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Net Carbs – What does that mean?

Over the past decade the popularity of very low carbohydrate diets has increased A LOT. As a result the food industry has tried to cash in on this movement by providing people with low carb versions of foods that naturally aren’t low carb.

For the most part I think that they have failed miserably as ‘low carb’ products are generally gross or loaded with sugar alcohols and other ‘non impact’ carbs that while they may not spike insulin they do mess with your digestion. Despite all the garbage out there I have written before about two low carb products that I really like – One Carb Ketchup and Calorie Countdown Milk (especially the chocolate).

If you have eaten so seen any artificially low carb protein bars (these are the worst!) then you will have come across the ‘net carbs’ verbage. The classifications of ‘net carbs’ was originally penned by the Aktins people (which if you didn’t know are essentially now a supplement company and uses the Atkins book as a marketing tool).

‘Net carbs’ are basically all the carbs in a given food that will impact your blood sugar. Processed low carb foods are stuffed with sugar alcohols (malitol, lactitol, and xylitol) to replace the sweetness void left from removing sugar (sugar free chocolate anyone?). These sugars are not easily digested (if at all) and thus will not impact your blood sugar like normal sugar. The ‘net carb’ classification allows for these sugars (usually along with glycerine) to not be counted. So if a protein bar has 35 grams of carb but 15 of those are malitol and glycerine then the package will read “Now with only 20grams net carbs”.

Why do you care?

Avoid these foods. First, sugar alcohols are not tolerated well by most and you’ll end up with a nasty bout of diarhea (Note: many sugar free gums are sweetened with xylitol. The amount in the gum is negligible so you don’t have to worry about it). Second, foods containing sugar alcohols are processed to the MAX. The Naked Nutrition approach is all about creating a healthy eating pattern in which the byproduct is the body you desire (pretty good byproduct huh?).

As a general rule skip the products that advertise ‘net carbs’.

This article was written by Mike Roussell. Mike Roussell is a nationally renowned nutritionist and the president of the Naked Nutrition Network. He is currently a doctoral candidate in nutrition at Pennsylvania State University. Learn More About Mike Click Here

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