Net Carbs - What does that mean?
October 6, 2008
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’.
Sugar Substitutes You Probably Don’t Know About
March 13, 2008
Are you craving a substitute for sugar but don’t want to use splenda, sweet n low, or another artificial sweetener? In the July/August 2007 issue of Men’s Health they had a great list of natural sugar substitutes. Here they are:
Stevia - Okay so this one probably isn’t new to you as stevia is arguably the most popular natural sweetener. Stevia is extremely sweet almost 3x sweeter than sugar. Some people love it, some people hate it. Personally I don’t really like the taste.
Agave Nectar - Agave nectar isn’t calorie free (60cals/tbsp). It comes from the same plant that tequila comes from (cool fact huh?). It can be hard to find.
Erythritol - Erythritol is a sugar alcohol commonly derived from cane juice. I’m not a huge fan of sugar alcohols as they can cause GI destress (i.e. stomach aches and diarrhea) but if used in small amounts (to sweeten coffee, oatmeal, etc) then you should be fine.
Oligofructose - I saved the best for last. Oligofructose is really cool. It is a sweet fiber. I have had trouble finding it in State College but if you find some then definately pick it up. Here is a place where you can get it online (thanks to MH for the good online detective work).
Low Carb Diet Foods That You Should Be Eating
February 25, 2008
With the explosion in popularity of low carbohydrates diets, low carb diet foods have become very popular as well. This has brought some good and bad foods to the market. While I could go on and on about the bad ones (i.e. low carb chocolate), today I wanted to talk about two great “regular” foods that have gone low carb.
I’m talking about Heinz One Carb Ketchup and Hood Calorie Countdown milk (Chocolate is my favorite). First let’s look at One Carb. As innocent as ketchup looks it always contains a nice dose of added sugar - high fructose corn syrup in regular ketchup and usually cane sugar if you spring for the organic stuff. One Carb is different. Instead of the standard 5-8 grams of carbs per serving as the name states One Carb has just 1 gram of carbs. It is sweetened with splenda so you don’t feel like you are eating tomato paste but it isn’t overboard sweet. I recommend that even people that aren’t on a low carb diet check out One Carb ketchup as it is a great way to cut out unnecessary calories from sugar from an unlikely source.
Next up is Calorie Countdown Milk. When Hood first released this onto the market it was called “Carb Countdown.” Apparently branding this product as a low carb product wasn’t working for Hood as they switched the name. Fortunately they didn’t mess with the formula. Chocolate Carb…sorry CALORIE Countdown Milk has only 5 grams of carbs per 1 cup serving compared to 30 grams per serving as seen in some brands and 12 grams as found in regular milk. Not only did Hood remove the added sugar from choco-lating the milk (yes, I made that word up) they also removed some of the naturally occurring sugars in milk (lactose). This is good news not only for low carbers but people afflicted with lactose intolerance (myself included). This stuff is goooood. Now, Hood isn’t exactly giving this milk away as it is more in the price range of organic milk but even if your grocery budget doesn’t allow for a weekly half gallon of this chocolate food science masterpiece you’ll definitely want to treat yourself every so often to glass.
As Frank the Tank so delicately put it “When it hits your lips it’s just so good”. Seriously, you’ll feel like you’re cheating on your diet but you’re definitely not. Again as with One Carb Ketchup even if you aren’t a low carber this should make it into your nutritional rotation.
ADA Supports Use of Low Carb Diets
January 1, 2008
After years of adverse neutrality against low carbohydrate diets the American Diabetes Association has just published new Clinical Practical Recommendations that support the use of low carbohydrate diets. While the ADA claims that they are not endorsing low carb diets over other methods of weight loss this is a huge step in the acceptance of low carb diets by the greater scientific community.
“The risks of overweight and obesity are well known. We recognize that people are looking for realistic ways to lose weight,” said Ann Albright, PhD, RD, President, Health Care & Education, American Diabetes Association. “The evidence is clear that both low-carbohydrate and low-fat calorie restricted diets result in similar weight loss at one year. We’re not endorsing either of these weight-loss plans over any other method of losing weight. What we want health care providers to know is that it’s important for patients to choose a plan that works for them, and that the health care team support their patients’ weight loss efforts and provide appropriate monitoring of patients’ health.”
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