Carbohydrates

 A low carb diet can be great for weight loss as long as you remember that carbs are a necessary part of our needed nutrition to keep our bodies running smoothly. If you are diabetic you will especially want to watch your carb intake because when carbs enter our bodies they turn into sugar.

COUNTING CARBS


     It's recommended that 45% to 65% of your daily calories come from carbs. Using simple math you can calculate the right amount of carbs for you. Here are some facts to help you.

     Carbs are counted in grams. One gram of a carbohydrate is equal to 4 calories. Let's say you want to take in 1600 calories a day. Let's also assume that you've chosen to limit your carb intake to 50% of those calories. 50% of 1600 calories would be 800 calories. The next step is to divide 800 by 4 (the calories in 1 gram of carbs), which gives you 200. That is the number of carb grams you would be allowed.


TWO KINDS OF CARBS

     The two kinds of carbs are called simple and complex. Most of your carbs should fall under the complex category. This would include foods such as most vegetables and high fiber foods. The simple carbs are things like sugary treats, cookies, ice cream, etc.
Both kinds have the same calories but you will feel fuller longer and be healthier choosing the complex type.


NUTRITION LABELS AND CARB COUNTS

     When figuring out the number of carbs you also need to pay attention to the amount of fiber in the food. All carbs turn into sugar in the body except for the amount of fiber. So you will need to subtract the grams of fiber from the grams of carbs. If, for example, a single serving of the food has 12 grams of carbs and 2 grams of fiber you would subtract 2 from 12 to give you an actual gram carb count of 10.


ANOTHER WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF CARBS


     Some people find it easier to use servings instead of counting carb grams. It's recommended that an adult has
between six and eleven servings of carbs per day. If you are diabetic or trying to lose weight you want to be on the low end of that amount around six or eight servings. Men and larger people would want to be towards the high end such as ten or eleven. A serving size is 1 slice of bread, 1/2 a bagel, 1/2 banana, etc. you get the idea.