Questions About Carbs - Counting Carbs

Counting Carbs

If you have looked at all at some of the many low carb products on sale at the grocery store these days, you might have noticed that what they are concentrating on now is counting carbs, and not just any carbs, but net carbs. The manufacturers of these products say that counting carbs should only entail the counting of net or net impact carbs. They define net carbs as the total carbohydrates minus the finer, glycerine, sugar alcohols, and polydextrose. Ok, so you probably do not need to know the definitions of all these terms in order to keep counting carbs, but you should know the basics. After all you are spending a pretty penny for the products professing to help you maintain your dieting restrictions. They subtract the fiber, etc. because they say that it has a minimal effect on blood sugar.

Counting carbs used to be a bit different

When the Atkins diet first came out and the book was flying off the shelves it state that sugar alcohols were not allowed in the diet. Now with the revised edition it has changed its tune some and now allows them. Whether there has been some new findings or if it is because of the fact that many of their products contain sugar alcohols is not clear. It could actually be that counting carbs has changed over the last few years because the "experts" are turning more towards the glycemic index

Counting carbs might be your answer to taking off some unwanted weight, but you should also look at the situation for what it is. The diets may be changing in an attempt to help sell more of the products from their line. If you are convinced of the properties of a low carb diet, it might be wise to stick to making most dishes yourself at home instead of buying everything off the shelves.