What’s the first thing we learn as children? Our ABC’s. So, we thought it would be a fun idea to do the ABC’s of keto! This blog series looks at some of the main ideas and the not-so-main ideas of keto as we work our way through the alphabet. The next one in our series is: N is for net carbs.
The Types of Carbs
Bill did a blog on the different kinds of carbs, and explains this idea really well. Carbohydrates fall into three categories: sugar, fiber, and starches. Sugar goes into the body and is very quickly converted into glucose and raises blood sugar at a rapid rate. Your body begins to compensate by quickly producing insulin. You gain a lot of energy in a hurry, but everything is working in overdrive to burn off that sugar. When it’s not converted, the sugar stores itself on your hips and belly.
Starches are things such as potato, beans, and legumes. Our bodies take in starches and convert them to glucose for organ and brain function. Unfortunately, glucose is sugar and that can have the adverse effects of raising your blood sugar. This in turn produces insulin, which begins the process of storing what you don’t use as fat.
Net Carbs Are All About Fiber
Fiber goes into the body and it doesn’t get metabolized into glucose. In fact, it isn’t absorbed in any large quantity at all by the body. Fiber will flow through your body without raising your blood sugar or causing insulin production. It does this while filling you up, adding to gut health, and aiding you in bowel movements. Since fiber isn’t absorbed, we subtract it from the carbohydrate total on labels which is where the term “net carbs” comes from.
If you want more information on how to calculate net carbs, you can purchase our keto workbook off Amazon. We recently updated it, so the information is accurate and current. In it, we talk about how to calculate macros and net carbs. There is also a section on reading nutrition labels, which is an important part of keto.
What About Sugars in Vegetables and Fruit?
So, natural sugars that are in fruit and vegetables do get converted into glucose as well. But, the fiber that is also in these foods slows things down a little. This means that your body has time to absorb all the good nutrients and vitamins from the food and your blood sugar doesn’t rise at such a fast rate.
Subtracting the grams of fiber also brings some of the carb counts down to where they are keto-friendly. So, for example, a cup of broccoli has almost 6 grams of total carbs. But, 2 of those are fiber which will not raise your blood sugar and doesn’t get broken down into glucose. So, we subtract the fiber and we end up with one cup of broccoli having about 4 grams of net carbs.
Comparing Carbs: Sugar vs. Net Carbs
So, if you have a candy that has three carbs in a bite, and a vegetable that has three net carbs, is it all the same for keto? I mean, the rule is to stay under 20 grams of net carbs a day, right? What if I eat ½ a Kit Kat chocolate bar for 15 grams of carbs? Is that the same as 5 cups of broccoli?
Well, you can tell from the example that it isn’t the same. First of all, good luck eating 5 cups of broccoli. The fiber will fill you up before you get there. Not to mention the good nutrients you’ll get from the vegetable. The chocolate bar will just give you a sugar rush and then a crash. Your body won’t be able to process all that glucose, so it will store some for later (hello new fat roll). And do you really think you can eat just half a chocolate bar?
Staying in Ketosis with Net Carbs
Fiber is our friend. It keeps us feeling full, and it helps keep our digestion flowing properly. It helps us stay in ketosis. Sugar and starches (to a bit of a lesser extent) will kick us out of ketosis before we can finish the other half of that Kit Kat bar! That’s why keto people use net carbs in the calculation of their macros each day.
Honestly, I thought net carbs were a bit of a cheat when I first started keto. Then, I started learning more about them and realized it is actually based on science. Don’t worry if you aren’t a math person. You can find free apps to help you out with all this. The two most popular are My Fitness Pal or Carb Manager. But if you’re up for a bit of learning, you can do it yourself and look oh so smart as you read the labels in the grocery store!
Wendy
