Hi there,

Ok got a question, bit confused with some information, after reading Dr Atkins book and various web sites, my issue is with carbohydrates. The information states that nuts are ok to eat and are infact encouraged, yet nuts contain a lot of carbs don't they? So trying to follow this through with some logic, are they ok to eat becasue only a small part of the carbs turn to sugar? When i look at some of the food i have given up, like cous cous, which i love, when i read the packet it states that there are 36g of carbs per 100 grams of cous cous but only 3.5g turn to sugar, so does that mean that cous cous is ok to eat? I might have got this whole thing arse about face, so hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.

Cheers

Mick

Hi, cumquat! Welcome to LowCarb and to our international website...

It's all a bit overwhelming at first, but hey, remember this...

Out of those 36grams of carbs, ALL of them "turn" to sugar if they are digestible (i.e., NOT fiber which is, essentially, indigestible).

And if I remember my european labelling standards correctly, what that 36 out of a 100grams by weight translates to is 36grams of digestible carbohydrates, 3 of which are sugar (SIMPLE carbohydrates) and 33 of them are starch (COMPLEX carbohydrates) <--- chemistry terms NOT magazine babble -- and all of them turn to simple sugar (i.e., glucose) almost immediately in the stomach. There's the factoid you need to understand.

Now compare an equal 100grams of the nut of your choice (I recommend walnuts or almonds) and see what the the TOTAL digestible grams of carbohydrates is, then balance the nutrition of approximately an ounce of each (28.4 grams by weight)...I suggest an ounce or so as that would be a moderate snack portion. The picture will come into focus.

All that notwithstanding, nuts are not recommended in the early phases of a lowcarb diet; for the first two weeks while adjusting and learning it's best to stick to low-starch (green leafy for the most part) vegetables, natural proteins (meats, fish, eggs, some cheeses) and good quality fats (NOT margarine).

Good luck to you and I hope this helps.

Hi Mick

Starting the low carb way of life can be quite difficult and certainly requires a different mindset from what you have probably done before. You are bound to have questions, and so here is a good place to ask them.

I agree with Island Girl, the carbs on any UK food label are the total available carbs. Under that they say sugars represent X amount of the total of carbs. Often this can indicate how much sugar has been added to the product, rather than natural sugar, but for cous cous the sugar figure is what is readily available and the rest is starch which can be broken down into sugar in the body. So 100g of cous cous would be almost 2 days worth of carbs during induction.

Nuts, I prefer brazil nuts or almonds, have a much lower carb value. I get mine from Holland and Barrett and they say about 3.5 g of carbs per 100g. Whilst nuts are good for you, they are not recommended on induction, and are best used in smallish amounts, as a snack food, or something to take with you when you think you may not be able to eat properly. I would say a maximum of 60g at a time. They are very fatty and so large amounts are not recommended or else they may have a laxitive effect. Some people are known to be sensitive to nuts and it makes them stall.

Hope all this helps you. Every success with Atkins, doing it properly, it really works.

Thanks both of you for your pointers, looks like cous cous is of the menu then oh well.


Cheers again

Mick