Sugar Alcohol

Marus

Hi,
I do not understand why the inclusion of Sugar Alcohol in Net Carbs is optional. I think, once you've consumed them, they are there and can not be ignored. In average, Sugar Alcohols provide 2 kcal/g. So you can not eat them and say you ate no carbs. But but it would not be right to include them either, because they do not produce as much energy as real carbs. And then what can we do ?
I think the closest solution to reality is to add half the amount of Sugar Alcohol to Net Carbs because they count only half the energy.
For example, let's take 100g of "Dark Chocolate Bar, Sugar Free" from Cronometer database.

The energy from carbs is 100 kcal, calculated by subtracting fat and protein from the total energy. With Sugar Alcohol included, we have 49.5g net carbs. But these make 198 kcal, so it's not true. If we don't include Sugar Alcohol, we have 5.4 net carbs that make only 21.6 kcal. This is not true either.
But if we consider:

• 44.1g of sugar alcohol with 2 kcal/g
• 5.4g normal carbs with 4 kcal/g
  ...we have 88.2 + 21.6 = 109.8 kcal, much much closer to the real energy.

What do you think ?

Karen_Cronometer

Hi Marus,

Including sugar alcohols in net carbs is optional because sugar alcohols are metabolized differently than sugars. They do not raise blood sugar like sugar does. For some Cronometer users, it is more important to see the net carbs that may be raising their blood sugar, and aren't as concerned about the caloric value for the sugar alcohols.

I should also point out that changing your net carbs calculation does not change the amount of calories in a food, so that will remain constant no matter which setting your choose.

You have great questions! It's obvious you are eager to learn about nutrition and are doing your research. Thanks very much for your thoughtful discussions in our forums

Best,

Marus

Now it makes perfect sense ! I suspected I was missing something.
Thank you, Karen, for your kind words. Yes, I like very much to study nutrition. It's fun ! In my country we also have a forum about nutrition, but is useless. Nobody wants to talk or is not interested in nutrition. I am very happy that I found here a place where I can share my thoughts and my hobby with other people.