Labels complicate carb-count efforts
By Heather McPherson
Knight Ridder News Service
For some carb counters, a trip to the supermarket can induce an eye-crossing brain strain. It's hard enough to read the small print on nutrition labels, but now many shoppers are glazed over in a math haze as they squint in pursuit of the coveted net carb amount. The equation: Subtract fiber and sugar alcohols from the total carbohydrates to come up with a net carb amount.
One could assume hypertension and high blood pressure never had it so good.
So is the arithmetic exercise just Atkins marketing or is there something to the formula?
"There is no legal definition for net carb, net impact carb, usable carb and the like," says Dr. Susan Mitchell, nutrition expert for SuperTarget and ThirdAge.com. "These are terms invented by folks selling products.
"In addition, there is no definition for what is low-carb, either. Grocery manufacturers and others have requested that the FDA set some standards for low carb," says Mitchell, who is co-author of the upcoming book "Fat is Not Your Fate" (2005), as well as "I'd Kill for a Cookie: A Simple Six-Week Plan to Conquer Stress Eating" (Plume Books) and "Eat to Stay Young" (Kensington Publishing).
Without any rules or restraints from the government, food manufacturers eager to cash in on the diet obsession du jour are quickly filling supermarket shelves with everything from low-carb ice cream to beer, with the number of net carbs often featured prominently on the label. But singling out one element of the nutrition information negates other factors.
For instance, even though the carbs in a product may seem low, the calories and fat can be high, Mitchell says, a contributing author to Macmillan Reference USA's Nutrition and Well-Being A to Z. "So, in some cases, we've taken out carbs and replaced (them) with unhealthy fats such as trans fat and saturated fat."
And despite all the hype, carbs aren't necessarily all bad.
"Carbohydrates are your body's main energy source," says Tara Geise, a registered dietitian at Florida Hospital and a national spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. But there's much more than fuel for a day's activities in carbs. Glucose, fiber, phytochemicals and antioxidants, as well as essential vitamins and minerals are found in carbohydrate-rich foods, she says.
Complex carbs, which are primarily starches and legumes, often contain a "lot of nutritional extras," according to the Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition by Sheldon Margen and the editors of the University of California-Berkeley "Wellness Letter."
The notion of counting nothing but net carbs in some weight-loss programs has tarnished a grocery list of foods — especially fruits and dairy products such as yogurt — that contain simple carbohydrates.
"It's true that many fruits contain the simple sugars fructose and sucrose," Margen writes. "But they also contain vitamins, minerals and fiber that processed or refined sweets lack."
It's not that the new carb math is wrong. What concerns health experts is how the numbers are manipulated to upstage other elements of nutrition labels. Calories, sodium, cholesterol and key nutrients are eclipsed by the search for net carbs. And the words "sugar alcohols" roll off people's tongues like herb butter on a grilled filet mignon.
"Sugar alcohols have been used for years, particularly by diabetics in the form of sorbitol and mannitol in sugar-free foods and snacks," Mitchell says. "Now, there are more sugar alcohols such as maltitol. The problem is that the body can take small amounts, as in gum or mints. But when you consume many more grams in cookies, candy and the like, two very common side effects are bloating and diarrhea. And each person varies in their sensitivity."
The sugar alcohols do not have as much of a direct impact on blood glucose elevation, Geise says. "So the food manufacturers are subtracting them from the total carbohydrates. However, sugar alcohols do still have calories and are part of the total caloric content of the food. They do impact blood sugar, but just not as quickly as simple sugars."
Building a case for balance and moderation is a tough sell for dietitians such as Mitchell and Geise. Recently, the government admitted that the Food Guide Pyramid was up for renovation because consumers simply don't know how to use it.
"People want to copy what everyone else is doing instead of considering their own body and health and taking the time to learn about healthy eating," Mitchell says. "Quick fixes are much more glamorous than the hard work of good nutrition.
"We are a processed society, missing the beauty and taste of whole foods," she says.
