Beware of "ghost" carbs hiding in your food. Know their aliases.
by Suzanne Girard Eberle, MS, RD
Where have all the carbohydrates gone? Traditional carb champs, such as bread, pasta and cereal, now boast labels claiming to be "reduced-carb," "low-carb" and even "carb-free." Then there are terms like "net carbs," "net impact carbs" and "net effective carbs" emblazoned on labels. What do they all mean?
Fueled by the low-carbohydrate craze of the past few years, companies reformulated products or created new ones to fulfill the call for "non-blood-sugar-impacting foods." According to Marketing Intelligence Service, 1,865 new reduced-carb foods and beverages were introduced in the first six months of 2004 alone.
Manufacturers began to use "net carbs" and other terms on labels to refer to the amount of carbohydrate remaining in a product after the total grams of fiber and sugar alcohols (as well as glycerin and polydextrose) were subtracted from the total carb amount. The theory is that these ingredients — although still carbs — don't raise blood sugar. So the carbs are in the food but not included on the label. Hence, the term "ghost" carb.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), however, never approved any of these low-carb terms. That's why the FDA will introduce new labeling guidelines for carb content that are calculated to clear up consumer confusion. Until then, keep the following in mind when checking labels on low-carb products:
1) Low-carb foods are not necessarily low in calories. Often, when the sugar, corn syrup or other carbs are removed, they're replaced with fat, so the calories may not, in fact, be reduced. And, just because a "carb-smart" item may have "minimal impact on your blood sugar" doesn't necessarily mean minimal impact on your waistline. As with "fat-free" items, it's folly to assume that the calories in low-carb foods don't count.
2) Not all sugar alcohols are created equal. While fiber and, most likely, glycerin and polydextrose have little or no impact on blood-sugar levels, the same can't be said for all sugar alcohols. Some have recently been shown to have a major effect on boosting blood glucose. Check out the list on the right and see which other ghost carbs are in your food.
Sidenote
Keeping Track of Ghost Carbohydrates
Fiber: The indigestible part of plant foods that passes through the body without being absorbed and thus doesn't provide calories or boost blood-sugar levels.
Sugar alcohols (polyols such as sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol and maltitol): Low-calorie (0.2 to 3 calories per gram), carbohydrate-based sweeteners; more slowly digested and absorbed than sugars, resulting in a lower rise in blood-sugar and insulin levels.
Glycerin(e): A food additive, used as a sweetener, considered a carbohydrate
by the FDA, assumed to have negligible effect on blood-sugar levels.
Polydextrose: Low-calorie carbohydrate ingredient (90 percent fiber) having little or no effect on blood sugar, used primarily as a bulking agent in calorie-reduced foods to replace fat
or sugar.
