Net or Total Carbs?

Do you count net or total carbs? I was taught to count net, which I’ve always done. However, with the shift to more processed low carb/keto products becoming available, and hearing that a lot of times ingredients are added to these products to make them appear to be a low NET carb total, I’m thinking of switching to counting total carbs, and focusing on whole foods.

TBH, I binge on keto products anyhow, so they aren’t helpful for me.

I recently got healthy enough to start working out again, and after a month long sinus infection turned terrible cold/lung issue, and being sedentary, I’ve found renewed motivation to get my health on track. My A1C (according to my Dexcom Clarity report) will be the worst I’ve ever had, due to sickness, sedentariness and basically depression which I eased with sweets and starches.

Anyhow, back to the topic at hand, I think since I’m “starting over” I am going to start counting total carbs.

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Careful with total, you’ll have the opposite problem, where you bolus for total on a high fiber/etc and end up low. Like everything else, it depends, for a single serving I usually do net and as I start to binge I look more at total. Try total and see how it works for you, but be willing to find a middle ground.

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It depends.
I know that ALL carbs count for me, but their timing is not all the same.
I like to think of it like bolusing for carbs vs protein. I bolus carbs up front, and a second later for protein/fat.
Most of the time the difference isn’t that big, I either split the difference, or go for total carbs, and do one bolus.
If it’s a big difference, or I am eating a lot of that particular food, then I change my plan.

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Sounds like good advice. Thank you!

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I bolus for grams of carb minus grams of fiber (I guess that’s net carbs?) It works ok for me but I’m sugar surfing on top of LOOP anyway.

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Sounds like you’ve really fine tuned things–which is awesome. I’m basically starting with the basics. Seemed like total carbs was more basic than net, but maybe net is safer long run.

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I so badly want to be a looper. Fingers crossed the Omnipod loop system comes to Canada sooner than later…

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Btw, now that I have Control IQ on my pump, I normally bolus for net plus some, and let the pump take care of the rest. Unless there is a large margin between net and total.

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Me, too! Works pretty well with Loop. I subtract the fiber in seeds like flax, hemp, chia!

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US food labels are a misleading fallacy; the total carbohydrate reported includes totally, utterly, non-digestible (unless you are a cow) products. Important details aside, in the US we take the “total” carbs (accurate to within 100%) and subtract the fiber (probably more accurate) and get something which is more accurate than the label on a coke bottle (which, IRC, is required, per the regulations, to list the maximum carbs; think about that).

Go read the label of parmesan cheese, then read this. (I only quote that because it has an analysis at least as good as any I could produce and saves me the work.) I’m not sure; as an Oregonian I disagree with the sense of Abbey’s statement:

no company is grinding up wood chips and mixing them with your Parmesan cheese

What’s wrong with that? I’ve got lots of wood chips; if consuming them rather than consuming Ronalds or Coke fills people up I figure I would have done the US a big favour. Wood Chips Taste Good, hum, that doesn’t quite work.

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Fingers crossed it comes to the US, or, indeed, anywhere.

As the feds (in the US we have the best government money can buy) say, in a link to a web page whose content was current as of 8/30/2018 quoting the FDA, then working under the guidance of Scott Gottlieb:

Sometimes an artificial pancreas device system is referred to as a “closed-loop” system, an “automated insulin delivery” system, or an “autonomous system for glycemic control.” NOTE: The Artificial Pancreas Device Systems described on this site do not involve biomaterial, synthetic or artificial tissue or organs.

So, from the original link:

On September 28, 2016, the FDA approved the first hybrid closed loop system, the Medtronic’s MiniMed 670G Systemdisclaimer icon, intended to automatically monitor blood sugar and adjust basal insulin doses in people with type 1 diabetes.

Then, for those of us who read to the end of the article, a link to more information about what the FDA is doing:

On this Artificial Pancreas Device Systems website, you can learn more about what an artificial pancreas device system is, research challenges associated with its development, and the FDA’s ongoing commitment to a safe and effective artificial pancreas device system for patients with diabetes.

Oops. I just want so badly to reset to normal, like I don’t seriously expect anyone to do more than they are capable of, but I think slightly less is reasonable.

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