low carb tortillas and BS

[Squid]

I had two low carb tortillas for dinner last night with cheese. That was a total of 14 gm of carb with 6 gms of fiber. I was really surprised at how much that spiked my blood sugar. I guess I have to lay off the tortillas. I can eat 14 grams of carbs in vegetables and hardly raise my blood sugar.

Boo I'm going to miss the tortillas.

[eddiemcm]

Best low carb tortilla I've found is from
LaTortillaFactory.One very large/huge tortilla has
6 grams of net carbs and 14 grams of fiber.
Maybe that one will work better for you.
www.latortillafactory.com
Eddie

[Lottadata]

DO NOT deduct the fiber.

Use one of the hidden carb calculators available on the Web and you'll usually find that the fiber has already been deducted from the total carb count on the label in many of these "low carb" foods.

Look at the ingredients too. If you see flour or starch near the head of the list it is even more likely the count has been fudged.

The only LC tortillas I ever found that worked for my blood sugar were not particularly pleasant to eat.

Try wrapping your food in a leaf of romaine lettuce instead of the tortilla. Or make home made eggy crepes with protein powder.

That way, you know what you are getting.

[Korban]

I have found at a local grocery store called Bi-Lo "5g net carb" large tortillias that actually taste good. They are called Wrap-itz Lo-Carb Wheat and are distributed by La Bonita Ole, Inc Tampa Fl 33606. They are great for wraps.

I tort weighs 43 grams and has 90 Cals.

Using the 4-4-9 method, the following obtains:

Fat: 4.5 x 9 = 40.5 Cals
Pro: 5 x 4 = 20 Cals
Total Carbs = 9 g; Fiber is only 4 g therefore net should be 5 grams carb
Carb: 5 X 4 = 20 Cals
---------------------------
Total Cals = 80.5 so maybe a couple or 3 grams hidden carbs

Label states Cals from fat = 45 which would give about 1 gram hidden carb I think (but used 10 Cals/g fat - no fair).

My guess is that there are probably 7 or maybe even 8 g of net carbs so they prolly lie some. I use 8 g in my nutrition database. They still make a great sandwich and taste quite good. I can easily stay around 30 grams per day CHO with one wrap a day. I don't think I have had two though Squid but no excessive spikes with one a day.

Just my 2 cents,
/smile

[eddiemcm]

Most nutrition specs list total carbs and fiber.Some,like
LaToirtillaFactory,also list net carbs-no confusion there.
Unfortunately,there's not a lot of standardization.
Eddie

[Lottadata]

Eddie,

The problem I've seen an increasing number of labels recently is this:

The "total carbohydrate" gram count is supposed to include fiber on U.S. labels. European labels, OTHO, deduct the fiber from the total carbohydrate count. This is true with Lindt and other premium chocolates and many imported crackers where you should not deduct the fiber.

But American manufacturers are now deducting fiber from that total carbohydrate, too, perhaps because they know carb-conscious buyers will deduct fiber from it again and come up with an appealingly low carbohydrate count.

I've seen this on a lot of bean cans, for example.

And that doesn't even get into the issue that "net carb" counts often subtract sugar alcohols and glycerine which do metabolize as carbohydrate, and which can push blood sugar WAY up in the high quantities found in many "low carb" junk foods.

My advice to newbies is to count the total carbohydrate listing and avoid deducting fiber until you've gotten going with the diet for a while and are losing weight. You can't go wrong that way.

[eddiemcm]

When net carbs,total carbs and fiber are each listed on a label,
you know the score.Sugar alcohol is another matter entirely.
Sugar alcohol doesn't 100 percent metabolize as a carb but
it's not zero percent either.Some "low carb" syrups that have
sugar alcohol spike my glucose.
God,I hate diabetes
Eddie

[Lottadata]

Eddie,

Actually, even the label may be a complete fantasy. There is NO supervision of labels, no one at the FDA checks them. Heck they can't even keep the industrial solvents etc out of our drug supply.

Any time a crusading journalist takes a bunch of supermarket food to the lab and has it analyzed they come back with the information that it is much higher in calories and carbs that the label says.

One Florida paper took all the low carb bars and pastries to the lab back at the height of the "low carb craze" around 2000 and there were far, far more carbs in the low carb bars than the labels said there were.

The worst food, from lab analysis, seems to be ice cream with mix ins. Turns out they'll put the count for the ice cream flavor on the package and ignore the big chunks of candy completely in the calorie count.

[eddiemcm]

Lottadata
I doubt if the FDA checks labels versus content.
I actually wonder if they know how.
Makes us worry about what we eat!!
Thanks for bringing that up.
Bye for now
Eddie

[Korban]

Even if the labels are incorrect, I have little choice but to base my decisions on them. If I happen to test bg (which I do often) and find a significant excursion from expectation, I either log it or make a mental note. Hopefully, my "carbohydrate deprived brain" will register something if the same food continues to cause the same result.

This is about as good as I can do since I can only control what is in my control... and FDA labeling integrity is not one of those things I have much control over. This is pretty simple for me at the moment since my diet is not too varied. Assuming I maintain an LC diet and become better educated, I expect to try new and varied things.

I do know this: the "5-gram net carb" tortillas I eat are damn good and don't spike my blood sugar... I have verified it. The wonderful "4 g net carb" Jimmy Dean Ham and Cheese Omelets (250 Cal) that I have every morning don't spike my bg. The boneless chicken breast and pre-packaged ground beef patties don't either.

... now if I can just get a better handle on this damn coffee problem, I would be really grateful. Green tea kinda sucks to me. For the most part my bgs are amazingly controlled especially considering I am only on a basal insulin. LC clearly rocks in spite of the problems that I might imagine that I might have at some point in the future...

/smile

[eddiemcm]

Regarding BG control,everyone is different.
Coffee,green tea,LaTortillaFactory LC wraps-no problem.
Had a McDonalds McSkillet Breakfast Burrito this morning-
big mistake!Took almost 4 hours for my BG to normalize.
Live and learn.
Cheers
Eddie

[Korban]

Eddie,
LOL - MacDonalds used to be my normal eatery. I haven't been there since I started LC Feb 15 of this year. I think any of their burritos, fries, burgers, egg McMuffins (eeemmmmmm) would spike my bg but I can't say I have actually verified it... Gonna stick with my little Omelet again this morning I think. Maybe Mac's tomorrow...

/smile

[Lottadata]

Korban,

MaDonald's and other fast food places have so much trans fat and suspect chemicals in their food that by avoiding them you are doing yourself a huge favor.

There is no question that trans fat is very dangerous to our bodies. Someone knowledgeable in biochemistry explained that the problem is that the shape of the transfat molecule defeats the transporters our bodies use to deal with fat. So they accumulate within organs in a way that natural fats, including saturate fat do not.

There is also, it turns out, a difference between the kinds of trans fat that are created by cooking regular fats and the artificial ones created by hydrogenation (think Crisco) which are far more dangerous. And found in a lot of fast food and processed food.

The FDA's labeling laws allow companies to say "No trans fat" when their label lists "hydrogenated oil" because they allow less than 1 g per serving. The servings are artificially small and as mentioned before the labels may lie.

I make it a policy to avoid any label that uses the word "hydrogenated" in the ingredient list no matter what other claims.

it is very possible from what I've read that avoiding both trans fat and high fructose corn syrup will do more to prevent heart disease and weight gain than just about any other thing you can do except perhaps controlling blood sugar.

Even the fast food salads can be a problem if you eat the chemical laced dressing.

[Squid]

The tortillas I ate said 4 net grams of carbs (each) for a total of 8. Very surprising it raised my blood sugar that much as I can eat a big cabbage salad at 10 grams and it doesn't hardly move my blood sugar.

I am wondering since I have been low carbing for so long if I have dropped my insulin levls (type 2) so low that there isn't enough there to handle even modest levels of carbs.

Or maybe I'm trying to control too tightly. Who knows. It's frustrating.

I occasionally l like to make a low carb pizza which is why I used those low carb tortillas. I wonder what I can use now. Any suggestions?

[Squid]

Oh and as for McDonalds, I haven't touched it or other fast food since I got my cancer diagnosis last year. I agree with lottadata - fast food is nasty stuff. I feel great and don't miss it at all. I don't know what they're doing to their food, but it wouldnt' surprise me to hear there are a lot of preservatives and some nasty oils in it. I do think my years of eating too much fast food probably contributed to my cancer.

I can't even stomach the thought of fast food any longer. I have found that when I am out on the town and get hungry, it's ok to wait a few hours to eat. I keep some walnuts with me to stave of hunger if I really need it.

[swirlygirl]

I found some low carb pitas and lavash at Costco that taste very good. Each piece is supposed to have 10 grams net carbs, and I find you can use 1/2 to make a sandwich (pita) or pizza (lavash). I haven't found that these spike my blood sugar, but from their taste, I suspect that they may have more carbs than the labels claim. I'd recommend that you give it a try for yourself though, if you have access to Costco.