I'm worried I'm getting a bit off track when it comes to counting carbs.

Things like salsa - if the ingredients are all legit, but the label says 1 carb per teaspoon, do I count that? Or do I assume the 1 gram of carb is probably from the vegetables?

Same with other prepared products - for instance, I bought turkey burgers that are just turkey, water, garlic powder, and onion powder. They have 6 grams per patty.

I mean, my bag of frozen green beans says 7.1 grams of carb per serving, for heaven's sake, and I KNOW there's only green beans in there!

Help!

Hi cat-chick:

Yes there are carbs in non-starchy veggies, spices and condiments (limited to vinegars, tamari, natural mustard, olives, peanut sauce and salsa, all without sugar of course). She doesn't count these as your carb allowance. The only carbs you count are starchy carbs, which are starchy veggies, legumes, grains, yogurt and fruit. Nuts, if you have severely burned out adrenals or are insulin resistant and soy products if you are insulin resistant.


If it's fresh, don't count the carbs. If it's in a jar, the tomatoes have been cooked so I count it as a starchy carb since both cooked tomatoes and carrots count as starches. But technically, she doesn't differentiate and includes salsa under the general heading of condiments so it may be one of those things for you to decide on your own, whether it's a starch or a NS veggie. In the meatime, I'll e-mail TSP website for clarification.


That carb count seems a little high, but if that's all that's in it, don't count the carbs.


You don't count veggies as your starchy carbs so don't even look at the label.

It DOES get easier! HTH,

Wanda

Thank you Wanda! As soon as I read "starchy carbs" I hit my head and said d'oh! That's where I've been getting off track - counting things that aren't starchy carbs.

I have been using jarred salsa - it tastes better to me on things like toast - so it will be interesting to see what Dr. S has to say about it.