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What is a net carb?
By now, you have seen that supermarkets sell low carb options to most products. Bread, orange juice, candy, and even milk are available with the low carb label. However, a new label is causing a fair amount of confusion, that of the “net carb.”
First, let’s start with the definition. A net carb is defined as the amount of carbohydrates (or sugars) in a product, minus the carbohydrates comprised of fiber and/or sugar alcohol. Sugar alcohol is a bulking and sweetening agent found in most processed foods. It is not the same as the alcohol found in a beer. If a product has 40g of carbohydrates, or sugars, and 5g are from fiber, and an additional 20g are from sugar alcohols, that would leave you with 15g of "net carbs." (40g sugar) – (5g fiber) – (15g sugar alcohols) = (15g net carbs)
Now what is the theory behind this definition? Atkins, and other low carb diets suggest that fiber as well as sugar alcohols metabolize in the body slowly, causing very little spike in the body’s blood sugar. Many low carb diets believe that this spike is a prime factor in weight gain. You may have heard of the glycemic index (a table listing the effect foods have on your blood sugar levels.) In theory, a product consisting of just fiber and sugar alcohols would fall to the bottom of this index. This leads many to believe that only the net carbs count in weight gain.
What does this really mean? There have been no medical studies to prove (or disprove) these claims. Studies like these tend to take 5-7 years. The American Diabetes Association conducted a study on sugar alcohols and concluded that when relied on too heavily, sugar alcohols can cause weight gain and will have a laxative effect on the body. Moreover, a sugar alcohol contains anywhere from 2.6 to 3 calories per gram. While this is less than the 4 calories per gram of a regular sugar, it is certainly not negligible.
What diet proponents don’t explain is that no matter how low on the glycemic index a certain food is, the body still must eventually either burn those calories, or store them! Therefore, while sugar alcohols are slightly lower in calories than a regular sugar, they are still calories that must eventually be burned to lose weight! Fiber may help in losing weight because it tends to give one a fuller, more satisfied feeling, which can aid in portion control.
In the end, it still boils down to the same theory. A calorie is a calorie; as long as you burns more calories than you ingest, you will lose weight! Eat a balanced nutritional diet that excludes nothing! Just don’t eat too much of any one food, regardless of the health or diet claim. Finally, stay active in the weight room as well as on the treadmill!