Net Carbs vs. Actual Carbs

[jjtrindc]

I'm adjusting my diet to more closely track the 40-30-30 percentages discussed in NROL. I'm confused by the idea of "net carbs". As an example, I picked picked up a package of of 'carb balance' tortillas and the nutrition facts say 18g of carbs, and 11 g dietary fiber. The package is advertising that the tortilla really only has '7 g net effective carbs' (18 minus 11). Hmmmmm. Makes me a bit skeptical. In adding up carbs as part of my daily caloric intake, it seems I should be counting actual carbs. I'd be curious what others opinion on this are. Thanks!

[LisaS]

in theory, the fiber passes through the gut unchanged and therefore never is taken in and used for energy and therefore wouldn't count as calories, only the non-fiber carbohydrates are taken up and metabolized. Which is why some writers tell you that you can discount those when counting calories. Other writers want you to just use the carbs number knowing that it will overestimate the caloric intake a little.

[CoQ10]

According to Lyle McDonald, fiber has an approximate caloric value of 1.5-2.0 kcal/gram. That being the case, perhaps you could count each gram of fiber as half a gram of carbohydrate.

Hope that helps.

-C10