Yesterday I bought a lowcarb bar, caught my attention by the big 2 carbs written on the front of the pack. Had a small bite to see if it was nice, it was. When I got home I decided to read the pack properly. The 2 carbs on the front of the pack were classed as impact carbs, apparently they are the main ones that affect our blood sugars. The amount of carbs on the back were 21, fibre was 2, and total carbs 19. As far as they say the other carbs are not supposed to affect blood sugar. I thought carbs were carbs and used to make energy.

I cut the bar into about 14 pieces and am eating a piece at a time, I've had 2 so far today. Might have one more tonight. I figure each small piece is just over 1 carb.

As nice as it is I won't be buying it again, was pretty pricey.

The other carbs are from sugar alcohols which are metabolized without much affect on your blood sugar. However, some people notice that weight loss slows if they eat these bars, so these sugar alcohols may have some impact on some people. I don't lose if I eat them, and it just makes me hungry for something sweet. My husband can eat them all day and still lose weight. If you are using them as a regular snack, and you hit a stall, you may have to go off of them for awhile.

I cut them up, too--nice to have a bite of something sweet now and then.

Peach

Impact Carbs = Total Carbs - Fiber - Sugar Alcohols* - Glycerine

*Lactitol, Maltitol, Erythritol, Mannitol, Sorbitol, Xylitol, Isomalt, Hydrogenated Starch Hydrolysate, and possibly a few others.

I also subtract Tagatose. But, AFAIK no LC has yet endorsed subtracting it. It is relatively new [in foods] and from everything I've read about it, it is metabolized at least as well as Sugar Alcohols [as far as Blood Sugar is concerned] if not better.

Sugar Alcohols should be counted as Net Carbs and I will try to explain why that is. Your body's preference for either carbs or fat isn't determined by the insulin spike, its determined by the availability of glucose in the blood stream. While sugar alcohols have less of an impact on blood sugar and insulin levels than your average carb, they still do affect it and the glucose that they are broken down into is still available for burning, making fat go on the backburner as a fuel source. If you are counting your calories sugar alcohols are no more different than any other calorie source as far as weight loss and are a healthier carb in my opinion, but if your goal is to restrict carbs in order to make fat the preferential fuel source, beware of sugar alcohols because they still act like a normal carb in the end, just not as severely. Its fine to have them once in a while, but everyday is probably not the greatest idea depending on your plan/goals.

glycerine seems to affect me the least... i can eat the Le Carb Frozen dessert and it doesnt affect my stomach and it doesnt seem to slow down my metabolism.

Sugar Alcohols are burned before fat. But, not all of the grams are absorbed [i.e. Available for fuel.] The amount varies. Generally, the ones we see in most LC Products [Lactitol, Isomalt, Maltitol, and Sorbitol] are 50-75% absorbed. That means for every 24g [1 candy bar,] your body should absorb 12-18g. Some folks will absorb less than that amount...But, I wouldn't count on your body not absorbing the full 50-75%. Some Polyols are less absorbed, such as Eryhtritol [5%.] So, for every 50g of Erythritol, you should only absorb 3g.

Glycerine, which BTW is naturally present in fat [10% by weight,] has a slightly higher Caloric value [about 5 kcal/g] than Carbs or Polyols. But, many folks seem to tolerate it better than Polyols...especially Maltitol. Its probably much lower glycemic.

Tagatose, which is considered a sugar, is absorbed at up to 37.5%. The amount absorbed varies widely from person to person. Some absorb almost none, while others absorb the full 37.5%. Like some polyols it doesn't cause a spike in Blood Sugar.

Thanks everyone, I think I understand, must re-read this thread later when I am not so tired. We've been out since 7am and I'm suffering the effects of being tired and over heated so I'm off for an afternoon nap

Just my 2 cents: I'm a type II diabetic, not on insulin. Glycerin spikes my blood glucose levels just like sugar would. I found this out accidentally. I used a glycerin suppository (sorry if that's TMI) and my bg went up 40 points in a very short period of time.