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Counting Carbs when sugar alcohol or fiber are involved
Q. I’m confused by the statements that are made concerning the carbohydrate content listed on the labels of certain products. I’ve read labels that state that there are X number of impact carbs or X number of new carbs. When I check the Nutrition Facts label, I find that there are, for example 26 carbs, but the package states that the product contains only 3 impact carbs. According to the sales person at the health food store, the other 23 carbs will have no effect on blood sugar and can be disregarded by the consumer. What’s the real story?
Answer (by Janine Freeman RD, CDE- certified diabetic educator)
The terminologies “net carbs”, “impact carbs”, and “effective carbs” are all terms generated by the industry to promote low-carbohydrate products. These terms refer to sugar alcohols and fiber that the manufacturers claim have no effect on blood sugar levels and therefore should be subtracted from the total carbohydrate amount listed on the food label. The Food and Drug Administration has NOT approved these terms for use on nutrition labels and does not agree that sugar alcohols have no effect on blood sugar.
Talk to your dietitian about counting carbohydrates on food labels. On the average, sugar alcohols have about half the effect on blood sugar compared to other types of carbohydrate because they are not completely digested. Therefore if the food contains a significant amount of sugar alcohol, you can subtract half the grams of sugar alcohols from the total carbohydrate. Since fiber has very little effect at raising blood sugar, you can also subtract fiber from the total carbohydrate if your serving of food has more than five grams of fiber.
Lisa Merrill adds: Since sugar alcohol takes longer to digest and some of it is not digested it can wreak havoc on your GI system. Gas and bloating are common side effects and too much of it can have a laxative effect, so its buyer beware………and remember, unless someone has an RD after their name they are not a Registered Dietitian (the nutrition specialists). We choose to educate and teach, not to make our living off commissions from selling supplements and products. We get approached on a regular basis and most (not all) of the information is just hype. To quote another
RD I know, she always says “Talk is cheap….research isn’t”.
To get current correct nutrition advise on-line visit www.eatright.org
(the American Dietetic Associations website) or www.diabetes.org
(the American Diabetic Associations website)
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