Even if you don’t count macros you may have seen the term “Net Carbs” on certain foods that are claiming to be a better choice because they are low in “Net Carbs”
But what are Net Carbs? 🤔Net Carbs are the total amount of carb grams in a food minus the total amount of fiber grams in a food (sometimes it’s also minus the total amount of sugar grams in a food too)
So in the tortilla example above the Mission tortilla has 4g of net carbs because 13g of total carbs minus 9g of fiber equals 4. Comparing this to the Romero’s tortilla would have 13g or 12g of net carbs depending on if fiber and sugar were subtracted. And while fiber is important to any diet, what REALLY bothers me is when companies try to say that fiber calories don’t count when THEY DO! Companies will also subtract those fiber calories from their labels so that they seem lower in calories then they are. That’s why it’s important to ALWAYS just stick to counting macros instead of calories is key to accurate tracking: protein will always be 4 kcal per gram, carbohydrates will always be 4 kcal per gram, and dietary fats will always be 9 kcal per gram.
But what really bothers me EVEN MORE is when companies try to capitalize on having low “Net Carbs” in order to make more money!
Each bag above comes with 8 tortillas at about the same size and if you forget the fiber and just look at the macros they are basically the same! But the Mission tortilla is $5 a pack while the Romero’s is $1! So while I do like some Mission tortillas (the mini soft street taco ones are amazinggg) there’s absolutely NO NEED to waste money on tortillas that have had fiber added to them if I am getting an adequate amount of fiber from the rest of my diet.
Having multiple servings of vegetables, 1-2 servings of fruit, and 1-2 servings of whole grains, legumes, and/or starchy vegetables everyday should typically provide enough fiber to keep hunger levels in check and bodily processes regular 💩 (Check out this article to see what that looks like)
But if you find yourself struggling to get in fiber then trying out a high fiber tortilla or wrap CAN be a great option👍 But just know that the calories DO count and if you’re tracking macros then you need to make sure that the total amount of carb grams and calories are accounted for. This can sometimes be inaccurate in My Fitness Pal (Especially with Quest Bars🍫 & Halo Top🍦)so double checking the label after you scan it is key for accurate tracking 🔑 You can check out my protein bar review here, to see where I did the math right on what protein bar ACTUAL calories are.