Please clear up following points

[lou49]

Two general queries about low-carb diets please:-

1. On my plan (Charles Clark) you can have 40 - 60g of carbs a day. Today I've had about 20 but it was made up of some low carb foods eg some of Marks & Spencer sandwich fillers - poached salmon and cream cheese and egg mayo - no bread of course.
Does it matter doing this on a LC diet if you read the labels carefully and add things up?

2. On these boards I've seen people mentioning eating things that had low or zero carbs but too many calories. I thought the whole point of these plans was to forget about calories? Personally I can't eat loads of creamy dairy stuff as it upsets my stomach so I wouldn't want to sit down to a plate of double cream with sweetener, but the principle has puzzled me.

3. Are flavoured herbal and spice teas OK - I like one by Yogi Tees which is Schoko Mexican spice (they are German) from the health food store. No food values on packet . I read somewhere that Celestial Seasonings do an English Toffee one but don't think it's out in UK yet.

Thanks
Louise

[fiona]

{lou: Does it matter doing this on a LC diet if you read the labels carefully and add things up? } No, you have to do this - take account of all the carbs, hidden or otherwise. Have you tried using fitday.com. It makes it much easier to do the counting. Just one slice of bread can sometimes use up all your carb allowance (and it is different with different LC diet plans) leaving you no room for manouvering.

Calories do matter. It is recommended that you need at least 10-12 times your body weight in calories a day. It is just as important to eat enough calories. However most low-fat diets restrict calorie intake. If you concentrate on eating the right foods you really do not need to worry too much about calories.

I drink a lot of herbal teas: mint, camomile, ginger being my favourites. So long as no sugar is added I think it should be okay.

Take care.

[lou49]

I don't quite understand the 'hidden' carbs thing. For example, on aforesaid M & S egg mayo sandwich filler, per 100g:-

Energy 220cal
Carbohydrate 0.8g of which sugars 0.1g

Is it the sugars which are the hidden carbs? Which ones do I add up, the 0.8 or the 0.1g of sugars?

In my book Prof. Clark is advising a piece of fruit per day if you don't take a multivit with Vit C (I do take all supplements). I don't see why I can't make up carbs some other way provided its
not with refined sugary and white stuff.

Thanks for help. I've actually done this WOE for two days which is quite something for me and so different from my usual low fat,
Slimming World/Weight Watchers attempts to lose weight that I'm struggling a bit to get my head round it. This site helps a lot though!

Thanks Louise

[Karen]

Hi Louise!

Up at the the top of the page under low-carb tips is an article on hidden carbs. It has mostly to do with labeling and what manufacturers can state are the carbs - notably American manufacturers - for a serving.

Karen

[Boogie65]

Hi Lou49

I think it's fair to say that on UK labelling you won't find any "hidden carbs" and probably not on US labelling now either as the regulations changed last year I believe.

US manufacturers used to be able to declare say 2gms carbs per bar, when really the actual carb count was say 20gms with polyols of 18gms and the rest would be starch for example. That's where the 2gms comes from.

But now they have to declare ALL forms of carbs, i.e. polyols, glycerine, sugar.

On Atkins you can legitimately discount carbs in the form of polyols, glycerine and fibre so now what you'll probably find on US labelling is "Only 2gms carbs per bar" on the front, but 20gms declared on the back! At least you can now see exactly what's in it and make your own choices.

Chrissy
www.sugarlite.co.uk

[fiona]

{I think it's fair to say that on UK labelling you won't find any "hidden carbs" .....}

I wouldn't be too sure about that - perhaps it is just that my understanding of the different names for what is basically sugar is not complete enough until I really look in depth.

Sugar, dextrose, syrup, sucrose etc etc are all different forms of sugar. At one time I used to read a label and not understand that that item included 4 types of sugar.

Food Manufacturers have conflicting interests with profits and cheaper productions. When I started Atkins I soon realised I could only trust what I put into a recipie unless I was prepared to read up a whole lot more about tactics. Weight Loss stalls would shift as soon as I eliminated a "prepared" food. My choice was to KNOW what I was eating.

Take care.

[Boogie65]

I completely agree with you Fiona about the different names for sugar and I guess if the nutritional values aren't on a product and people are just relying on checking the ingredients it could be deceptive if it doesn't say "sugar".

At least though if the nutritional values are declared, any form of sugar, whatever it's called, should be declared under the carb count.

Chrissy
www.sugarlite.co.uk

[fiona]

{Chrissy: At least though if the nutritional values are declared, any form of sugar, whatever it's called, should be declared under the carb count. }

That's true.

Take care.