ask umpa where I can convert your favorite foods to fat to skinny friendly. Learn to read labels and ingredient lists

[mouseissue]

Welcome to the FTS family, Mumba!!!

TooSweet is right!... After a while, reading these labels for carbs will get very easy.

One word of caution... Some manufacturers of prepackaged foods "fudge" the carb numbers.
This is because the FDA is not very strict about how carbs are reported.

However, one thing the FDA is strict about that will help you is how ingredients are listed.
Ingredients MUST be listed by order of volume per serving.

Before I buy a product, I'll check the Nutrition Info label for net carb content.
If the net count looks good, I'll then read the ingredients list.
If ANY of the first three ingredients is known to be high carb (e.g. wheat, rice, etc.),
I won't buy the product!

I'm looking forward to hearing about more about your FTS journey!

Tony

[npakergy16]

Hi Mumba, and welcome!

The label you're looking at would be 10 net carbs. If it was 10 total carbs, 4 grams fiber and 3 grams sugar alcohols, it would be 3 net grams. Total minus fiber minus sugar alcohols gives you net carbs.

This. Fiber does not count as carbohydrayes.

[shawn116]

Hi npakergy16  Welcome to the FTS forum family!!      

You are correct here.  The fiber carbohydrates are not absorbed by the body therefore they are subtracted from the total carbohydrates along with any sugar alcohols that the item may have.