November 2022

People carefully counting carbohydrates as part of managing their diabetes, or those who simply desire to lose weight, may have come across the term 'net carbs' on food packaging. The phrase started to draw attention as the popularity of the Atkins Nutritional approach and other low-carb diets grew. According to these plans, calculating net carbs involves taking the total carbohydrate value and subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols, if applicable. Net carbs show the grams of carbohydrates that will impact blood sugar levels, according to Atkins. Foods that are low in net carbs purportedly do not have a significant impact on blood sugar, and therefore may be less likely to interfere with weight loss. However, according to the medical consultants at Diabetes Forecast magazine, the equation used to calculate net carbs is not entirely accurate, and some of the fiber and alcohol is, in fact, absorbed by the body. They say that half of the grams in sugar alcohols are metabolized to glucose. It's also important to note that 'net carbs' is not a nutritional definition recognized by either the Food and Drug Administration or the American Diabetes Association. It is particularly important for people who are on intensive insulin management to look beyond net carbs and carefully read the nutritional facts and ingredients lists on product packaging to calculate information for themselves. For those who do not have strict dietary requirements, using net carbs as a way to gauge the body's carbohydrate response can be a handy tool.