HELLO..... i have question for all you dieters....... do we go by net carbs or the real carbs listed on the back of the labels??? if so, how do u get the net carbs?? the reason im asking...some was talking about an apple have 21 carbs and then someone wrote and said it actually just had 3.7 net carbs instead of the 21 and that was what u count ??? im totally confused..... HELP !! lol

Sonya

Sonya,

I've read in the "Atkins NEW Diet Revolution" about both types of carbs you're referring to. From what I understand, you pick a food - lets say "apple". It's got 21 carbs, yet 7.3 are "digestable/usable" carbs. This means when you eat that apple, most of it is (ahem) passed on. Whereas the 7.3 carb value is used by your body and therefore counts against you (or towards your daily carb intake).

Hope this helps!

Coolcat's got it right. You count the net carbs because the rest of the carbs are fiber that go down the drain. While those fiber carbs are in your body they're doing a good job of helping your digestive track keep itself in proper running order.

Just watch out for labels, because the carb counts are not consistant, and some manufacturers already subtract the fiber carbs. There's another thread on this page talking about that.