November 24, 2003
Meal Planning, Food and Diet
Question from Scarsdale, New York, USA:
Recently, our local supermarkets and health-food stores have begun to stock an abundance of Atkins’-brand and other low-carb products, from dried pastas to ice cream-like desserts, shakes, chips and candy bars. I’ve bought these for my own use, and my 13 and one-half year-old son, (type 1 on an insulin pump for two years), has begun to eat these foods. As he is in the midst of a year-long adolescent growth spurt and seems to eat constantly, I have let him dig in when he is looking for his fourth or fifth meal of the day. Are the carb counts on these labels accurate? Are these foods safe as an occasional snack for a growing teen? His post-prandial blood sugars seem to be stable using his carb-to-insulin ratio.
Answer:
You ask a very good question with the sudden emergence of low carb/no carb foods in grocery stores nowadays. The marketing people for these foods are trying to make their products look a bit better than they really are. Using terms such as net carbs or impact carbs, they are taking the total carbs for the food item and subtracting all alcohols and all dietary fiber. The American Diabetes Association recommends subtracting half of the alcohols and all dietary fiber if it is 5 grams or more of fiber per serving. Check with your diabetes dietitian if you have further questions about these terms, since they are subject to a lot of misinterpretation.
JMS
