Carbs vs. Net Carbs

Hi ya'll,

Texas Rig Diver and I have been discussing the carb vs net carb issue. He's post op DS and I'm preop VSG (Jan 7). 

Do you count total carbs or net carbs?  We've been counting total carbs since that's what we're used to doing. We see many people, here, enjoying Quest products including the peanut butter cups. The Quest website shows these have 10 grams of carbs with 3 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar alcohols for total activ e carbs of 4. 

So, again, which do you consider? Whole carbs or net carbs?

Good Question - I have always counted total carbs.

You will get both responses here, some do count total and some do not.

If you do a search for net carbs you will find the threads with most helpful info.

I do total carbs.  My Doctor required a 30 gram of carb or less diet before surgery and it was total carb because the goal was to shrink your liver and get rid of the glucose.  In order to do that your total carbs need to be less than 50 grams according to my nutritionist.

Isn't it weird how there are so many different theories about this?

My pre-op diet was 120 grams of carbs which shocked me because I haven't eaten that many carbs in a long time. Mind you, it was veggie carbs mostly. I didn't eat all the carbs, but because of how limited the diet was I did end up eating at least 85 grams everyday. After surgery my surgeon said my liver was paper-thin. Some surgeons don't give pre-op diets at all!

I guess each doctor has their own theory but it sure doesn't seem even close to standardized.

A carb is a carb is a carb for me during the weight loss phase.....

I count total carbs and aim for between 20-40 grams a day but closer to 20 makes me have the most optimal weight loss.

Since I also enjoy quest bars i count net carbs, reason being fiber is insoluble and passes through the system. It has little to no affect on glucose production and would not single handidly knock someone out of ketosis.

I do total carbs. I have always considered the whole "net carb thing" to be rather gimmicky. There is so, so much nutritional info that is both confusing and conflicting, so I say stick with the basics.

We know some actual truths about protein, fiber, carbs, fats, vitamins, etc and fiddling around with "how you count things" reminds me of my old dieting days when I was looking for a magic solution.

Annie

I just did a review on Quest bars, They are tasty. When speaking to the reps there I asked about the Carbs and Net carb thing.

A carb a 4 calories per gram and so does protein
Fat has 9 calories per gram

When I added up the numbers on the nutrition label it didnt add up.

So when speaking to the reps, i asked them to clear that up.

They told me they take the net carbs at count them as 4 cals each, the fiber thats loaded into their product is calculated at 1.4 cals per gram. When I did the math, it all now worked out

read the review at www.lessofmike.com

That's interesting information - thanks for sharing that. I never thought to add up the macros and see if they actually add up lol.