How to Calculate Net Carbs (+ Carb Calculator)

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despite all the popular terms surrounding keto diet, “net carbs” remain elusive. Many nutrition labels don’t label them clearly, but they’re important to keep in mind if you’re tracking your carbohydrate intake. This begs a lot of questions: How to Calculate Net Carbs for Ketoyes Total Carbs vs. Net Carbs Same thing, why should you know how to count them (or at least have a Net Carb Calculator to them), how does sugar alcohol affect them? I have all the answers for you.

What are carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates, or total carbohydrates, are a type of macronutrient that your body uses for energy. On the Nutrition Facts label, you’ll find carbohydrates broken down into some combination of:

• carbohydrate, such as glucose or fructose. There’s also a separate line for added sugars, meaning those that don’t occur naturally in foods.
• fiberwhich your body cannot digest (but may help feed “good” gut bacteria).
• sugar alcoholwhich will be explained further below.
• starchwhich are converted to glucose when you digest them.

Starches are not listed separately on nutrition labels, but they are leftover carbohydrates that don’t fall into any of the other types above.You will always see sugar and dietary fiber broken down separately as this is legally required by the FDA [*], but sugar alcohols are sometimes not listed separately. Fortunately, most keto products are listed separately these days.You may also see Allulose are listed separately, which we discuss below.

What are net carbs?

These carbohydrates only count carbohydrates that directly contribute to the body’s energy production. Some carbohydrates, due to their molecular structure, are not digested or metabolized in your body and have no energy value or blood sugar impact – so these are not included in net carbs. Be aware of this key difference when comparing total carbs to net carbs.

Net carbs don’t take fiber or (certain) sugar alcohols into accountbecause your body doesn’t fully digest them, and they don’t affect your blood sugar.

Example: How to Calculate Net Carbs from Nutrition Labels

Learning how to calculate net carbs for keto is easy because you can find all this information on food labels. Here are a few examples of how to calculate net carbs based on the label:

Example 1 – Using Allulose:

The following nutrition labels are for Besti Monk Fruit Sweetener. It contains 4 grams of total carbohydrates and 4 grams of allulose. You subtract allulose from your total carb count.

So net carbs per serving is 4g – 4g = 0 g net carbs per serving.

Example 2 – Using Fiber:

The following nutrition labels are for Wholesome Yum Almond Flour。 It contains 3 grams of total carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber. You subtract fiber from total carbs.

So net carbs per serving is 3g – 1g = 2 g net carbs per serving.

Want an easier way to calculate net carbs without doing the math? Just bookmark this page and use the net carb calculator below.

Net Carb Calculator

How many net carbs are on Keto?

stay in 20-25 net carbs on keto is the best number to get to a fat burning state of ketosis quickly and stay there.

However, it varies from person to person. Some people may be able to enjoy up to 50 grams of net carbs and still get into fat burning mode. People who are more active can often set higher daily carb limits, while people who are insulin resistant, use net carbs to manage their diabetes, or eat a long-term high-carb diet may need a lower threshold to start.

The best way to customize how many carbs you eat is to use a macro calculator.

Use the free macro calculator here! Choose between ketogenic or low-carb based on the diet you want to follow and your goals for losing, gaining or maintaining weight. The calculator will tell you how many carbs (and thus calories) to eat keto.

Learn more about the benefits of following a ketogenic or low-carb diet Get Started Keto With This Guide. You can also handy Printable Keto Cheat Sheet It includes the most important information about net carbs, foods to eat, ketone swaps for foods with carbs, and more.

Should I count net carbs or total carbs?

Many ketogenic diet followers see net carbs as a more sustainable way to track macros. This method works for most people.

Counting net carbs also encourages eating more whole foods and vegetables (because they contain fiber), which we at Wholesome Yum think is a good thing.However, some people prefer to count their total carbohydrate intake to reach ketosis faster or to avoid Keto plateau.

My advice:

Start by focusing on net carbs and only switch to total carbs when necessary. This way, you can enjoy plenty of leafy greens, low carb vegetablesand even Keto fruitall of which are full of fibers.

If you’re not getting the results you want, cut back on sugar alcohols and low-carb foods before switching to total carbs. Some people choose to count the carbs in sugar alcohols and sweeteners, but still subtract the fiber from the total carbs.

Finally, test different counting methods to see what works best for you!Focus on results like how your clothes fit, how you feel and proportions if needed, but if you want to specifically test the effect on ketosis, you can use blood monitor or Ketogenic test strips Check to see if you are in ketosis.

Ketogenic Food List With Carb Count

Sign up here to get a free list of ketogenic foods with net carbs so you don’t have to count them:

Free Printable: Low Carb and Ketogenic Food List

get it now

What about sugar alcohols?

Not everyone agrees on the effects of sugar alcohols on metabolism. This is because some sugar alcohols behave differently from others, and they affect people differently. Some of us absorb and metabolize sugar alcohols in large quantities, while others don’t, and the types of sugar alcohols vary widely.

Sugar alcohols such as erythritol and xylitol have a negligible effect on blood sugar [*][*]. Allulose is classified as a “rare sugar” rather than a sugar alcohol, but also has a minimal effect on blood sugar [*].

Some prepackaged or sugar-free foods claim to be keto, but may actually spike your blood sugar because many food manufacturers use sugar alcohols with a higher glycemic index. (The glycemic index measures how much a food affects blood sugar. White table sugar, or simple carbohydrates, such as white bread, rice, or potatoes, have a high glycemic effect. Foods that contain carbohydrates also contain fiber or protein have a high effect on blood sugar. Moderate blood sugar impact. Foods with very low net carbs or no carbs usually have zero blood sugar impact.)

Be especially wary of foods that contain maltitol, sorbitol, or isomalt, all of which have a high glycemic index. Always check the ingredients on food labels to better understand how the food will affect your goals.

Rule of thumb: You can safely count erythritol and allulose as 0 net carbs, and half as many carbs from other sugar alcohols.

However, testing your blood sugar after consuming these sweeteners is the only real way to know how they affect you.

For more information on sugar alcohols, See guidance on sugar substitutes – and try these sweetenersthey all taste like sugar and have 0 net carbs!