Are Net Carbs Good For Fat Loss?
Net Carbs
The missing piece in your weight loss journey, or just another fad?
Net Carbs are all the rage at the moment. But do you even know what the heck they are?
I was chatting with a nutrition coaching client this week about “Net Carbs”.
These carbs are special because the farmers that grow net carbs have to go out to the fields with special nets to harvest them.
As they scoop the crops into the net the calories magically stay planted in the dirt and don’t go with the foods headed for processing.
Yeah right.
Here’s the real deal with “Net Carbs”.
To understand them, we have to understand 2 things:
What do Fiber & Sugar Alcohol have to do with Net Carbs?
Fiber comes from certain carbohydrate-containing foods like berries, grains, and other fruits and veggies.
Fiber doesn’t digest in the same way that other carbs do. Instead of fully digesting, some fiber ferments in the intestines and then passes (if you know what I mean).
So what the food companies have decided to do (without regulation) is to say that none of those calories from fiber “count”.
They take the number of grams of fiber in the food, subtract it from the number of carbs, and then call it the new made-up term “NET CARBS”.
Since the grams of fiber were subtracted out, the calories don’t get added to the total, and you’re left thinking that you ate fewer carbs/calories than you really did.
The problem is that we don’t truly know exactly how many of those calories from fiber are absorbed. But I can guarantee you it’s not zero.
Is this a huge deal?
If you’re not actively trying to lose weight, not really.
If you don’t eat very much processed food, not really.
If you eat 5 processed foods with heavily manipulated calorie counts every single day, yeah it’s a big deal.
You could very easily be eating 200-300 accounted for calories that you are completely missing.
That will absolutely put the brakes on your weight-loss efforts.
What does Sugar Alcohol have to do with Net Carbs?
Sugar Alcohols are engineered sweeteners usually made by fermenting sugars.
They are hard to pronounce and usually end in the letters “tol".
Manitol, Sorbitol, Erythritol…
Here’s the recipe in case you want to whip up a batch over the weekend: HOCH2(CHOH)nCH2OH
The same rules apply to sugar alcohols.
They aren’t fully digested and food companies subtract the calories contained in them from the total carbs, and call them net carbs.
But here’s the other thing about sugar alcohol I want you to know.
It’s not uncommon for these bad boys to lead to some rumble in the jungle action.
I’m talking about intestinal stuff. Gulp.
Everyone’s tolerance is different, but I warn our clients to watch out for foods with more than 10g of sugar alcohol, and to keep their daily total to less than 20g.
Proceed with extreme trepidation friend.
If you do some googling around you’ll see that diabetics and low-carb dieters gravitate toward foods that advertise how many “Net Carbs” they have in them.
The reason low-net-carb foods are helpful for diabetics is that fiber and sugar alcohol don’t have the same effect on their blood sugar as other forms of carbohydrates do.
However, trying to fill your diet with processed low-net-carb food just for the purpose of weight loss is a terrible idea.
We teach our clients how to eat real food that fuels their bodies sustainably without having to rely on expensive, less health-promoting processed foods. It’s a heck of a lot cheaper too.
So in summary…
Unless you’re diabetic…
IGNORE NET CARBS - IT’S A MARKETING PLOY
I hope that was clear.
Eat mostly real foods in the right amounts and don’t look for tricks and hacks.
We can help you reach your goals with 1-on-1 nutrition coaching. No fads, no tricks, just compassionate coaching that meets you where you are. Apply today.
