Today we are going to delve into the sometimes confusing world of net carbs and total carbs!
This is one of those topics that is pretty important to understand, and once you understand it properly, it stays with you.
In a nut shell, carbs are what we are avoiding because they spike our insulin.
Fibre is a carbohydrate, and insoluble fibre is not absorbed by the body and therefore has no effect on your insulin
It doesn’t count.
So we need to remove it from our carb count. Here’s a really in depth article if you want to read further into it.
Working out your Net Carbs on Keto
There are 2 types of nutritional panels when it comes to carbs and fibre.
Here the fibre (or fiber) is indented under the carbohydrate, so is ‘part’ of the carbohydrate count
Compared to this type:
Here you can see the fibre is on its own, which means it has already been removed from the carbohydrate count.
In these two examples, the first panel has 22.7 grams and the second has 34.6 grams carbohydrates but the dietary fibre has its own section.
This means it has already been deducted, so the NET carbs is still 22.7 and 34.6 grams.
The confusion I see often starts when Aussies and Americans begin a conversation about net carbs on keto – but our labels are different!
On 99% of Australian labels, the fibre is nestled under carbohydrates, so you DEDUCT the fibre to get the net carbs.
This is the same for the recipes on my website.
American labels seem to be 50/50 between already deducting and being included – so you need to check if you are being very strict and want to stay under 20 grams of NET carbs per day.
If you are using My Fitness Pal, you can also search for items Net carbs. For example, I search for tomatoes net carbs and it has records with the fibre already deducted.
Best bet, if you are getting confused about net carbs on keto, is steer away from packaged foods!
Packaged foods are trying to fool you a lot of the time into thinking they are healthier than what they are.
The best keto diet is one packed with fresh vegetables, and no one ever got kicked out of ketosis from eating too much spinach (or did they? I’d love to hear that story)
I also recommend not getting too caught up when you first begin on carb counts, counting macros etc.
It can be a good idea to stick with foods you know are keto approved, and focus more on eating until you are full and getting used to what you can eat before going into a tailspin over how much zucchini you can really eat with that meal.
Take it one day at a time, and be kind to yourself if you make a mistake.
You are undoing a lifetime of incorrect information and sometimes bad habits, and it won’t happen overnight.
Love
Rachel xxx
The Aussie Keto Queen
