... EVEN MORE SO IF YOU'RE FOLLOWING A strict KETOGENIC DIETMore and more often, we're contacted by people who have been following a ketogenic diet, sometimes for a few weeks, sometimes for months, but they are not getting the results they want, either losing weight or reducing their intake of sugar and potentially inflammation. More often than not, this happens because they have been working out their carb intake incorrectly. During the consultion or a simple conversation, it appears that they are relying on information they think is true and apply to them, when, in fact, it doesn't. Let me explain... I want to start by saying that our book: ENERGISE: 30 Days to Vitality — Reset Your Body to its Natural Rhythm. Manage Blood Sugar and Energy Levels. Stamp down Inflammation. Gain Clarity. Detox and cellular Cleanse is mostly dedicated to a British public using UK data and national recommendations. The book will be sightly adapted to Americans later on. The reason I believe the book cannot be used by both nation is because most of the books available in stores about KETO is majorilly written for an Amercian public (or people living in a country importing US-manufactured food or exporting food to the US).
Why doest it matter, we hear you ask... You see, in the US, people are asked to count their carb intake, most importantly their 'net carbs', To calculate the net carbs content of food, keto followers must use the following equation: Carbohydrate -fibre = net carbsThis is where it gets confusing. In the US, a food label displays 'total carbohydrate', of which sugars and finally fiber. US keto dieters thus must substract the fibre because fibre is included in the total carbohydrate count.
Because the UK is still part of the European community, labelling implemented in the US are irrelevant in Europe and so in the UK. Fibre is listed separately from carbs in Europe. And so, you don't deduct the fibre (or anything for that matter) from the carbohydrate total. Total CArbohydrate = NEt CarbsLet's make it clear again. Fibre is included in the 'total carbohydrate' count in the US but you must not deduct the fibre if you are in the UK, because it is not included in the carbohydrate content. However, it gets even more complicated. Because, many long-life, processed and refined food products manufactured in the US are also found on supermarket and health stores shelves in the UK, you may not know if you should deduct the fibre or not. Nutrunity's TIPsIf you're unsure and wonder if you should calculate the net carbs or rely on the carbohydrate content of food reading a label, look for the following:
Let's use two different examples to help figure out the net carbs content of food.
This is a huge difference and quite a problem in itself. Most ketogenic diets do not tolerate net carbs above 35 grams ('dirty keto' allows up to 50 grams and athletes up to 100 grams per day), but most often are around 25 grams of carbs per day. Which means that there is an error of 1.2 g using the example above. That equals a discrepency of 6.25% in your daily allowance. Repeat this a few times and you're likely to exceed the limit and potentially failing to enter a state of ketosis; meaning that you're mainly burning glucose rather than ketones for energy, and storing the extra energy as fat, especially if the diet is not accompanied to daily activity to reduce the available sotres of glycogen. It doesn't end there!There are more exceptions to the rule. Sometimes you can accurately count your net carbs intake and sometimes it's virtually impossible. Sugar alcohols (e.g. sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, erythritol, isomalt, maltitol, etc.) are largely found in all sugar-free/'Diet' products/chewing gums, yoghurts, ice cream, commercial salad dressings, protein bars and shakes, as well as regular fruits juices and many more food products. (1) Sugar alcohol affect blood sugar levels, and so they must also be taken into account. Common sugar alcohols found in foodstuff (although they occur naturally in some fruits and vegetables) (1,2,3)
Many foodstuff labels do not clearly list sugar alcohols and most often than not there is no indication of how much of it is used in the recipe. You may have to guess, using where it is found in the list of ingredients as a reference. Ingredients are ALWAYS listed in order, listed according to how of it is used in the recipe. Ingredients appearing in the actual name of the product must be given a percentage, which also helps guessing the proportion of the rest of the ingredients. |
Registered Naturopath, Nutritional Therapist, Iridologist, Lecturer, NLP practitioner and Personal Performance Coach.
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