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Old 09-12-2014, 04:33 PM
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Dr. Smith Dr. Smith is offline
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Dr. Smith Dr. Smith is offline
Senior Member (**Dr Smith is named after a character from Lost in Space, not a medical doctor)
Dr. Smith's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Lost in Space
Posts: 3,515
10 yr Member
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aussie99 View Post
I think it's just misleading consumers and I just wanted to get another opinion.
Ok, here's one...
Quote:
"Net carbs" — total grams of carbohydrate minus fiber and sugar alcohols — is absolutely meaningless. There is no legal definition; it is supposed to give an indication of how many carbohydrates actually affect blood sugar, but it isn't accurate or helpful. Ignore. Look at fiber grams and read the ingredient list, instead.
http://lifehacker.com/what-the-net-c...ing-1444699037
Here's another...
Quote:
Dozens of products now claim to have low "net carbs" or low "impact carbs." Both of these terms sound technical. But the truth is that these terms were created by the diet and food industry.
....
Diet-food manufacturers calculate "net carbs" by taking total carbohydrates and subtracting fiber, glycerin, and sugar alcohols, all of which are forms of carbohydrates. This gives the appearance of reduced amounts of carbohydrates in their products and suggests that the products don't raise blood sugar, even though they do.
http://www.sharecare.com/health/diet...diet-fallacies
And yet another that says essentially the same things, but also includes something interesting I had not seen/read before...
Quote:
Net carbs is a term the food industry made up as a way to fool consumers into thinking their products contain fewer carbohydrates. To arrive at a net carb number, they take the carbohydrates coming from fiber or sugars known as "alcohol sugars" and subtract them from the total amount of carbohydrates.

The premise is that those carbohydrates from fiber or alcohol sugar are not processed by the body, or have minimal effects on blood sugars. Maltitol is one of the primary alcohol sugars found in foods, and it does increase blood sugars.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-...b_1583461.html
An alcohol sugar that increases blood sugars? Well, that explains why they make my feet all buzzy!

Looking for verification, I found...
Quote:
Health effects
.... Sugar alcohols do not contribute to tooth decay.[2][3]

However, consumption of sugar alcohols does affect blood sugar levels, although less than that of "regular" sugar (sucrose).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_alcohol
I don't know if it was the first factoid that caused me to previously miss/gloss over that second little tidbit or what, but apparently I did.

Fortunately (I spoze) I listen to my body over what I see/hear/read, so I've been avoiding the alcohols anyway. It's nice to know it's not some kind of anomaly though...

FWIW, I found the above by goggling: debunking "net carbs". More can be found searching "net carbs" scam and similar.

Doc
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Dr. Zachary Smith
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Dr. Smith is NOT a medical doctor. He was a character from LOST IN SPACE.
All opinions expressed are my own. For medical advice/opinion, consult your doctor.

Last edited by Dr. Smith; 09-12-2014 at 04:51 PM.
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Aussie99 (09-15-2014), Hopeless (09-12-2014)